What the cover letter should include

The content of the cover letter is crucial for the success of your job application. A well-written, personalised cover letter is often decisive for an invitation to a job interview. But how exactly can you create a convincing cover letter?

Is there a guide for what a cover letter should include?

You can find numerous templates for cover letters on the internet. Their main purpose is to help you standardise the design. However, since individualised content is essential for a convincing job application, it is advisable to adapt the templates to your personal situation.

What should be included in a cover letter?

The content of the cover letter should focus on information and facts that are relevant to the position in question. This includes items such as your motivation, your connection to the company, as well as key professional experience and soft skills.

How do I compose the content of the cover letter?

• Begin the text of your cover letter with an introduction. This is where you describe your motivation: What excites you about this particular job offer? What do you hope to achieve by taking on this job?
• This is followed by the body of the cover letter, where you begin by outlining your professional qualifications. In this section, you highlight relevant stages from your CV and illustrate them with examples from your day-to-day work.
• In the last section of the cover letter, you describe specific skills such as PC or language skills as well as soft skills, if they are relevant to the position. This is followed by the earliest possible starting date and (if explicitly requested) your salary requirements. In the final sentence, you should emphasise your interest in a personal interview.

To whom do I address the cover letter?

The address in the cover letter should always be the same as the one provided in the job advertisement. Ideally, you will also be given a contact person to whom you should address your job application.

If no specific name is mentioned in the job offer, it may be worthwhile to make a preliminary phone call and find out who the contact person is. This demonstrates initiative, problem-solving skills, and commitment. Only in rare cases should you use the impersonal form of address, "Dear Sir or Madam". If the job advert mentions two contact persons, always address both of them in the cover letter.

What does a convincing introduction to a cover letter include?

Well-written cover letters start with an introduction that relates directly to the company. Doing so signals that you have given the company some thought. General phrases such as "I am hereby applying for the position of ..." are a taboo.

You should keep the introduction as brief as possible and provide a coherent transition to the main section: The easier it is to find the key qualifications, the quicker the reader will learn the essentials about you. If you have already spoken to the employer on the phone or at a career fair, you should refer to this in the first sentence.

How do I correctly state my salary requirements in my cover letter?

Many cover letter templates contain a line about salary expectations. However, you should only include this if it is required in the job advertisement. Particularly in the case of standard salaries, such as those negotiated by German trade unions ("Tariflohn"), you may even attract negative attention by stating your expectations, as the salary is fixed in this case.


There are essentially three ways to include your salary expectations in your cover letter:
• specifying a specific amount
• citing a salary range
• referring to a negotiation in the job interview

Figures in the cover letter: What should I bear in mind?

Firstly, you should always state an annual salary - at least for positions that are permanent or for longer than a year. This emphasises your commitment to the company in the long term and covers the issue of additional payments. In fact, some companies pay holiday and Christmas bonuses or even extra pay.

Secondly, you should always state round figures, for example a gross annual salary of 36,000 euros.

Many recruiters prefer to hear specific figures. Offhand phrases such as "I am willing to negotiate my salary expectations", by contrast, suggest that you would accept the job at any price.

Which closing sentence is best in a cover letter?

The best closing sentence is one that actively asks for a job interview. It can be something along the lines of: "I look forward to being invited to a personal interview." Some sample cover letters found on the internet offer useful variations that are perfectly suitable as closing formulas.

What does "attachments" in the cover letter mean?

In the past, it was customary to list all enclosed documents in full within the cover letter. This is why many examples of cover letters on the internet still contain the term "attachments". However, this requirement has long been outdated. Instead, you are now free to explicitly refer to the attachments or not.

As the cover letter is obviously followed by other documents, it is pointless to mention the attachments separately. However, referring to them is by no means a fatal error. The same applies to the list of attachments: although it is likewise outdated, it does not usually lead to the job application being rejected if it is included anyway.

Above all, the professional qualifications and evidence in the form of appropriate references remain important. Whether or not the attachments are mentioned is generally irrelevant.