The GridOPPORTUNITY GRID

Cover Letter Mastery

Explain in one page why you and why them — no fluff.

9 min read·0/5 sections done
After this lesson you'll be able to
  • Understand what a cover letter is really for
  • Structure a letter in four short paragraphs
  • Prove genuine motivation with specifics, not adjectives
Section 1

What a cover letter is really for

Your CV proves you can do the job. Your cover letter proves you actually want this one. They’re a matched pair — send the CV on its own and half the story is missing.

The point isn’t to repeat your CV in prose. It’s to give the recruiter one clear reason why you and one clear reason why them. One page. Four paragraphs. Zero clichés.

When you’re happy with this section, tick it off.
Section 2

The four-paragraph structure

  1. Opening — the role, where you heard about it, one crisp sentence on why you’re writing.
  2. Why them — one specific thing about this firm that pulled you in. A recent piece of work, a team, a product decision, a stance.
  3. Why you — two or three real experiences that map onto what they’ve asked for. Not everything you’ve ever done.
  4. Close — a plain line offering to interview, a thank-you, sign off.
Weak

"I am passionate about your firm and would love to work there."

Better

"Your firm's advisory work on the Vodafone / Three merger showed the kind of cross-jurisdictional problem I've been drawn to since my LLM module on competition law."

Why this works — Names something specific, ties it to something you've actually done. This is evidence, not aspiration.

When you’re happy with this section, tick it off.
Section 3

A worked example, annotated

Below is a real-style cover letter for a 12-month engineering placement, written in the four-paragraph pattern. Roll over each line and notice why it works — the specifics, the ownership, the restraint.

Application for the GEN-11 12-month Professional Placement.

Dear Recruitment Team,
Note
Fine when there’s no named contact. ‘To whom it may concern’ feels dated.
I heard about your industrial placement through two of your current placement holders on LinkedIn. As a second-year Chemical Engineering student at the University of Manchester, I’m looking to spend a year turning my coursework into practical work, and your scheme is the one I want to do that on.
Why it works
Opens with how they found the role and states intent in one line. No pleading, no ‘passionate’.
What kept me reading your site was your emphasis on safety and process efficiency, and your recent case study on ethical feedstock sourcing. That mindset lines up with the design and lab discipline I’ve had to build in year one, and with my volunteer work with Engineers Without Borders — where I saw first-hand what happens when processes cut corners.
Why it works
‘Why them’ done properly: one specific piece of their content, tied to a genuine choice the writer has already made.
Of the essential criteria, my strongest areas are analytical problem-solving, innovative thinking and communicating across audiences. During our year-one design project I built an Excel pivot to compare and rank plant components against economic constraints, then presented the shortlist back to the team. My STEM ambassador work with local schools has forced me to strip the same ideas down for very different audiences, from A-level to Year 6 — which has made me a better communicator with colleagues too.
Why it works
‘Why you’ done properly: three specific examples, each mapped to one of their requirements, each with a concrete artefact (the pivot, the outreach).
Outside the course I’ve represented my year as class rep, and used the past year to shadow process engineers online — including during the pandemic when in-person visits weren’t possible. That’s where I saw how quickly you have to get up to speed with new processes in industry, and why sustainability keeps coming back to the top of the agenda.
Note
Optional. Only include if it adds something the CV doesn’t already prove.
I’d welcome the chance to talk further, in person or online. Thank you for considering my application.
Why it works
Polite, brief, no grovelling. Don’t promise to ‘bring value from day one’.
Yours faithfully,
Note
Use ‘Yours sincerely’ when you’ve addressed a named person; ‘Yours faithfully’ when you haven’t.
Adapted from a University of Manchester Careers Service example

The structure and beats above mirror a widely-shared placement letter published by the University of Manchester Careers Service. Use the pattern — don’t copy the words.

When you’re happy with this section, tick it off.
Section 4

Tone and voice

Professional but human. Read every sentence back out loud. If it sounds like a school essay, cut it. If it sounds like a LinkedIn thought-leader, cut it. If it sounds like ChatGPT, cut it twice.

Phrases to strike on sight

‘I am passionate about’, ‘dynamic and driven individual’, ‘proven track record’, ‘leverage my skillset’, ‘bring value from day one’. Every one of these is invisible to a recruiter — replace with one concrete thing you’ve actually done.

R
Recruiter thinking

"I read letters that sound like every other letter and I forget them by lunchtime. I remember the ones that sound like a real person who did their homework."

When you’re happy with this section, tick it off.
Section 5

Final checklist

Checklist · saved as you tick
0/7
When you’re happy with this section, tick it off.
In one line

Four paragraphs. One specific reason for them, two or three specific reasons for you, in a voice that sounds like a person.

Common questions

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CV Mastery
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Application Forms