How to Write a US Cover Letter From a Job Description

8 min read

A cover letter isn't a second resume. It's the bridge between what the posting asks for and the bullets a recruiter hasn't opened yet.

You don't need a story about your childhood dream job. You need three proof points pulled straight from the job description and one honest reason you're applying here.

Check your resume for free before you write the letter. If the resume already fails a plain-text paste test, fix that first. The letter can't rescue a garbled upload.

Below is a five-step workflow with before-and-after lines, a copy-paste template, and the mistakes that make recruiters skip paragraph two.

What the letter must do in US screening

In most US corporate flows, the resume passes the parser first. The cover letter rides along in the same Workday or Greenhouse record. Some screeners open it when two candidates look identical on paper. Others read it only when the posting marks it required.

Your letter should answer one question: why your proof matches this posting. Not why you need a job. Not a repeat of every bullet on page one of the resume.

The job description is your outline. Required skills become your three examples. Company values become one sentence in paragraph three if you can tie them to real work. If you can't, leave paragraph three short rather than flatter.

US cover letters use a business letter layout: your contact block, date, employer address or Hiring Manager line, greeting, body, sign-off. No photos. No columns. Calibri or Arial at 11 point matches most resume uploads.

When the portal offers a text box instead of a file upload, paste plain text only. Strip bold and tabs. Many text boxes drop formatting anyway.

What recruiters look for in paragraph two

Paragraph two is where screeners decide whether to open the resume attachment. They want three short proofs, each naming a tool or outcome from the posting and one scope signal from your work.

Scope signals are team size, dollar range, user count, or timeline. They don't have to be huge numbers. "Supported a 6-person sales team" beats "experienced in sales support" because it sounds like a Monday morning, not a slogan.

Before: I have strong communication skills and work well with stakeholders.
After: I facilitated weekly roadmap reviews with product, design, and customer success for a 6-person squad shipping biweekly releases.

File format and upload quirks

Workday and iCIMS often accept PDF or DOCX for cover letters. PDF preserves line breaks. DOCX is fine when the portal converts files on upload. Avoid HTML exports from web editors; hidden tags sometimes paste as junk in text boxes.

Name the file FirstName-LastName-Cover-Letter.pdf. Recruiters download dozens of files named cover_letter.pdf. A clear name saves them thirty seconds and signals you treat the application seriously.

Five steps from job description to draft

Step 1: Highlight three must-haves from the posting

Read the description twice. First pass for deal-breakers: years of experience, work authorization, location, clearance. Second pass for three outcomes or tools repeated in responsibilities.

Write them in a scratch column: pipeline ownership, Salesforce reporting, cross-functional launch. Those three lines become paragraph two.

Step 2: Match each must-have to one resume bullet

Open your tailored resume. Find one bullet per must-have. If a requirement has no bullet, you either lack proof or the bullet is buried. Fix the resume before you write the letter.

Before: I am a hard worker with many skills listed on my resume.
After: At Northline SaaS I owned weekly pipeline reviews in Salesforce for 14 reps, which matches your need for CRM reporting and forecast accuracy.

Step 3: Draft four plain paragraphs

Paragraph one: role title, years in the field, one hook tied to the posting. Paragraph two: three proof sentences, one per must-have. Paragraph three: one sentence on why this company or team based on public info. Paragraph four: thanks and openness to talk.

Keep each paragraph to three or four sentences. White space helps on screen.

Step 4: Mirror posting language without copying the resume

Use the posting's exact tool names when you truly used them. If they say Greenhouse and you ran recruiting ops in Greenhouse, say Greenhouse. If they say CI/CD and your resume says Jenkins pipelines, pick one term and align both files.

Add detail the resume lacks: team size, customer type, release cadence. That is information gain. Repeating the resume line for line is not.

Step 5: Paste-test and upload with the resume

Copy the letter into a plain editor. Confirm dates and names survived. Export PDF if the portal accepts files. Upload the same day as the resume version built from the same posting markup.

I've screened cover letters in Lever where paragraph one named the wrong company because the candidate reused yesterday's file. Double-check the employer name in the opening line every time.

Copy-paste block: four-paragraph skeleton

Dear Hiring Manager,

I am applying for the [Exact Role Title] at [Company]. I bring [X years] in
[domain] with recent work in [must-have 1 from posting].

In my current role at [Employer], I [proof sentence for must-have 1 with scope
or metric]. Previously I [proof for must-have 2]. I also [proof for must-have 3].
These map directly to your emphasis on [phrase from responsibilities section].

I am interested in [Company] because [one specific public fact: product, market,
or mission tied to your background]. I would welcome a conversation about how I
can contribute to [team or outcome named in posting].

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
              

For resume alignment before you draft, see what must match between resume and application materials .

Worked example: operations coordinator posting

Imagine a posting that repeats vendor management, Excel reporting, and cross-site scheduling. Your scratch column lists those three lines. Your resume already has bullets on vendor renewals, a weekly ops dashboard, and calendar coordination across two offices.

Paragraph one names the role and your years in ops. Paragraph two walks the three bullets in posting order, each with one scope line. Paragraph three mentions the company's recent warehouse expansion if that's public. Paragraph four closes cleanly.

That draft takes fifteen minutes when the resume is already tailored. Without the three highlighted lines from the description, you'll write a letter that fits every ops job and no ops job at once.

When the posting is short or vague

Some descriptions are three sentences. Pull must-haves from the title and team page instead. A "Senior Analyst, Revenue Operations" title plus a team blurb about Salesforce and forecast cadence gives you enough to draft paragraph two.

If you still can't find three provable must-haves, the role may be too vague to tailor well. That's a signal to research before you spend an hour writing, not a reason to send a generic letter anyway.

Lines that get skipped in Greenhouse

Opening with I am excited to apply. Every letter opens that way. Start with role, domain, and one proof hook instead.

Repeating the full resume. The screener already has the PDF. Give context and priority, not a second list of jobs.

Generic praise. Your industry-leading company adds nothing unless you name a product, customer, or problem you want to work on.

Wrong company or role name. The fastest way to get a no without a phone screen.

Before: I am passionate about teamwork and would love to join your amazing culture.
After: Your posting's focus on self-serve onboarding matches the activation work I led for a PLG product with 40k monthly signups.

Job searching is hard enough without a letter that could go to any employer. Tie every paragraph to lines you highlighted in the description.

Optional sign-offs: Sincerely and Best regards both work in US hiring. Match the tone of the posting. A startup posting with casual voice can take Best regards. A bank or healthcare role still expects Sincerely.

Skip salary history, relocation preferences, and references available upon request unless the posting asks. Those lines eat space and rarely change a screening decision at the letter stage.

Generate and pair with your resume

When you're staring at a blank page, start from the posting text instead of a generic template.

Generate a cover letter from the job description, then edit paragraph two until each sentence maps to a real bullet on your resume. Run score your job match on the resume pair before upload so both files reference the same three must-haves.

Send both files the same day

Learning how to write a US cover letter from a job description comes down to three highlighted lines, four paragraphs, and one paste test. The letter supports the resume; it doesn't replace tailoring.

• Pull three must-haves from the posting.
• Prove each in paragraph two with scope or metrics.
• Upload letter and resume together after a plain-text check.

Open the posting one more time before you submit. If paragraph two doesn't echo the words you highlighted, rewrite it. That's ten minutes that separates a generic upload from an application that reads like you did the work.

Save a copy in your application tracker with the date and version number. When a recruiter replies six weeks later, you'll know which letter they read and won't send follow-up notes that reference the wrong role title or company name in the thread.