Writing a cover letter might be one of those things that make you want to bang your head on your keyboard.
Fortunately, though, addressing a cover letter is a piece of cake (we’ll help you with the other bits in a different article).
In this short article, we’ll walk you through how to address a cover letter effectively and easily, with examples, and then we’ll guide you through the specific parts of each cover letter address area in more detail.
Want to showcase yourself in the best way possible to future employers or universities? Sign up to Goodwall!
Download the app now to get started!
Here’s an example of how to address a cover letter:
Your First & Last Name
Your Address Line 1
Your Address Line 2
Jessica Schwartz
Human Resources Manager
Name of Prospective Company
Prospective Company Address Line 1
Prospective Company Address Line 2
And there you have it!
As you can see from the cover letter address sample above, it’s really quite simple. Feel free to copy and paste that into your cover letter opening and tweak to your needs!
Next, we’ll go into detail about each of the various subsections of the cover letter address area.
At the very top of your cover letter, in what’s called the cover letter header, you’ll place your contact details.
As we showed you above, it’s quite simple:
Your First & Last Name
Your Address Line 1
Your Address Line 2
If you want, you can include your phone number or email address, as well.
Cover letters follow a business letter or formal letter format, but, you don’t have to necessarily stick to the styling of the example above. If you have a stylized heading with your name and contact details from your resume contact information section, feel free to use the same heading here!
However, for the remainder of the cover letter, stick as close to the business letter format as possible.
The entirety of addressing a cover letter is quite simple, and that’s true for the date as well.
Here’s how to add a date on a cover letter:
January 31, 2022
Just remember to leave a line break space both above and below the date to keep things looking neat and organized.
After the date, it’s time to add the recipient’s information, also known in formal letter writing as the “inside address.”
As we showed you above, here’s how to write the company’s info:
Jessica Schwartz
Human Resources Manager
Name of Prospective Company
Prospective Company Address Line 1
Prospective Company Address Line 2
We start with the name of the person you are addressing the cover letter to, usually the HR manager or hiring supervisor, followed by their official title at the company. Do your best to find someone’s name so it is tailored by researching the company and its LinkedIn profile.
If you still can’t find someone’s name, simply put “Hiring Manager” or “ATTN: Hiring Manager” above the company name and address.
The last part of the cover letter address section before reaching the body is the salutation.
And here’s how simple that is:
You can tweak that a bit, if you prefer not to use “dear,” for example. You could also choose to use their last name (“Dear Ms. Schwartz”) or their full name. However, in most cases, I think the first name is most powerful (and we’re in the 2020s now, as well).
Finally, use a colon after the name and you’re through!
Well, that’s it for our guide on how to address a cover letter, and we hope it helps answer all your questions about addressing cover letters right. Got any further questions or feedback about how to format the address on a cover letter? Let us know below in the comments, and thanks for reading!
If you want more stories like this, a dose of inspiration, an awesome support network, and a place to share ideas and achievements, the Goodwall app has it all and more.
Written By Christian EilersChristian Eilers is a writer and expert on the topics of education, entrepreneurship, career advice, travel, and culture. On the Goodwall Blog, he covers topics including self-improvement, social impact, college preparation, career development, climate action, and more. Christian is originally from New York City and now resides in Kyiv, Ukraine after living in Warsaw, Poland for the past 4 years. At his desk, you're sure to find Pickwick, his Devon Rex cat, either attacking his fingers as he types or the monitor as the mouse pointer moves around.
thank you for this article, Goodwall! It’s easy, simple, and so useful for me, because I search for a job right now and have to send out many cover letters. Wish me luck 🙂
Christian Eilers says:Thanks for your comment, Anastasia, and for stopping by! I’m so happy if it helped, and I wish you the best of luck on your job search!
We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners who may combine it with other information that you’ve provided to them or that they’ve collected from your use of their services.
Privacy & Cookies PolicyWhen you visit any web site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalised experience. You can learn more details about Goodwall Cookie Policy here.
Always EnabledThese cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms.
You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personal information.
