The admin involved in finding a job can be tough. Not only do you spend time perfecting different versions of your resume, but you also have application forms to fill out too. The last piece of the puzzle is crafting a cover letter as the perfect introduction to your job pitch.

If writing a cover letter is a challenge or frustration for you, online cover letter templates can speed up the time to hire!

What Is a Cover Letter?

A cover letter is the front cover of your job application, which sits on top of your resume. While you might send out identical copies of your resume to multiple companies you're applying to, your cover letter should be specifically tailored to each job.

This gives you an opportunity to highlight areas of your background a potential employer might be interested in. The document also gives recruiters a taste of what it would be like to work with you.

A cover letter can help you stand out from the crowd, and break away from the basic details of your skills and qualifications. You can use this opportunity to inject a little more personality into your resume pitch.

Essential elements of a cover letter include:

• Your contact details.
• The name of the hiring manager.
• Where you found the vacancy.
• Why you're the best person for the job.
• What you can bring to the role.
• Your knowledge of the company.
• A sign-off, thanking the hiring manager for the opportunity.

Why Cover Letters Are Important

Writing a cover letter can sometimes feel like a waste of your time–you might even be wondering if anyone is actually going to read it. But in a 2020 survey, ResumeGo revealed that 87% of hiring managers and recruiters read cover letters, particularly when:

• Candidates have been selected to progress to the next hiring stage
• Candidates are on the border of moving to the next stage
• Questions are raised by a candidate’s resume.

Don’t be tempted to skip sending a cover letter with your application. If it’s a requirement of the job application, you don’t want to put out a message to a potential employer that you can’t follow simple instructions. Instead, you can save time on your application by using a cover letter template.

5 Cover Letter Templates to Land Your Dream Job Faster

A template helps you understand exactly where each component should be placed within your cover letter. Although the text must be customized towards the company you're applying to work at, an online template will help you to organize the main points.

1. Venngage

Venngage provides a platform for creatives to produce infographics, brochures, and cover letters. With its intuitive interface, you don't need any design skills to make your cover letter stand out for all the right reasons.

It's free to sign up for Venngage, but premium members have access to more than 40 cover letter templates. However, there are some excellent free versions with the option to include a photo for extra customization.

You can easily change the colors, fonts, and add your own signature to the letter. This will be stored within the “Designs” section of the Venngage platform, and you can download it as required.

2. Canva

Canva is a popular graphic design platform, packed with templates for presentations, posters, documents, and other visual content. Once registered in Canva, it's free to create a cover letter to level up your career. However, more templates are available if you're a Canva Premium member.

To get started, type "Cover letter" into the templates search facility.

Select a style you like, then modify elements like the color, fonts, headline, and layout. You can also paste your text into the body of the letter. Once ready, download your cover letter for free, as a PNG, JPG, or PDF file as required.

3. Resume Companion

Resume Companion uses a quick wizard to take you through career-related questions to create your cover letter. You’ll provide answers to:

• Do you have work experience?
• Did you graduate from college, and when?
• What was your previous job title and company worked for?
• How many years of work experience do you have?
• What are your professional skills?
• Do you want to explain any work gaps?
• What is your skill set?
• Which word describes you?
• How would others describe you?
• What position are you applying for?

Based on your answers, the wizard will generate a cover letter, which you can personalize further by adding your contact details and information about the company and position you're applying for.

When you’re ready to download your cover letter, you’ll be introduced to their payment plan page. You can get started with a 14-day trial for $1.95.

4. Kick Resume

The Kick Resume platform offers a wide range of free cover letter templates that you can filter by industry type.

Once you’ve chosen your template, you’ll fill in your details in the fields provided, including your signature. In the letter body field, you’ll also have the option to choose from 23,324 pre-written phrases for more than 3,200 job titles.

Example: A freelance designer might choose “Archive, organize, and update graphic files” as one of your job responsibilities.

You’ll design your cover letter based on colors, fonts, before proofreading it. To download, you have the choice of saving it as a PDF or Word attachment. Alternatively, you can send it to email, save it to Dropbox, or to Google Drive.

5. Zety

Zety’s cover letter builder takes less than 5 minutes. The cover letter builder takes you through a wizard to answer questions based on your strengths, your skills, and your working style. This helps the template to personalize the tone of your letter.

Before finalizing your letter, you’ll choose whether your style is:

• Artistic
• Enterprising
• Investigative
• Organized
• Practical
• Service-oriented.

This will generate a template for you to edit further before downloading your finished cover letter. You can choose to download, print, or email your cover letter, but will be prompted for payment first. A 14-day trial is available to give you a test run.

Start Customizing Your Cover Letter Today

As a key component of your job application, don’t overlook the importance of a cover letter. It can help to attract the attention of a recruiter and makes a powerful opening statement for hiring managers to consider.

If you’re low on inspiration or need to create multiple versions of your cover letter, then a template is a useful way to try out several styles and layouts. Don’t forget to keep track of your job search, so you know which cover letter and resume template combination are producing the best results.