Which template should you use?
- Standard: you have work experience in the field you are applying to.
- Entry-level: your degree, projects and part-time work are your evidence. This is also the template for a college cover letter.
- Career change: you need to explain why you are switching and what carries over.
- Internship: you are still studying. More on that letter: internship cover letter examples.
- Referral: someone inside the company told you about the job. Name them in the first line; it is the strongest sentence you have.
- Email: you are sending the application by email. The subject line does the work of the letter's heading.
- UK: the employer is in the UK and expects British conventions (below).
- Short: an online form gives you a single box for a “cover note”.
Each one is a basic cover letter you can edit. They differ in structure, not just in the job title, so pick the one whose first paragraph says what you would say out loud to the hiring manager.
Professional cover letter template: how to choose the best one
There is no single best cover letter template; the best one is the one that matches your situation, which is why the list above is by situation and not by design. A professional one looks plain: your contact block, a greeting that names someone, three to five short paragraphs and a sign-off. Pair it with a resume cover letter template that matches your resume, with the same font and the same top block, so the letter and the resume read as one application.
What do you put in a cover letter?
Four things: the job you are applying for and where you saw it, why your skills and experience fit what the posting asks for, anything extra the employer should know, and a request for the next step. Your resume lists everything you have done; the letter picks the two or three things that matter for this job and says why. If you also need the resume, the CV vs resume guide shows how the two documents differ, and the resume templates match a letter to a resume so the resume and cover letter look like one application.
How a cover letter is laid out
The UK's National Careers Service describes a cover letter as “a short letter, usually 3 to 5 paragraphs long” that “introduces you to an employer and asks them to think about your application”. Every template above follows that shape, and the same cover letter formatting works in the US:
- Your details and the date at the top (left out of the email and short versions, where your signature carries them).
- A greeting with a name. The National Careers Service says to try to address your letter to someone by name, and to use “Dear Sir or Madam” only when you can't find one.
- The opening: the job title, the reference number if there is one, and where you saw it.
- Why you fit: one or two short paragraphs matching your experience to what the posting asks for, with an example that has a result.
- The close: thank them and ask for the next step.
Use the same font and size as your resume, so the two look like one application; the National Careers Service suggests the same, and to write a new letter for every job rather than reusing one.
What goes at the top of a cover letter
At the top: your name and contact details (email, phone number, city), then the date, then the name of the person you are writing to and the company. Using the same top block as your resume makes the letter and the resume read as one application. In an email, leave it out; your name and number go in the signature, as in the email template above.
How to sign a cover letter
In the US, “Sincerely,” followed by your name is the most widely used sign-off for a letter; “Best regards,” is fine in an email. You do not need a handwritten signature on an upload: type your name under the sign-off, and sign by hand only if you print and post the letter. The UK has its own rule, covered in the UK section below.
Google Docs cover letter template
Every template on this page works in Google Docs: open a blank Google Doc, paste the one you chose, and change the font to match your resume. Docs keeps the line breaks, so the letter is editable line by line, and no add-on is needed. When it is done, use File > Download > PDF document (.pdf) to save the copy you will upload.
Free cover letter template for Word and PDF
If you searched for a free cover letter template download, there is nothing to install: each template above has a copy button, so you get the whole letter in one click, with no account to make. Then put it where you will edit it:
- Word. Every template is plain text, so each one pastes straight into Word. Paste it into a blank Word document and set your resume's font; that is all the setup it needs.
- PDF. To make a PDF, finish the letter in Word or Docs and save it as a PDF; most online applications accept one.
Every template here is plain, editable text, so change anything that does not sound like you. If you would rather not start from a blank page, the maker at the top of the page lets you create a cover letter from the job, your details and one achievement, and gives it back as text to copy or as a PDF, free and without signing in.
Cover letter design: keep it plain
You will see a designer cover letter in search results: colour bands, icons, a photo of the writer, often shown as an image of a cover letter. These cover letter designs look good in a gallery but are a poor fit for a job application, because text inside images, text boxes and columns is the part most likely to be misread or skipped when an applicant tracking system pulls the words out of your file. A plain letter in your resume's font keeps every word readable by the person and by the system. If you want a stronger look, spend it on a clean resume template, not the letter.
Cover page for a resume: do you need one?
People who search for a cover page for a resume, or for resume cover page templates, usually want the one-page letter that goes with it, and that is what the templates above are. A separate title page with only your name and the job adds little, since the top block of the letter already says both. If a posting asks for a cover page or cover sheet, read it closely: when it names a cover letter, send a letter; when it asks for a form, fill in that form.
Cover letter for a fresher or first job
Writing a cover letter for a job as a fresher, or for any job with no work history, leans on what you did instead of where you worked: a project, a part-time shift, a club you ran. Use the entry-level template and put one concrete result in the second paragraph. The same goes for a college cover letter: say which course and which result match the posting.
UK cover letter template: the sign-off rule
British letters follow a sign-off rule, set out by the National Careers Service: if you know the name of the person you are writing to, end with “Yours sincerely”; if you began “Dear Sir or Madam”, end with “Yours faithfully”. The UK template above shows both, and it is a free cover letter template UK employers will find familiar. In the UK it is often called a covering letter, and it goes with a CV rather than a resume.
Sending it as an email
A cover letter can be the email itself: the National Careers Service notes you can write it as an email when you apply online. Put the job title and your name in the subject line, keep the body to the short version, and attach your resume as a PDF, or as a Word file if the posting asks for one.
Cover letter examples and templates by job
When a general template is not specific enough, the free cover letter examples by job show a finished letter with the right skills already in it, so you can see a finished letter for your field before you fill in a template. Looking for an example cover letter for a resume in one job? Start there. A short cover letter example for an online form is in the templates above. For a long list, start with the cover letter examples by job, then come back here for the template that fits your situation.
Before you send it
- Check that the company name and the hiring manager's name are spelled correctly, and that no [brackets] are left.
- Use the words the job posting uses for the skills you mention.
- Read it aloud once; awkward sentences are easier to hear than to see.
- Keep a copy: the National Careers Service points out that interviewers may ask you about it.
Sources
Checked on 5 October 2026.