In short
- Start with a greeting to a named person if you can find one: ‘Dear Ms Patel,’ rather than ‘Dear Sir or Madam,’.
- Your first paragraph names the job, the reference number and where you saw the advert, then gives one reason you fit.
- Open with something specific: a result with a figure, a recent fact about the employer, or the person who referred you.
- Avoid ‘To whom it may concern’, ‘My name is…’ and claims such as ‘I am the perfect candidate’ that nobody can check.
On this page
- How to start a cover letter in the UK: what goes at the top
- What your opening paragraph must say
- How to start a cover letter: 7 openings with examples
- Opening lines to avoid, and what to write instead
- How to start a covering letter with little or no experience
- How to start a cover letter sent by email
- How to start a cover letter with Kandiq
- Questions
How to start a cover letter in the UK: what goes at the top
The start of a cover letter is more than its first sentence. Before the reader reaches your opening paragraph, they see four things, in this order:
- Your details: name, town or city, email and phone number. A full postal address is optional when you apply online.
- The date and the employer's details: the recruiter's name and job title, the company and town, if you know them.
- A reference line: ‘Re: Marketing Assistant, ref. MA-2207’, so the letter reaches the right pile.
- The greeting: ‘Dear Mr Reid,’ when you have a name, a job title such as ‘Dear Hiring Manager,’ when you do not.
Choosing the greeting has its own rules, covered in our guide on how to address a cover letter. The rest of this page is about the part that follows: the opening paragraph.
What your opening paragraph must say
UK careers services agree on the basics. The National Careers Service says to introduce yourself and explain how you found the advertised job, with the job title and the reference number if there is one. Prospects adds when you are available to start. The University of Oxford Careers Service gives a good reason to say where you saw the advert: it tells the employer which of their advertising sources are working.
- The job: the exact title from the job advert, and the reference number.
- Where you found it: Indeed, Reed, LinkedIn, the employer's careers site, a careers fair, or the person who referred you.
- Who you are now, in a few words: ‘a final-year law student at Leeds’, ‘a payroll officer with six years in retail’.
- One reason you fit, the hook that makes the reader want the next paragraph.
That fits in two or three sentences. If you are writing speculatively, without an advert, the National Careers Service suggests saying what sort of job you are looking for instead.
How to start a cover letter: 7 openings with examples
The first line is your hook. Pick the opening that matches your strongest card, then add the job title and the advert. All names and companies below are fictional.
In the last twelve months I cut the time our accounts team takes to close the month from eight days to five. I would like to bring that experience to the Finance Officer role at Harrowgate Homes (ref. FO-118), advertised on Reed.
Your plan to open three new clinics in West Yorkshire next year caught my eye, because I helped set up a new site for my current practice in 2025. I am applying for the Practice Manager post advertised on your careers page.
Sarah Collins, who leads your data team, suggested I apply for the Junior Analyst role after we met at my university's autumn careers fair. I am in the final year of a maths degree at the University of Leeds and graduate in July 2027.
Your advert for a Customer Service Team Leader asks for someone who can calm difficult conversations and coach new starters. I have done both every week for three years at a busy contact centre in Cardiff, where I train every new adviser on our team.
After eight years as a primary school teacher, I am moving into learning design, and I have just completed a certificate in instructional design. Your Learning Designer role (ref. LD-031) is exactly where I want to apply both.
A site engineer on a housing scheme spends as much time with subcontractors as with drawings. On my placement year with a regional contractor, I ran the weekly coordination meeting for 14 trades, and I am applying for your Graduate Site Engineer scheme.
I am writing to ask whether you will be recruiting trainee surveyors this spring. I read about your new office in Nottingham on your website, and I would like to start my career with a firm that works on the city's listed buildings.
Each one names something you did or know, not just a feeling. ‘I was excited to see your vacancy’ could open any letter to any employer; ‘your plan to open three new clinics’ could only open this one. The full letter below shows the opening in place.
Example letter
Example
Chloe Bennett
Bristol
chloe.bennett@example.com
07700 900382
10 November 2026
Ms Laura Grant
Head of Marketing
Severnside Leisure
Bristol
Re: Marketing Assistant, ref. MA-2207
Dear Ms Grant,
In my placement year at a Bristol design agency, I wrote the monthly newsletter for three clients and lifted its average open rate from 21% to 34%. I would like to do the same for Severnside Leisure as your Marketing Assistant (ref. MA-2207), the role advertised on LinkedIn last week. I graduate in July and can start in August.
