A cover letter with no work experience is the same letter as any other. Four short paragraphs, under 250 words, about the role and the one thing that proves you can do it. The difference is where the proof comes from. It comes from a project, a course, a volunteer role or a part-time job, and the letter's job is to make that one thing sound like what it was: work, with a result. Do not write about potential. Write about the thing you made.
Key points
- Same four paragraphs: why this role, the one thing, what you would do first, the close.
- The one thing is a project, a volunteer role, a course project or a part-time job, with a number.
- Never apologise for the years. The reader can count. Give them something else to count.
- Say what you want to learn first. A junior with a direction is easier to hire.
- Under 250 words. A first letter that runs long is a letter that is trying too hard.
The shape
| Paragraph | Says | Length |
|---|---|---|
| One | The role, and the thing about the work that is the reason | Two sentences |
| Two | The one thing you made or did, as a story with a number | Three or four sentences |
| Three | What you would do first, and what you want to learn first | Two sentences |
| Four | The close | One sentence |
Nobody hires on potential. Give the reader one thing to look at.
Where the one thing comes from
Four places, in rough order of weight.
- A project with users. The booking site a club runs on, the form a clinic adopted, the tool a friend's business uses. The number is users, bookings, hours saved.
- An internship or part-time work in the field. Even a summer. The number is what shipped.
- A volunteer role with a deliverable. The number is what changed for the organisation.
- A course project with a real result. Only if someone outside the course used it or measured it. The number is participants, or a before and after.
Part-time work outside the field counts when it carries a number about pace or responsibility: "200 customers a shift, trained four new starters". It says you turn up and handle load.
A template
Dear [name, or hiring team],
You are hiring a [role] to [the work, from the posting]. [One sentence on why that work is the one you want.]
[The one thing: what it was, who used it, what changed, with a number. Three or four sentences.]
I would start by [a first step that shows you read the posting]. The thing I most want to learn first is [a specific skill from the posting].
I would like to talk about the role, and I am free [when].
[Your name]
A full example
Dear hiring team,
You are hiring a junior product designer to work on the patient intake tools, and intake forms are the thing I have spent the last year on. They are the screen that decides whether the rest of the visit goes well.
For my final project I ran a usability study of the intake form at a Lisbon clinic: 24 patients, three rounds, and a redesign that the clinic adopted in June. Completion went from 61 to 84 percent in the first month after the change. Before that, two summers at a small studio, where I shipped two client sites and built the studio's first shared component library.
I would start by sitting with the intake desk for a week before touching a screen. The thing I most want to learn first is how your team runs its weekly testing, which the posting mentions and which I have only done on my own.
I would like to talk about the role, and I am free any afternoon this week.
Alex Rivera
That is 180 words. Every sentence is a fact, and three of them have numbers.
What to leave out
The sentence "although I have no professional experience". The reader has the resume. Saying it out loud puts it in the first line. Your grades, unless the posting asks. The list of modules. Your love of the company's mission, in those words. Anything that could be in any applicant's letter.
When the form asks a question instead
Many hiring systems replace the letter with a question in the form: "Why do you want this role?" or "Tell us about a project." The answer is paragraph two, or paragraphs one and two, in the box. Same facts, same number, shorter.
Tailor, on this site
Tailor writes the letter from the resume against the posting, so the one thing it picks is one that is on your resume. For a first-job resume, that means the project has to be written up as a role first, which the guide on a first resume shows. Then the letter has something to pick.
Questions
What if my one thing is small?
Small with a number beats large without one. "A booking site for a 140-member club" is small, and it is real, and it is yours.
Do I mention the degree?
One clause in paragraph one or two, as the source of the project: "for my final project". The degree is on the resume. The project is the letter.
How do I address it when there is no name?
"Dear hiring team". Never the old "whom it concerns" line.
Is it better to skip the letter when it is optional?
For a first role, no. The resume is short, and the letter is where the direction goes. Ten minutes with the template.
Can I reuse it?
Paragraph two stays. Paragraphs one and three change for every posting, because they name the role and the first step. The guide on tailoring has the same rule for the resume.