How to Write a Cover Letter UK

Back to Writing Guidelines

Everyone at least once has faced the requirement to submit a cover letter to the application while seeking career or academic opportunities. While some employers and admissions offices may accept your candidacy for an interview without any previous verification of your motivation to work for their company or study in their institution, others prioritize a cover letter to a CV. What is the logic?

Major enterprises are interested in hiring decent candidates who are willing to hone their skills and grow alongside the company. Such market players believe that the most sensible way to trace the applicant’s motivation is to look through their cover letter. Such a piece should be prepared specifically for each job vacancy with consideration of the position’s intricacies. The same applies to academic applications for scholarships, internships, and other educational programs.

A great cover letter routinely assures applicants to succeed in their careers and education since it works like a business card. Our specialists with proven practical backgrounds in preparing upmarket written works for job and academic applicants can tackle any writing block and even assist with handling a piece from scratch. Become more aware of cover letter specs from our skilled team and create authentic and fruitful papers!

What is a Cover Letter: Term Identification

The job application document package routinely comprises three papers, namely a CV, letters of recommendation and a cover letter. Most academic admissions committees also include a graduate cover letter as a mandatory documents to attach to the application. The paper may also be mistaken for a personal statement, while the last one has critical content intricacies.

Our authors identify it as a paper with a brief description of a candidate’s expertise and eagerness to hold the selected position. The piece’s content should be coherent with the job description (or educational program requirements if you seek academic opportunities).

The paper serves as an introductory part of your career or academic profile emphasising its relevant milestones. It is a few-paragraph piece with concrete framework and content logic. Candidates always come up with introducing themselves, stress their primary qualities and qualifications, and also relevant experiences, and then wrap up the paper by highlighting why their candidacy is perfect for the selected position.

A cover letter is another viable option to prove you are a worthy specialist or learner. It suffices to concisely name your previous background, namely scientific work, research projects, courses, jobs, and education. An employer can trace further explanations of all your experiences in a CV so overloading with information is inappropriate.

Repeating the same wordings and phrases from a CV in a cover letter is not a sensible solution. The last one is a letter of motivation, a piece containing structured data without detailed explanations. It is a resume of your background, accomplishments, goals, and traits that may impress a reader and increase your chances for success.

How to Start a Cover Letter: Hints for Newcomers

A cover letter is a piece customized to each specific application with consideration of its peculiarities. Consequently, the author’s primary action is becoming familiar with the specific job or educational program description. Well-versed experts highlight requirements, that their personal qualities or experiences can meet, and focus on such characteristics in the paper.

As you might have understood, a single letter of motivation is inappropriate for a few applications since each submission is individual and customized. Other primary paper performance stages that can simplify the start of the writing process look as follows:

  • Look through a few cover letter examples to develop your watchfulness and seek valuable insights.
  • Make a summary of statements to consider in the paper.
  • Structure the text into three content blocks, add greeting phrases and a wrapping up sentence with gratitude for paid attention.
  • Brainstorm how to express your aspirations and grab the reader’s interest.

Your paramount focus should be on crafting an authentic piece reflecting your motivation and valuable expertise suitable for the position. You can create a layout that will serve as a template for all your cover letters. However, every time you apply to the admissions committee or employers you should personalise the paper. A customized approach boosts confidence in your interest.

How to Structure a Cover Letter: Consistent Paper’s Composition

Although there is no concrete structure for an upmarket motivation paper, there is a widespread framework applied to this paper type. The below elements are paramount to composing an effective piece sticking to current standards.

  • Indicate your contact details, and salute a person or company you apply to.
  • Prepare an introductory part with major facts about your personality, the most significant aspect of the position description.
  • Add an insight into where you have found the offer (or whether you got it upon recommendation).
  • Draw a parallel between your requirements and your abilities.
  • Highlight your previous advances and potential.
  • Sum up your eagerness to gain such an opportunity.
  • Thank an admissions committee or employer for their efforts to read and consider your message.
  • Never omit a formal closing with appropriate word combinations (best regards and similar).
  • Indicate the date of the cover letter submitted and sign a document (or at least type your name if you submit a paper as a soft copy).

Ensure you embed enough keywords from the job description in your motivation paper. Keywords boost the paper’s readability and increase the likelihood that an employer will consider your application.

How to End a Cover Letter Making It Quality and Authentic?

The final elements of the paper’s framework are a conclusion, words of gratitude, and a formal closing with a signature and date. However, there are further critical paper performance stages influencing the overall result.

  • Proofreading.

Even if you handle a cover letter sticking to the earlier prepared version, you should reread a piece at least twice to ensure there are no mistakes in the company’s name, position’s title, and other items customized to the application. Attempt to trace the coherence and consistency throughout the text.

Some candidates craft cover letters independently but entrust the proofreading phase to well-versed authors to ensure a decent content quality level and proper text formatting. There are tools for online examination of grammar and other mistakes, while most of them are payable options.

