How do I tailor a cover letter to a job description?

Pick the two or three requirements the posting stresses most, then write one short paragraph for each that proves it with a real example from your work. Open by naming the exact role and why this employer interests you, and use the employer’s own words for skills you genuinely have.

How long should a tailored cover letter be?

Aim for three to five short paragraphs, which matches the UK National Careers Service guidance, and keep it to one page. If a paragraph does not connect you to this job, cut it.

Can I reuse the same cover letter for different jobs?

You can reuse a base letter, but rewrite the opening, the evidence paragraphs and the reason you want this employer every time. Generic letters are easy to spot because they could be sent to any company. Keeping a bank of proven example paragraphs makes each new version quick to assemble.

Who should I address my cover letter to if there is no name?

Try to find the hiring manager’s name on the posting, the company website or LinkedIn. If you cannot, “Dear Hiring Manager” or “Dear [Team name] team” is a common choice. The UK National Careers Service suggests “Dear Sir or Madam,” closed with “Yours faithfully.”

How to Tailor a Cover Letter to a Job (With a Template)

To tailor a cover letter to a job, find the two or three things the posting asks for most, then give one real example for each that shows you have done that work. Open with the exact job title and a specific reason you want this employer, keep it to about a page, and use the employer’s own words for the skills you genuinely have. A tailored letter is not longer or more flattering than a generic one. It is more specific: every paragraph answers something this employer said it needs.

Below is a step-by-step method, a paragraph template you can copy, and a worked example that turns a generic letter into a tailored one.

What a tailored cover letter actually does

Your resume lists everything relevant you have done. The cover letter has a narrower job: it picks the few pieces of evidence that matter most for this role and connects them to the employer’s needs in plain sentences. The UK’s National Careers Service describes a cover letter as a short letter, usually three to five paragraphs, and advises writing a new one for every job you apply for. That is the whole idea of tailoring.

A generic letter and a tailored letter differ in a few predictable places:

Part of the letter	Generic version	Tailored version
Opening	“I am writing to apply for the position advertised.”	Names the exact role and a concrete reason you want this employer
Evidence	Lists strengths such as “hard-working team player”	One real example for each of the posting’s top requirements
Language	Your own internal terms	The employer’s names for skills and tools you actually have
Why this company	Praise that fits any company	A specific product, team, customer group or goal you can name
Close	“I look forward to hearing from you.”	Restates the fit in one line, then thanks them

How to tailor a cover letter, step by step

Step 1: Find the posting’s top two or three needs

Read the posting and list every requirement. Then rank them. The needs that matter most usually appear first, get repeated, or are described in the most detail. A posting may list twelve requirements, but your letter has room to prove two or three well. Pick the ones that are most important to the employer and that you can back up best.

Role: [job title] at [company]
Top needs: 1. [need] 2. [need] 3. [need]
Words they repeat: [word], [word], [word]
Something specific about the company: [product, team, customer, goal or recent news]

Step 2: Match each need to one real example

For each top need, choose one example from your work, studies or volunteering. A good example has a situation, what you did, and what changed as a result. Your resume probably already mentions it in a bullet; the letter is where you tell the short story behind it. If you keep a master resume with every project and result, this step becomes picking rather than remembering.

If the posting asks for something you do not have, do not stretch an example to cover it. Our guide to applying when you miss some requirements explains when and how to mention a gap honestly.

Step 3: Write an opening that could only go to this employer

Name the job title exactly as the posting does, and say where you found it if it was a referral or an event. Then give one specific reason you want this role at this company. Specific means something you could not say about a competitor: a product you use, a customer group they serve, a problem the posting describes, or a goal in their own materials.

Step 4: Give each need its own short paragraph

One need, one example, three to four sentences. Lead with the need in the employer’s words, then the example, then the result. This keeps the letter easy to skim, because a recruiter can match each paragraph to a line in their posting.

