# How to Make an Application Letter for a Job

> How to make an application letter for a job, step by step: the format (addresses, date, subject line, greeting, three short paragraphs, sign-off), a full sample letter you can adapt, the email version, how to write it with no experience, and the mistakes that get it ignored.

An application letter (also called a cover letter) is the one-page letter you send with your CV to ask for a job. It is read in about thirty seconds, often before the CV, and it answers one question for the employer: why should we interview this person for this job? Here is how to make one that answers it, with the format, a full sample and the email version.

## The short answer

1. **Read the job advert and pick the two or three things it asks for most**, then find the proof in your own experience. The letter is built around those, not around your life story.
2. **Use the standard format**: your contact details, the date, the employer's name and address, a subject line naming the job, "Dear Mr Okafor" or "Dear Hiring Manager", three short paragraphs, "Yours sincerely" and your name.
3. **Paragraph one says which job and where you saw it**, and one line on why you fit. Do not start with "I am writing to apply"; start with the job and your strongest fact.
4. **Paragraph two gives two or three examples** that match what the advert asks for, each with a result or a number where you can.
5. **Paragraph three asks for the interview**, says when you are available, and thanks the reader. Mention the attached CV.
6. **Keep it to one page, three to four paragraphs, under 300 words**, read it aloud for mistakes, and send it as a PDF or in the body of the email, as the advert asks.

## What an application letter is for, and what it is not

Your CV lists what you have done. The application letter says why that makes you right for this particular job, in your own voice, and asks for the interview. It is the only part of the application where you speak directly to the employer, which is why a letter copied from a template and sent to fifty companies does nothing, and a short letter that clearly answers the advert gets read twice.

It is not a repeat of the CV, not a summary of your whole career, and not a request for sympathy. It is three short paragraphs: the job, the proof, the ask.

| Part | What it must do | Length |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Heading | Your contact details, the date, the employer's name and address, a subject line with the job title and any reference number. | Six to nine short lines |
| Greeting | A named person if the advert or the company website gives one; otherwise "Dear Hiring Manager". | One line |
| Paragraph 1 | The job, where you saw it, and your single strongest reason to be interviewed. | Two or three sentences |
| Paragraph 2 | Two or three examples from your experience, study or projects that match what the advert asks for. | Four to six sentences |
| Paragraph 3 | Ask for the interview, say when you can start or meet, mention the attached CV, thank them. | Two or three sentences |
| Sign-off | "Yours sincerely" (named person) or "Yours faithfully" (unnamed), your full name, and your signature if printed. | Three lines |

The names vary by country: application letter in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, India and the Philippines; cover letter in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia; motivation letter in parts of Europe. The content is the same everywhere, and the advert will usually tell you which word to use.

## The format, line by line

1. **Your details at the top.** Full name, phone number with the country code if you are applying abroad, a professional email address, and your city. On a printed letter add your postal address. Right-aligned or left-aligned both work; be consistent.
2. **The date.** Written in full to avoid confusion between day and month: 31 October 2026.
3. **The employer's details.** The hiring manager's name and title if you know them, the company name, and its address. If the advert gives only a company and an email, write the company name and the department.
4. **A subject line.** In bold or on its own line: "Application for the position of Customer Service Officer (Ref. CS-204)". Many companies sort applications by this line, so copy the job title exactly as the advert writes it.
5. **The greeting.** "Dear Ms Mwangi," if you have a name. Look on the advert, the company website and LinkedIn before giving up. Without a name, "Dear Hiring Manager," is correct everywhere. "To whom it may concern" sounds like a form letter; avoid it.
6. **Three paragraphs.** The job and your strongest fact; the proof; the ask. Each paragraph is short enough to read in one breath. No paragraph starts with "I" if you can avoid it, and the whole letter should not contain more than a handful of sentences starting with "I".
7. **The sign-off.** "Yours sincerely," when you used a name, "Yours faithfully," when you did not (the British convention; in the United States "Sincerely," covers both). Leave space for a signature on a printed letter, then type your full name. Under it, "Enclosure: CV" or "Attached: CV and certificates".