Your advert asks for someone who can plan social media content and report on it. At the agency, I planned a three-month Instagram calendar for a gym chain, wrote the posts and sent the client a short report every Friday. Followers grew by 1,800 over the campaign, and the client renewed for a year.
I also know your centres as a customer: I have swum at your Kingswood pool for years, and I noticed that your summer holiday camps sell out within days of being announced. I would enjoy finding new ways to fill your quieter autumn courses as quickly.
My CV, attached, gives more detail on my degree and placement. Thank you for considering my application. I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
Chloe Bennett
Opening lines to avoid, and what to write instead
| Instead of | Why it is weak | Try |
|---|---|---|
| To whom it may concern, | Reads as if you made no effort to find a name | Dear Ms Patel, or Dear Hiring Manager, |
| Hi there, / Hey, | Too casual for a job application | Dear Mr Reid, |
| My name is Tom Harris and… | Your name is already at the top and under your signature | Start with the job or with a result |
| I am writing to apply for the position. | Says nothing on its own: which position, seen where? | I am applying for the Office Manager post (ref. OM-42) advertised on Indeed. |
| I am the perfect candidate for this role. | A claim nobody can check | A fact: ‘I manage the diary for four dentists and 120 calls a day.’ |
| I am passionate about marketing. | Every other applicant says it | What you did: ‘I grew our society's Instagram from 300 to 2,000 followers.’ |
| I know I don't have much experience, but… | Opens on a weakness | Lead with what you do have: a placement, a project, a Saturday job |
How to start a covering letter with little or no experience
Students, school leavers and people returning to work can open just as strongly. Start with the course, the project or the part-time job that is closest to the role, and give it a number.
I am applying for the Apprentice Administrator role at Kirkdale Council, advertised on the Find an apprenticeship service. I have just finished my A levels in business and English, and for two years I have run the bookings for my local football club's 120 junior members.
After four years at home with my children, I am returning to office work and applying for your part-time Payroll Assistant post (ref. PA-221). Before my break I processed weekly pay for 250 staff, and I have just refreshed my skills with a payroll course.
For full letters, see our sample cover letter for a job application and our internship cover letter samples.
How to start a cover letter sent by email
When the email is your cover letter, the subject line does the job of the reference line: the job title, the reference number and your name. The greeting stays formal, and the first line gets straight to the point.
Subject: Marketing Assistant application, ref. MA-2207, Chloe Bennett
Dear Ms Grant,
I am applying for the Marketing Assistant role advertised on LinkedIn. In my placement year at a Bristol agency I wrote the monthly newsletter for three clients and lifted its open rate from 21% to 34%. My CV is attached.
How to start a cover letter with Kandiq
Kandiq's cover letter generator writes a first draft from the job advert and your CV, and you edit it sentence by sentence (2 AI credits per letter, 5 credits when you sign up). The greeting and the sign-off sit in their own fields, which the AI never writes: put the recruiter's name in the greeting and choose the sign-off that matches it.
Before you send, the review checks the letter without any AI. Two of its checks matter most for the opening: how many sentences start with ‘I’, and filler phrases such as ‘team player’, ‘passionate about’ or ‘perfect candidate’, each flagged so you can replace it with something you did. It also checks that the company is named in the body and that the letter fits on one page. You read the full letter and its review before paying anything; downloading it as a PDF or Word file is part of Kandiq Pro.
Frequently asked questions.
Sources
About the author
Diego Benitez
Founder of Kandiq, more than 100 hires led
Diego Benitez has hired more than a hundred people, in marketing, sport and sales, as a manager at Intersport and then as Head of Growth at Goodvest (2022 to 2026). He ran those hiring processes from start to finish: screening applications, interviews, the hiring decision, then managing the team. He also knows the candidate's side: internships, work-study, student jobs, a permanent contract, starting an agency, then freelancing. He built Kandiq to give candidates what he looked for in an application himself, and what screening software can read. His guides start from the questions candidates ask Google, rely on official public sources (government employment and careers services, employment law) and are updated when the rules change. The examples are fictional; the figures are sourced.