Step 5: Close with fit, not formality

Your last paragraph restates the match in one sentence, thanks the reader and says how to reach you. The National Careers Service also suggests telling the reader they can find more detail in your CV (the UK term for a resume), and it follows a British sign-off rule: “Yours sincerely” when you address a named person, “Yours faithfully” after “Dear Sir or Madam.” In the US, a simple “Sincerely” works.

Step 6: Check it against the posting

Each top need from Step 1 is answered by a paragraph
The company name, job title and hiring manager’s name are spelled correctly
No sentence is pasted from the posting, and no claim goes beyond your resume
It fits on one page and uses the same font as your resume
You saved a copy with the application, because interviewers may ask about it

A tailored cover letter template you can copy

Fill in the brackets. Every bracket should hold something specific to this job.

Dear [Hiring manager’s name],
I am applying for the [exact job title] role at [company]. [One sentence on a specific reason: the product, customers, problem or goal that draws you to this team.] With [number] years of [relevant work], I would bring [top need 1] and [top need 2] from day one.
You are looking for someone who can [top need 1, in their words]. At [employer], I [what you did], which [result, with a number if you have one]. [One sentence linking this to their role.]
The posting also stresses [top need 2]. [Example: situation, action, result, in two or three sentences.]
[Optional: top need 3, or one honest sentence on a requirement you are still building, and how.]
I would welcome the chance to discuss how my experience in [short summary of fit] could help [team or goal]. My resume has more detail, and I can be reached at [phone] or [email]. Thank you for considering my application.
Sincerely,
[Your name]

Worked example: from generic to tailored

Here is a fictional example. Priya is an operations coordinator applying for a Customer Success Manager role at a software company. The shortened posting, also fictional, reads:

Customer Success Manager. You will own onboarding for new mid-market accounts, reduce churn by spotting at-risk customers early, and work with Product to feed back customer requests. Experience with Salesforce or a similar CRM is required.

This was her generic letter’s main paragraph:

I am a hard-working and customer-focused professional with strong communication skills. I thrive in fast-paced environments and enjoy building relationships. I believe I would be a great addition to your team.

None of that is false, but none of it is evidence, and it would fit any job. Priya listed the posting’s three top needs (onboarding, spotting churn risk, working with Product) and found one real example for each. Here is her tailored version, with invented details for the example:

You are looking for someone to own onboarding for new accounts. At Northfield Logistics I run onboarding for every new business client, about eight a month: I lead the kickoff call, set up their accounts and check in at 30 days. I rewrote our onboarding checklist last year, which cut the number of setup questions we received in the first month.
The posting also stresses spotting at-risk customers early. I built a simple weekly report in Salesforce that flags clients whose order volume drops two weeks in a row, and I call each one. Several of those calls turned into fixes we could make before the client left.
Finally, I already work closely with our product team: I collect client requests in a shared log and present the top ones at a monthly meeting, and two of them have shipped.

Every sentence maps to a line in the posting, uses its words (onboarding, at-risk, Product, Salesforce) and stays inside what Priya has actually done. She did not claim a churn percentage because she does not have one; if you are in the same position, our guide to showing achievements without numbers has alternatives.

Mistakes that make a cover letter look generic

Repeating your resume line by line. Pick fewer examples and tell each one properly.
Praising the company in words that fit any company. “Innovative industry leader” says nothing. Name a real product, team or goal.
Copying sentences from the posting. Use their terms, inside your own sentences, next to your own evidence.
Opening with yourself instead of the role. “My name is…” wastes the first line. The reader already has your name.
Leaving the wrong company name in. This is an easy slip when you reuse a letter. Check it last, every time.

Tailor the letter and the resume together

The same list of top needs drives both documents, so do them in one sitting. Your resume should show the evidence in bullets, and your letter should explain the two or three examples that matter most. Our guide to tailoring your resume to a job description uses the same requirement-mapping method.

Leepo can speed up the first half. Paste a job link and Leepo imports the role and company (and the salary, when it is listed), then its ATS fit score shows which of the posting’s keywords your resume matches and which are missing, which is a quick way to spot the top needs. Leepo also drafts cover letters for an application; treat the draft like any other, and keep only the sentences that are true and specific to you. You can try it on the free plan.