Use a plain font such as Arial or Calibri at 11 or 12 point, normal margins, and left-aligned text. One page, always. A letter that runs onto a second page says you could not decide what mattered.

## A full sample application letter

Grace is applying for a receptionist job at a dental clinic that asks for "excellent telephone manner, experience with appointment booking software, and a calm approach with anxious patients". She has one year of front-desk work at a hotel and a short customer service course. Her letter:

```
Grace Achieng
+254 7xx xxx xxx  |  grace.achieng@email.com  |  Nairobi

31 October 2026

Ms Lucy Wanjiru, Practice Manager
BrightSmile Dental Clinic
Westlands, Nairobi

Application for the position of Receptionist (BrighterJobs, ref. BSR-17)

Dear Ms Wanjiru,

I would like to be considered for the Receptionist position advertised on
BrighterJobs on 28 October. For the past year I have run the front desk of a
60-room hotel in Nairobi, handling around 80 calls and 40 check-ins a day, and
I would bring that same calm, organised welcome to your patients.

At the Savannah Court Hotel I book, change and confirm reservations in Opera,
a booking system very like the appointment software your advert mentions,
and I was trusted to train two new colleagues on it. Guests often arrive
tired or upset about a delayed flight; my manager's last review noted that I
"settle difficult arrivals without escalating them". I also completed a
six-week Customer Service Excellence course at the Kenya Institute of
Management in 2025, with a focus on telephone communication.

I would welcome the chance to show you in an interview how I would handle a
busy morning at your reception. I am available to meet at any time and could
start with two weeks' notice. My CV is attached. Thank you for considering
my application.

Yours sincerely,

Grace Achieng

Attached: CV
```

Notice what the letter does. Each of the three things the advert asked for gets one concrete example with a number or a quote. The hotel experience, which is not dental, is translated into the clinic's terms: calls, bookings, anxious people. Nothing is invented. And it is 230 words, which leaves the manager time to open the CV.

## How to write it with no experience

A fresh graduate, a school leaver or someone changing field has the same three paragraphs to fill; the proof simply comes from different places. Employers hiring for entry-level jobs expect this. What they do not forgive is a letter that only says "I am hardworking and a fast learner" with nothing behind it.

- **Use your studies as experience.** A final-year project, a laboratory course, a group assignment delivered on a deadline, a dissertation on a related topic. Say what you did and what came of it.
- **Use work that was not a job.** Volunteering, a family business, a church or community role, a sports team you organised, a shop you helped run on weekends. Running a youth group's accounts is bookkeeping experience.
- **Use attachments, internships and industrial training.** Even four weeks counts if you can name a task you completed.
- **Match the advert's qualities to a specific story.** "Attention to detail" becomes "I checked 300 survey forms for errors before data entry and found 14 that would have skewed the results".
- **Show you learned the job before applying.** One sentence that proves you read about the company or the role ("I noticed your clinic opened a second branch in Kisumu this year") shows more initiative than any adjective.
- **Say what you want to learn, briefly.** Entry-level employers hire for the next two years, not the first week. "I want to build a career in logistics and your graduate scheme is where I would like to start" is honest and useful to them.

## Sending it by email

Most applications now go by email or through a form, and the letter changes slightly. Read the advert first: it will say whether to attach the letter, paste it, or both. Follow that exactly; it is the first test of whether you can follow instructions.

