How to Start a Cover Letter (Openings, Salutations, Email)

Almost every weak cover letter fails in the same place: the first sentence announces that a cover letter is happening. "I am writing to apply for the Marketing Coordinator position I saw advertised on your website." The reader already knows all three facts in that sentence — which role, which company, that this is an application. It spends the one line you are guaranteed to get on information the reader supplied themselves.

A working opening does one of two things instead: it states the single fact that makes you plausible for this job, or it names the specific problem in the posting you have already solved somewhere. Everything below is a frame for doing one of those in roughly 25 words.

How do you start a cover letter? Four openings that work

Pick based on what you actually have. These are not interchangeable — the referral opening is the strongest and also the one most people cannot use.

1. The referral. "[Name] on your [team] suggested I apply — we worked together on [project] at [company]." Use it whenever it is true. A name the reader recognizes in line one changes how fast they read everything after it, and it is the only opening that borrows credibility you have not yet demonstrated.
2. The scope match. "I have run [the posting's core responsibility] for [N] years at [scale] — most recently [one specific thing]." This is the default. It answers the only screening question in the reader's head before they have to look for the answer.
3. The problem hook. "Your posting says the team is [specific problem from the JD]. That is the situation I walked into at [company], where I [what you did]." Strongest when the posting names a real pain — a backlog, a migration, a first hire in a function — rather than listing generic duties.
4. The proof point. "[One concrete outcome with a number]." Then one sentence connecting it to this role. Use when your single best result is more persuasive than your title, which is often the case for career changers and for anyone whose job title undersells the work.

Openings to cut outright

• "I am writing to apply for…" — The reader knows. If you need a soft entry, put this clause second, not first.
• "My name is [Name] and I am a…" — Your name is in the signature, the header, the filename, and the email's From field.
• "I was excited to see your posting for…" — Excitement is the cheapest claim in the letter. Nobody has ever written that they were mildly interested, so it carries no information.
• "As a passionate, results-driven professional with a proven track record…" — Four adjectives and no facts. This is the sentence that makes a reader skim.
• A quotation or a general statement about the industry. "In today's fast-paced digital economy…" You are spending your best line on a premise the reader works inside every day.
• Your own history with the company as a customer — unless it led to something specific you did. "I have been a user since 2019" is only interesting if the next clause is what that taught you about the product.

How to address a cover letter without a name

Spend five minutes looking first, because an actual name is worth more than any of the fallbacks. Three places it usually sits: the posting itself (check the "questions about this role" line and the recruiter's signature at the bottom), LinkedIn filtered to the company for the likely title — the head of the function you would report into — and the company's team or about page. If the posting has an application email address, the name is often in the address itself.

If it is genuinely not findable, use one of these three, in this order:

1. Address the team or function: "Dear Hiring Team," or more specifically "Dear Marketing Hiring Team," / "Dear Nursing Recruitment Team,". This is the safest default. It is accurate, it does not sound like a mail merge, and it cannot be wrong.
2. Address the role you would report to: "Dear Engineering Manager," or "Dear Director of Finance,". Use when the posting names the reporting line. Slightly warmer than the team version, but only correct if you are confident about the structure.
3. Open with no salutation at all and start on your first sentence — common in email applications and increasingly in forms with a free-text box. Looks deliberate in email, abrupt in a formal PDF letter, so keep this one for email.

Two mechanical rules once you do have a name: use the full name when you are unsure of gender or title ("Dear Alex Chen," — never guess Mr. or Ms.), and keep earned titles that the person uses themselves ("Dear Dr. Okafor,"). A comma after the salutation is standard; a colon is the stricter US convention and is fine in a formal PDF letter.

Email cover letter vs. attached cover letter

These are two different documents with two different openings, and sending the attachment's text as an email body is the most common mix-up. An attached letter is a formal document: it carries a header, a date, a salutation, three or four paragraphs, and a sign-off. An email cover letter is the message that gets the attachment opened.

The subject line does real work and most people waste it. "Application" or "Resume" tells a recruiter nothing and sorts badly in a crowded inbox. Write the role, your name, and the requisition number if the posting gives one: "Operations Manager (REQ-4821) — [Your Name]". If someone referred you, add it: "Operations Manager — [Your Name], referred by [Name]".