  • Checking for authenticity.

Still wondering how to use ChatGPT to write a cover letter? Consider that the text’s originality is a paramount requirement. AI writing applications routinely generate plagiarized and standardised content. Avoid relying exclusively on such tools if you do not want your hiring manager to find your motivation paper almost identical to other candidates’ cover letters.

If a program finds accurate matches between statements from your written piece and other papers available on the Internet, you should rewrite the sentences using other word combinations, and then recheck the text for authenticity. This paper type is not a formal supplement to the application document packs, instead, it may be a decisive tool in your hiring process.

  • Amending the mistakes.

The editing phase is critical since it can potentially open the second wind for your cover letter (if the appropriate revisions are made). Trace the coherence between all the paragraphs, examine whether you have selected a proper tone of voice, and ensure the content is aligned with the paper structure, and the arguments sound convincing.

Major Elements of an Effective Cover Letter Outline

Experienced authors prepare the outline adhering to the instructions of the paper structure. Consistent writing is the key to successful results. An outline equals a brief paper layout, which a writer should stick to while performing a piece from scratch. Even when learners apply “how to write a biology research paper in APA format” inquiries our specialists perform assignments coming up with an outline.

You should not necessarily explain your experiences and education in the outline, instead focus on major topics to arise and their placement in the text. You can glean ideas for such a structure’s short version from similar paper samples available on the web. According to the writing standards, an outline should comprise such elements as:

  • Heading with your name, email address, phone number, and date of publication.
  • The same details about a company or institution you apply to.
  • Greetings with formal word combinations.
  • Introductory paragraph with a statement of an intention to apply for the specific position and an attention-grabbing fact about relevant advances.
  • Main text section with one or two paragraphs containing details about your paramount career achievements, academic milestones, background, talents, and other skills appropriate for holding the concrete position.
  • The closing content part comprises the final expression of motivation alongside thanking a recipient for their attention.
  • Complimentary close and signature.

You can mark the crucial elements for each of the above outline sections to simplify writing. Some students and job seekers omit to prepare an outline before crafting a cover letter from scratch and then may face a writing block. The thoroughly planned work bears fruits in the form of a seamless writing process.

Cover Letter Introduction: How Do Experts Arrange It?

The intro is routinely a few-sentence paragraph with a concise introduction of yourself as a personality and expert. It also comprises your aspirations for holding the position or entering a concrete educational institution. Some authors indicate the source of information about the position; however, it is not a mandatory point.

You should persuade an employer or admissions committee that you are motivated and determined enough to become a suitable and valuable candidate. Concisely naming the position or educational program you apply for is crucial to avoid any misunderstandings.

Highlighting the applicant’s background and drawing parallels with the company’s or institution’s requirements is a viable option. The introductory part is your opportunity to impress a recruiter and prove your decent candidacy.

Cover Letter Body: Primary Points to Include

A cover letter consists of a few short paragraphs. Skilled authors never overload it with too complex explanations and details. You have a few seconds to grab a reader’s interest in our candidacy. The body sentences contain concrete proof of your professionalism, talent, and commitment, namely details about:

  1. Academic performance, scholarships, internships, relevant extracurricular classes, valuable qualities, and career goals.
  2. Practical background, specific responsibilities in previous positions, completed projects, relevant hard and soft skills.

The first case presents the body composition of motivation papers attached to applications for educational programs. The second list of topics to include in the main text part is appropriate for job seekers’ cover letters.

If your practical background is immense, opt for the most relevant experiences and knowledge. The more concrete projects and results you indicate in the body, the more meaningful the whole paper will look. Stress your knowledge that may be precious to a candidate for the position.

Cover Letter Conclusion: Finish Your Work Decently!

The final content part is a confident statement of your inspiration and ambitions to hold the position or enter the institution. It takes two or three sentences to wrap up the paper with a logical conclusion without any repetition of the introductory paragraph points.

Gratitude for the reader’s attention is a gesture of politeness that should take place in the paragraph. Furthermore, you can emphasise when you are available for interviews or further contact. Attempt to harmoniously embed linking words and phrases throughout the text to boost the letter’s readability. The more coherent the content parts are, the more expertly the paper looks.

If writing mastery is not your strength, our authors are willing to deal with your cover letter throughout the clock. Our savvy specialists employ a cover letter UK template for preparing upmarket pieces consistent with the current writing standards. Graduates and job seekers entrust us with their motivation papers and excel at their application processes. Move further to new advances with quality paper writing!

Written by:
Abby Walter
I struggled a lot with academic texts as a student. Not only writing but also reading and interpreting them. I joined a course on academic writing offered by the university library, and everything changed. Luckily, you don’t have to attend offline workshops to become better at academic writing. I genuinely believe that our database can help you instead.
View all writers
Back to Writing Guidelines