1. **Subject line of the email.** The job title and your name, plus any reference: "Application for Receptionist (BSR-17): Grace Achieng". If the advert gives a subject line to use, copy it character for character.
2. **If the letter goes in the email body.** Drop the addresses and the date; start with the greeting. Keep the same three paragraphs, slightly shorter. End with your name, phone number and email under the sign-off, since there is no heading.
3. **If the letter is attached.** Save it as a PDF named with your name and the job: "Grace Achieng - Application Letter - Receptionist.pdf". The email body then holds three lines: the job you are applying for, that the letter and CV are attached, and your thanks.
4. **Attach the CV too, every time.** Also as a PDF, named the same way. Check both files open before you send.
5. **Send from a professional address and to the right person.** An address made of your name, not a nickname. Send one email per job; never a list of recipients. Then send nothing more unless they ask, except a short polite follow-up after about a week if the advert gave no date.

If you are asked to hand-deliver or post a printed letter, which is still common for public-sector and some school and hospital jobs, print on plain white paper, sign in ink above your typed name, and keep a copy.

## Mistakes that get an application letter ignored

- **The same letter for every job.** Employers recognise it in the first line. Ten minutes to rewrite paragraph two for the advert is the best-paid ten minutes of the search.
- **Repeating the CV.** The letter picks two or three things and explains why they matter for this job; it does not list everything again.
- **Starting with "I am writing to apply for..."** They know. Start with the job and your strongest fact.
- **Adjectives without proof.** Hardworking, passionate, dynamic, a team player. One example beats five adjectives.
- **The wrong company or job title in the letter.** The commonest result of copying and pasting, and the quickest way into the bin. Read the letter once just for names.
- **Spelling and grammar errors**, especially in the subject line and the greeting. Read it aloud, then have someone else read it.
- **Too long.** More than one page, or more than four paragraphs, is not read.
- **Begging or over-apologising.** "I really need this job" and "I know I do not have all the requirements but" both ask the reader to feel sorry for you. State what you offer.
- **Claiming something that is not true.** It is checked at interview, and it ends the application there.

## Your application letter checklist

1. Read the advert; list the two or three things it asks for most and find your proof for each.
2. Heading: your details, the date in full, the employer's details, a subject line with the exact job title and reference.
3. "Dear Ms Wanjiru" if you can find a name; "Dear Hiring Manager" if not.
4. Paragraph 1: the job, where you saw it, your strongest fact. Not "I am writing to apply".
5. Paragraph 2: two or three examples that match the advert, each with a result or number. From study, volunteering or projects if you have no job experience.
6. Paragraph 3: ask for the interview, say when you are available, mention the attached CV, thank them.
7. "Yours sincerely" or "Yours faithfully", your full name, "Attached: CV". One page, under 300 words.
8. Read it aloud, check every name, save as a PDF named with your name and the job, and send with the CV exactly as the advert asks.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the difference between an application letter and a cover letter?

Nothing in content: both are the one-page letter sent with a CV to ask for a job. "Application letter" is the usual term in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, India and the Philippines; "cover letter" in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Use whichever word the advert uses. A letter of application sent when no job is advertised is sometimes called a speculative or unsolicited letter and follows the same format.

### How long should an application letter be?

One page, three to four paragraphs, between 200 and 300 words. Hiring managers read it in about thirty seconds and then decide whether to open the CV. If yours runs onto a second page, cut the paragraph that does not answer the advert.

### How do I write an application letter with no experience?

Use the same three paragraphs and take the proof from your studies, projects, volunteering, internships or industrial attachment, family business or community roles. Match each quality the advert asks for to one specific story with a result, show one thing you learned about the company, and say briefly what you want to build. Never pad it with adjectives like "hardworking" without an example.

## Know the gap before you write the letter

In the LoWisa app, Jobs lists openings for your country and city and gives you a verdict before you apply: whether the job fits you now, the one gap, and what to fix. Résumé then tailors your CV to that listing without inventing anything and exports it as PDF or Word, so the letter and the CV say the same thing. The Career tab is in the app on Google Play and the App Store; your first CV is free.

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Source: https://lowisa.dev/guides/how-to-make-an-application-letter-for-a-job/ · Updated 2026-10-31