• Do not send the same text twice. If the application form has a cover letter box and also takes an attachment, put the full letter in the box and skip the duplicate file, or attach the letter and keep the box to three lines. Two identical copies look like a mistake.
• Paste as plain text. Pasting from a styled document carries fonts, colors, and odd line breaks into the email body. Strip formatting, then re-add the line breaks by hand.
• Name the file for the reader, not for your folder. Firstname-Lastname-Cover-Letter.pdf — not cover letter final v3.docx.
• Send PDF unless the posting asks for DOCX. A PDF renders the same everywhere; a DOCX reflows, and a reflowed letter can arrive with your header on page two.
• Check the From name. An inbox sorts on it, and an old nickname in that field undoes a careful letter.

What the second paragraph has to do

A strong opening creates an obligation: the reader now expects the evidence. The paragraph after your hook should be one specific thing you did — situation, what you changed, what the outcome was — chosen because it matches the posting's main responsibility, not because it is your proudest moment. One story told properly beats three mentioned in passing.

The vocabulary for that paragraph comes out of the posting itself. Which nouns to lift and which to ignore is covered in cover letter keywords and phrases, and the filler sentences worth replacing are listed in cover letter phrases to replace. If you are not sure which claims belong in the letter versus the resume, start with the difference between a cover letter and a resume.

A 10-minute process for the opening

1. Read the posting's responsibilities section and write down the single duty it spends the most words on. That is what your opening must address.
2. Find the hiring manager's name. Five minutes, three places: the posting, LinkedIn, the team page. Stop at five minutes and fall back to "Dear [Function] Hiring Team,".
3. Draft the opening twice — once as a scope match, once as a problem hook. They take two minutes each and one will obviously be better.
4. Delete the company name and job title from the draft. If it still works as a generic sentence, it is not specific enough yet.
5. Check the first line for a verifiable detail: a number, a system, a scale, or an outcome. No detail, no opening.
6. If you are sending by email, write the subject line last, then cut the body to under 150 words.

FAQ

How do you start a cover letter?

With the single fact that makes you plausible for this specific job, or with the specific problem in the posting that you have already solved. In practice that is one of four openings: a referral name, a scope match ("I have run [the core responsibility] for [N] years at [scale]"), a problem hook that quotes the posting, or one concrete outcome with a number. Avoid "I am writing to apply" — it spends your best line on facts the reader already has.

How do you address a cover letter without a name?

Spend five minutes checking the posting, LinkedIn and the company's team page first. If no name turns up, use "Dear Hiring Team," or the more specific "Dear [Function] Hiring Team,". Addressing the role you would report into ("Dear Engineering Manager,") also works when the posting names the reporting line. Skip "To Whom It May Concern" and "Dear Sir or Madam" — both read as unaddressed form letters.

Should the cover letter go in the email body or as an attachment?

Follow the posting if it says. If it does not, attach the full letter as a PDF and write a 90–150 word email body that opens with the same hook and names the attachments in its last line. Do not paste the full formal letter into the email and also attach it — two identical copies read as a mistake.

What should the subject line of an email cover letter be?

Role, your name, and the requisition number if the posting has one: "Operations Manager (REQ-4821) — [Your Name]". Add a referral if you have one. "Job Application" is unsearchable and sorts badly in a recruiter's inbox.

Is "Dear Hiring Manager" still acceptable?

Yes, it is acceptable and still very common. It is simply the one line that tells the reader you did not look for a name. "Dear Hiring Team," costs the same number of words and does not carry that signal, so prefer it when you have no name.

How long should the opening paragraph be?

One to three sentences, roughly 25–60 words. Its job is to earn the second paragraph, which is where your specific evidence goes. If the opening runs longer than three sentences, you have started telling the story instead of setting it up.

Can I use the same opening for several applications?

You can reuse the frame, never the sentence. The frame ("scope match", "problem hook") is structure and carries no company-specific content; the detail inside it has to come from that posting. The quick check: remove the company name and job title. If the sentence survives unchanged, it is a template, and it reads like one.