6 Short Cover Letter Samples & How to Write One

Sometimes, you need to write a short and concise cover letter. No bells, no whistles, few words, maximum effect. There are many reasons for this: maybe the job advert specified a short cover letter, you have 17 applications to send out today, or you don’t like writing.

These are all valid reasons. The trick to writing a short cover letter is not to cut anything out that could cost you that interview. There’s no point in sending a cover letter that’s not exactly as effective as you can possibly make it. Read on to uncover professional short cover letter examples for the UK and plenty of useful advice.

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6 short cover letter examples for UK jobs

#1 Short cover letter for an accountant

#2 Short cover letter for a nurse

#3 Short cover letter for a teacher

#4 Short cover letter for a fresh graduate

#5 Short cover letter for a sales assistant

#6 Short cover letter for an internship

How to write a short cover letter for the UK

Seeing professional short cover letter samples can help you get the gist of the process. However, having instructions you can rely on is even better. Follow the steps below and learn how to write a cover letter that’s short and concise:

1. Add a full header to your short cover letter

The header is completely fixed by the rigours of the standard UK business letter format. It stays the same whether your cover letter’s short or long. Laying it out properly is a cinch, though:

• Right-align: your full name, postal address, email, and phone number; leave a line and add the date of writing, then leave another line.
• Left-align: the hiring manager’s / recruiter’s name, job title, company name, and the company’s postal address.

Short cover letter sample—header

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2. Use a standard salutation in your short cover letter

There’s no making something like a simple greeting any shorter. The best way to start your short cover letter is with ‘Dear’ + the recruiter’s first name. Should you feel uncomfortable addressing someone significantly more senior than you in this way, you can always go with ‘Dear’ + their title and surname.

Always use ‘Ms’ for women who don’t have an academic title (unless you’re sure she prefers ‘Miss’ or ‘Mrs’) and ‘Mr’ for men in the same boat. Stay gender-neutral if you’re not sure of someone’s gender—you can do this by using ‘Dear’ + their full name if you don’t want to use their first name only.

What should you do if you don’t know to whom you’re addressing the cover letter? The short answer is: find out. The more helpful answer is: revisit the advert for clues, snoop around the company website, lurk around on LinkedIn, and if all else fails, give them a call and ask. It’ll make a world of difference.

In the very unlikely event that you can’t put a name to the recruiter’s role, then your only option is to address them by their role. For example, ‘Dear Hiring Manager’ or, better yet, ‘Dear Accounting Team Hiring Manager’—the more specific, the better. Avoid ‘To Whom It May Concern’ like the plague.

Short cover letter sample—salutation

3. Keep your short cover letter opening to the point

Your opening paragraph is like walking into the room, maintaining steady eye contact, and introducing yourself in a loud, clear voice. It’s the first impression you make, so make it a good one. Focus on doing these three things:

• Using the name of the company and the role to which you’re applying
• Showing your enthusiasm for the job
• Demonstrating what you could bring to the company and how you’re a good fit.

If you have relevant work experience to lean back on:

• Start with an achievement (see below)
• Show that it lines up with the company’s goals
• Explain how this is relevant to the company’s situation (if need be).

If you don’t have much experience:

• Start with your passion for the role and/or company
• Include a relevant achievement if you can (from your studies or volunteer work, for example)
• Include a belief statement through which you show that you’re a match for the company’s stated values and mission.

An achievement is basically a description of some of your actions at work and the benefits that flowed from those actions to your employer. These are often actions you take in response to a project, problem, or challenge. You can use something like the STAR (Situation-Task-Action-Result) method to help you generate achievements.

If you were referred to the role, then here is a good place to mention it. Having contacts and connections within the organisation is a good thing, and the fact that someone ‘on the inside’ thinks you should apply for the job also reflects well on you and suggests you might be a good match for the company.

This paragraph is usually between 40 and 80 words long—if you can do everything mentioned above using fewer words, then that’s even better.

Short cover letter examples for the UK—opening

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4. Showcase your achievements in a short cover letter

Aside from introducing you and accompanying your CV, showcasing your achievements is what a cover letter is for. This is the main part of your short cover letter. It can be one or two paragraphs long, but perhaps limiting yourself to a single paragraph will help keep your cover letter shorter.

