Job Application Letter Format
Applies for a specific advertised post.
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Dear Sir / Madam,
I wish to apply for the post of [post].
[why you are suited to it]
In support of this: [what you bring]. My curriculum vitae is enclosed and I can attend an interview at short notice.
What is a Job Application Letter?
A job application letter is the letter or email that goes with your CV when you apply for a specific advertised post. It matters because the CV lists what you have done and the letter says why any of it is relevant to this vacancy — and in public-sector and academic recruitment, a letter that fails to quote the right reference number can be filed against the wrong competition or never registered at all.
Everyone applying for work uses one, in three different shapes. A formal printed letter, with a reference number and a full address block, is still standard for government, public-sector and academic applications. In private-sector hiring the letter is usually the body of the email carrying the CV. Online portals often provide a cover-letter field, which is the same document pasted into a box. Read the advert to see which shape is wanted before you choose a format.
What belongs in it varies by country. In the UK, Ireland, the US, Canada and Australia, applications normally omit a photograph, date of birth, marital status and gender, and some employers strip that information before shortlisting to reduce bias, so including it can look out of step. In India and parts of Europe and the Middle East, more personal detail has historically been expected. Public-sector recruitment often prescribes exactly what an application must contain and how it is scored — check the advert and the employer's application guidance.
The letter is not the CV in prose. If it repeats your employment history you have used a page to say nothing new. It does not replace an application form: where a government body or public authority issues a form, the form is the application and the letter merely accompanies it. It is not a reference, and it commits nobody to anything. It also cannot fix a mismatch — no letter makes an applicant eligible for a post whose stated essential criteria they do not meet.
What to put in a Job Application Letter
These are the details this template asks for. Anything left blank is marked in red on the preview so you can see what is still missing.
| Field | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Issuing organisation | For example: Maple Grove Homeowners Association |
| Organisation address | For example: 1420 Kinnear Road, Columbus, OH 43212 |
| Role applied for | For example: Warehouse Supervisor |
| Where you saw it optional | For example: your careers page |
| Why this role | For example: I have run a goods-in and picking operation of a similar size for three years, and your… |
| What you bring | One per line |
| Issued to (full name) | For example: James Whitfield |
| Their address | For example: 588 Kinnear Road, Columbus, OH 43212 |
How to write a Job Application Letter
Quote the post and its reference number
First line: the exact job title as advertised, the reference or vacancy number, and where you saw it. Recruiters run several competitions at once and sort by reference. A letter that says only 'I wish to apply for the advertised position' has to be matched to a vacancy by hand, and in a public-sector process it may simply be rejected as incomplete.
Open with the match, not yourself
The paragraph after the reference should say what you bring to their problem, not narrate your career. 'You need someone who can run the year-end close for three entities; I have done that for four years in a group of similar size' is an opening. 'I am a hard-working professional seeking new challenges' tells the reader only that you have written this letter before.
Answer three of their stated requirements
Take the essential criteria from the advert and pick the three where your evidence is strongest. Give one short example for each: what the situation was, what you did, what changed as a result. Use their words for the requirement so a shortlister scoring against a grid can find it. Three criteria answered properly beats twelve answered thinly.
Handle notice, location and pay if asked
If the advert asks for salary expectations, a notice period or willingness to relocate, answer in one short paragraph near the end. Ignoring a direct question in an advert is often treated as a screening failure. Where you would rather discuss pay later, give a range and say it is open to discussion — a blank where a figure was requested reads as evasive.
Close with availability and a clean sign-off
State when you can start or attend an interview, note what is attached, and sign off with your full name and a phone number. Keep the whole thing to one page. Read it aloud once to catch what a spellchecker will not: a competitor's name left in, a job title from your previous application, the wrong pronoun for a named contact.
Common mistakes
- Retelling the whole CV in paragraphs, which wastes the one page where you could have argued relevance.
- Leaving out the advertisement or vacancy number, so a public-sector application is filed against the wrong competition or never registered.
- Writing 'Dear Sir or Madam' when the advert names a contact, which tells the reader you skimmed the advert you are answering.
- Sending a reused letter with a previous employer's name still in it, ending the application at the first paragraph.
- Sending your CV in a format the employer did not ask for, so the recruiter cannot open it and moves on to the next applicant.
Frequently asked questions
What is the correct format for a job application letter?
For a formal letter: your contact details, the date, the employer's name and address, a subject line with the post and reference, a salutation to a named person where possible, three or four short paragraphs, and a sign-off with your name and phone number. For email, the same content in the body with a subject line naming the post and reference.
How long should a job application letter be?
One page, or three to four short paragraphs in an email. Public-sector applications sometimes specify a word limit or a supporting statement of a set length — follow that instead. Where a form asks you to address each criterion separately, do exactly that rather than writing a general letter, because those forms are scored criterion by criterion.
What is the difference between a job application letter and a cover letter?
In practice they are the same document under two names. Job application letter is the more common term where a formal letter accompanies a paper or public-sector application; cover letter is more common in private-sector and online applications. If an advert asks for one and you send the other, nobody will notice, provided you answered what the advert actually asked.
Should I send the letter as an attachment or in the email body?
Follow the advert. If it asks for a letter and a CV as attachments, attach both as PDFs. If nothing is specified, put the letter in the email body and attach the CV — that way the recruiter reads your argument without opening anything. Do not do both with different text, which happens more often than you would expect.
How do I write a job application letter with no experience?
Argue from the evidence you do have: coursework projects, part-time work, volunteering, societies you ran, tools you taught yourself. Pick the requirements in the advert you can genuinely speak to and give one concrete example for each. Say plainly which parts you would be learning. A short, honest, specific letter beats a long, vague one padded with adjectives.
This page explains general practice and is not legal advice. Requirements differ between countries and, in some cases, between states — check what applies where the document will be used.