What to Include in a Cover Letter: A Checklist With Examples
A cover letter should include your contact details, the role and where you saw it, a referral name if you have one, two or three posting requirements matched to evidence, one specific reason for this employer, any practical facts the posting asks for, and a clear close. Leave out salary unless asked and why you left a job.
This page answers what should a cover letter include and what goes in a cover letter, one item at a time. It does not teach the writing itself: for that, see how to write a cover letter. Every example sentence below is ours, written for an invented applicant, Maya Alvarez, who is applying for a customer support role. They are examples, not sentences from a real letter.
Where a point is attributed, the page says whose advice it is. These are recommendations from university career centers and Purdue's writing lab, plus a U.S. agency's statements about employer questions, not measurements. We found no data on what recruiters read, so that stays Unknown.
What goes in a cover letter: the items
1. Your contact details
This is the heading: name, phone, email. Emory University's career center says to "include the date, name, and contact information" in the heading (Emory Career and Professional Development). The University of San Francisco says to make sure your phone and email are included so the employer can contact you for an interview (myUSF Career Services). Where the block sits on the page is a layout question, covered in our cover letter format guide.
Example: "Maya Alvarez, maya.alvarez@example.com, 555-0142."
2. The role and where you saw it
Name the exact job title in the first lines, and say where you found it. Emory advises that the opening "indicate the position to which you are applying, where you found it" (Emory). Purdue OWL's introduction page says to "Mention where you heard about the job" (Purdue OWL, cover letter introductions). Our reasoning, not a sourced rule: a company may have several openings at once, and the title tells the reader which one you mean.
Example: "I am applying for the Customer Support Specialist role you posted on your careers page."
3. A referral name, if you have one
Skip this item if nobody referred you. If someone did, Emory's section on networking or referral letters says "Make sure you mention the person who referred you" (Emory). Purdue OWL says to mention "a professor or other contact who has a positive connection with the company" (Purdue OWL); its examples on that page are aimed at students. Whether a referral name raises your chance of an interview is Unknown. Our own suggestion: ask the person before you use their name.
Example: "Jordan Lee, a support lead on your team, suggested I apply."
4. Two or three requirements, matched to evidence
Pick the requirements that matter most in the posting and show you meet them. Purdue OWL says to "include proof of your qualifications you feel are most important to the company," and warns that just using the skill terms "will not help you" (Purdue OWL, what to include). It also asks for particular examples where abilities "led to measurable positive results." Emory says letters "should refer to specific qualifications needed in the role" (Emory).
Example: "The posting asks for experience with angry customers; at my last job I handled the escalation queue and brought our oldest open tickets to zero in one quarter."
The number in that sentence belongs to the invented applicant. Use only results you can stand behind.
5. One specific reason for this employer
One reason, tied to something real about the company or the work. Emory says to "Be specific as to why you are interested in that particular job and employer" (Emory). Purdue OWL's exercise has you list values and goals you share with the company (Purdue OWL). A sentence that could be pasted into any other letter does not do this job.
Example: "Your public help center answers questions in plain steps, which is how I like to write support replies."
6. Practical facts the posting asks for
Add availability, relocation or work authorization only when the posting asks. This item is our advice, not a sourced rule; we did not find a university page that covers it. The reasoning: a fact the posting did not ask for takes space from items 4 and 5. For work authorization, the EEOC page is about employer questions, and it says most employers should not ask whether an applicant is a U.S. citizen before making an offer (EEOC, Pre-Employment Inquiries and Citizenship). If the posting does ask, answer in one plain line.
Example: "I can start two weeks after an offer and can work the Tuesday to Saturday schedule listed in the posting."
7. A clear close
End by thanking the reader and saying what happens next. Emory's guide lists these among its closing moves: "Thank the person for taking the time to read your letter," "Tell the employer how you plan to follow up," and "Include your phone number and email" (Emory).
Example: "Thank you for reading. I would welcome a conversation and will check in by email next week if I have not heard from you."
A complete letter with these seven items still has to stay short. How short is its own question, answered in how long a cover letter should be.
What not to include in a cover letter
Salary, unless the posting asks
Do not put a number in the letter on your own. The University of San Francisco's career services lists "Include your salary history or current salary" among the things not to do (myUSF). If the employer does ask, Kent State says "If the employer asks you to include salary requirements in the letter, always state your requirements in a range" and that you are open to negotiation (Kent State Career Exploration & Development).
Why you left your last job
USF's "don't" list includes "Explain why you left your last job or want to leave your present one" and "Say anything negative about your previous employer(s)" (myUSF). Your reason can wait for an interview, if the employer asks.
A repeat of your resume
Emory says "Cover letters should NOT list everything in your resume" (Emory). USF puts the limit at 50 words spent summarizing your life, values or goals, or repeating your resume verbatim (myUSF). Pick the two or three facts the letter needs and let the resume carry the rest.
Personal details an employer should not base a decision on
Do not add your age, marital status, religion, a photograph or similar details. Scope first: the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's page on pre-employment inquiries is about what employers ask. It does not say what an applicant may volunteer, so the advice to leave these out is our reading, not the EEOC's.
What the page says: as a general rule, information requested in hiring should be limited to what is essential for determining whether a person is qualified, and information about race, sex, national origin, age and religion is irrelevant to that decision. Employers "are explicitly prohibited from making pre-offer inquiries about disability." Questions that may indicate race, sex, national origin, disability status, age, religion, color or ancestry "should generally be avoided," and employers "should not ask for a photograph of an applicant" (EEOC, Prohibited Employment Policies/Practices).
The page also hedges. State and federal laws do "not clearly forbid" some inquiries relating to race, color, sex, national origin, religion or age, but such inquiries "may be used as evidence of an employer's intent to discriminate" unless the question can be justified by a business purpose. State law may differ: Unknown here. This is not legal advice; for a specific situation, check your state's rules or ask a lawyer.
One-screen checklist
Before you send the letter, check each line.
- Name, phone and email are at the top.
- The exact job title is named, with where you saw it.
- A referral name appears only if someone referred you, and you asked them first.
- Two or three requirements from the posting each have one piece of evidence.
- One reason for this employer could not be pasted into another letter.
- Availability, relocation or work authorization appears only if the posting asked.
- The close thanks the reader and says what you will do next.
- No salary unless asked, no reason for leaving a job, no resume retelling, no age, marital status, religion or photograph.
Sources
All pages were read on 2026-11-12. None showed a publication date.
- Emory University, Career and Professional Development, "Cover Letter Guide": https://cpd.emory.edu/?p=1290
- Purdue OWL, cover letter workshop, "What to include": https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/job_search_writing/job_search_letters/cover_letters_workshop/what_to_include.html
- Purdue OWL, cover letter introductions: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/job_search_writing/job_search_letters/cover_letters_3_writing_your_cover_letter/cover_letter_introductions.html
- Kent State University, Career Exploration & Development, "Cover Letters": https://www.kent.edu/career/cover-letters
- University of San Francisco, "Cover Letters - Career Services" (myUSF): https://myusf.usfca.edu/node/1040983
- U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, "Prohibited Employment Policies/Practices": https://www.eeoc.gov/prohibited-employment-policiespractices
- U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, "Pre-Employment Inquiries and Citizenship": https://www.eeoc.gov/pre-employment-inquiries-and-citizenship
Not read: the U.S. Department of Labor's CareerOneStop page returned an access error to our reader, so nothing here is attributed to it.
Disclosure
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