The idea here is to show the recruiter what you have to offer their company by describing benefits you already brought to your current/previous employer. This is exactly like what you did in your opening paragraph, but more. Include 2–4 relevant and quantified achievements. Use bullet points to save space.

This part is usually 120–200 words long. The example below is packed with four fully-quantified accomplishments and comes in at a lightweight 68 words so that it can be done. Don’t skimp on words in this section, though—invest the time and energy to really polish your achievements.

Short cover letter main body paragraph example

5. Write a short cover letter wrap-up and drop in a CTA

In the last paragraph of your short cover letter sample, wrap up your achievements by tying up any loose ends. Link your accomplishments back to benefits you could bring to the company you’re applying to. This can be subtle and indirect, just as long as you don’t leave any accomplishments hanging with no obvious link to the company you’re applying to.

Thank your reader for considering your application. It’s good manners and could really work in your favour. Be sure to include a clear call to action (CTA), too. Express your eagerness to participate in an interview and perhaps take the initiative and offer a phone conversation as the next step.

This part is usually 40–60 words long, not including the thank-you and CTA. The short cover letter sample closing paragraph below is 40 words total.

Short and simple cover letter closing paragraph with CTA

I look forward to finding out more about how I can help JCDC continue to grow its business responsibly. Thank you for your consideration. Please do not hesitate to call or email if you have any questions in the meantime.

6. End your short cover letter with the right sign-off

It’s very much downhill from here, nothing’s easier than signing off. You only have two options to end your cover letter, and the choice is clear and simple:

• Use ‘Yours sincerely’ if you addressed the cover letter to a particular person by name
• Use ‘Yours faithfully’ if you didn’t, e.g. if you used ‘Dear Hiring Manager’ instead. 

Short cover letter example sign-off

What else to remember when writing a short cover letter?

Length

Making your cover letter as short as possible doesn’t mean ignoring proportion entirely. This is a typical cover letter breakdown:

• Opening paragraph: 60–80 words
• Main body: 120–200 words
• Closing paragraph: 40–60 words.

The short cover letter example in this article might barely exceed 160 words in total, but the basic proportions are preserved: the main body paragraph is longer than both the opening and closing paragraphs, and the opening paragraph is longer than the closing paragraph. Aim to do the same in yours.

Even though you’re aiming for a word count of ‘as short as possible,’ your cover letter length should still be between half an A4 page and a single A4 page. With a shorter cover letter, you have the luxury of setting it out nicely. See ‘Making your layout clear and easy to follow’ below.

Matching the CV

Remember that your short cover letter and a CV are two parts of a single job application. The cover letter layout and overall look should reflect this fact. Use the same fonts, colours (if any), and general settings to clarify that these two documents go together.

Choosing an appropriate font

Don’t experiment with weird fonts. Making your font extra large or super small helps no one, least of all you. Keep to something tried-and-true, professional, and understated like Noto, Garamond, Arial, or even the default Liberation or Calibri. Lock font size at 11 or 12 points.

Making your layout clear and easy to follow

Keeping your cover letter short and concise has left you with much white space. Use it to your advantage: clearly separate your cover letter format into subsections. Don’t bunch your text up in single blocks when using additional paragraphs or bullet points to make it airy and easy on the eye.

Starting from scratch with every application

Copying and pasting the same short and simple cover letter and sending it out to different companies will be obvious to the people who have to read it, and they won’t be impressed. Write a new short cover letter for each job application. Research the company and show off your knowledge.

Sticking with PDF

Your cover letter might be short and sweet, but you’ve still put too much effort into it to have the formatting messed up by something like a *.docx file—use PDF unless explicitly asked for something else.

A cover letter alone simply won’t be enough—you need an impactful CV, too. Create your CV in minutes. Choose a professional CV template and quickly fill in every CV section using ready-made content and expert advice.

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As you can see, you can shorten your cover letter without cutting anything vital from it. I hope this article has been helpful to you! Please leave your questions, comments, and any job-hunting adventures you’d like to share in the comments section below.

How we review the content at LiveCareer

Our editorial team has reviewed this article for compliance with Livecareer’s editorial guidelines. It’s to ensure that our expert advice and recommendations are consistent across all our career guides and align with current CV and cover letter writing standards and trends. We’re trusted by over 10 million job seekers, supporting them on their way to finding their dream job. Each article is preceded by research and scrutiny to ensure our content responds to current market trends and demand.