Free cover letter checker
Score your cover letter before you send it.
Get a score out of 100, see which job requirements your letter covers, and fix weak lines in one click.
Starting from scratch? Write a cover letter instead.
What to keep. What to improve.
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Next: your CV
Tailor your CV to the same job.
Your CV has to back up your letter. cvlift.ai matches it to the job description and shows what to strengthen.
Every note points to a line in your letter.
"I have strong marketing skills."
"My open-day Instagram campaign brought in 340 enquiries, 60% more than the year before."
Ask for a rewrite of any flagged line and apply it in one click.
Will an ATS read my cover letter?
Many applicant tracking systems keep your cover letter as text alongside your CV, where recruiters read it and search it for the skills they need. Some don't use it at all. Either way, the same things help:
- Send a text-based PDF or DOCX, not a scan or an image, and keep the layout simple.
- Name the role and the employer, so the letter is clearly for this application.
- Use the job ad's wording for skills you actually have.
How to write a good cover letter
Write one when the application asks for it, when you're changing careers, or when a small company or a hiring manager will read it directly. Keep it to one A4 page.
- Open with why you want this role and one result that shows you can do it.
- Pick the one or two requirements that matter most.
- Back each claim with a concrete example: what you did and what changed.
- Say why this company, in a sentence you couldn't send to anyone else.
- Close by asking for an interview.
A generic letter repeats your CV in paragraphs, and hiring managers spot it fast. Read more: the cover letter reality check.