How to Write a Job Application Letter (Example and Template)
An application letter asks for a specific job and proves you fit it in one page. Here is the structure, a full example, and a template to copy.
A job application letter has one job: get the reader to open your CV with a reason to say yes. It names the role, proves you fit it with two or three specific examples, and asks for an interview. Everything else is optional.
This guide covers how it differs from a cover letter, the structure that works, a full example, and a template you can copy.
Application letter or cover letter?
In most hiring the two words mean the same thing: a letter that goes with your CV and makes the case for one role. The difference is regional and about formality.
| Application letter | Cover letter | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the term is common | Much of Africa and Asia, and public sector hiring | US, UK, Canada, Australia |
| Tone | Often more formal, can include your address and the date | Formal but plain, usually sent by email or upload |
| Can it stand alone? | Sometimes, when the employer asks for a letter only | Almost always sent with a CV |
| What it must do | Ask for a named role and prove you fit it | The same |
If a posting asks for an application letter, follow its instructions on format first. Everything below works for both.
The structure
Heading and greeting
Your name and contact details, the date, and the employer's name and address if the letter is formal or printed. Then 'Dear' and the person's name, or 'Dear Hiring Manager'.
Opening: the role and your strongest reason
Name the exact job title and where you saw it. In the next sentence, give the one fact that makes you worth reading: your current role, a relevant result, or a qualification the posting asks for.
Middle: two or three pieces of evidence
Pick the requirements the posting stresses most and answer each with something you did and what came of it. Use the posting's own words for the skills.
Why this employer
One or two sentences on why this company or team, with a detail that shows you read about them. It stops the letter reading like one you sent everywhere.
Close: ask for the interview
Say you would like to discuss the role, mention your CV is attached, and sign off with 'Yours sincerely' if you used a name, or 'Kind regards'.
A worked example
Target role: Accounts Assistant at a logistics company. The posting asks for accounts payable experience, reconciliations, Excel, and attention to detail.
Notice what it does. The role is named in the first line. Each requirement from the posting gets a specific answer with a number. The 'why this company' part is one sentence with a real detail. There is no line that could be pasted into a letter for a different job.
A template you can copy
Replace every bracket. If you cannot fill one with something true and specific, cut that paragraph rather than filling it with general claims.
Phrases to cut
- 'I am writing this letter to apply for...' The reader knows. Start with the role.
- 'I believe I am the perfect candidate.' Show why instead. Let the evidence make the claim.
- 'Hardworking, dedicated and a team player.' Every applicant writes this. Replace it with one thing you did.
- Repeating your CV line by line. The letter explains why your history fits this job. The CV lists it.
- 'To whom it may concern.' Find a name, or use 'Dear Hiring Manager'.
Let the posting write half of it
The hardest part of an application letter is choosing which requirements to answer and matching your experience to them. The posting already lists the requirements. You only need to find your evidence for each.
The AI cover letter generator reads the posting and your CV and drafts a letter that answers its requirements with your own experience. It works for application letters too. Edit the draft so it sounds like you, and check every example is true.
Draft the letter and tailor the CV together
Paste the job link and FitMyCV rewrites your CV against that posting and writes the matching letter, keeping your real experience and your real numbers.
The checklist
- Name the exact job title in the first line.
- Answer two or three of the posting's main requirements with a result each.
- Use the posting's words for the skills.
- Add one specific reason for this employer.
- Keep it to one page and ask for an interview.
