Short Cover Letter: 3 Examples Under 160 Words
Many adverts ask for a "brief" cover letter, and many hiring managers read only the first few lines. The three letters below are each under 160 words and still keep what matters: the task, one piece of evidence, and your availability.
The employers are fictional. Count the words once your own letter is written: if it's over 200, it's no longer short.
Example 1: A Job With No Formal Qualifications Required
Leila has three years in order picking and applies for a night warehouse operative job at a parcel depot in Wolverhampton.
Why This Letter Works
Two paragraphs are enough here because every sentence answers the advert: loading in route order, nights, powered equipment and a start date. "No address errors reported" speaks directly to a depot manager.
Nothing summarises Leila's career, because the CV does that. The letter keeps only what makes someone want to pick up the phone.
Example 2: A Management Job With Five Years of Experience
Dev has run payroll for five years and applies to be payroll manager at an engineering firm in Birmingham.
Why This Letter Works
At management level, keeping it short is evidence of judgement. Dev repeats the advert's own figures, headcount and run frequency, then adds the two numbers a finance director looks at first: the error rate and the system migration.
Notice period and location fit in one sentence, which saves two questions before the interview.
Example 3: A First Job
Chloe is finishing A-levels and applies for a summer visitor welcome job at a historic house near Bath.
Why This Letter Works
A first job doesn't mean having no evidence. Chloe finds in two summers on a campsite reception the same tasks as the advert, welcome, payments and languages, and lists them in the same order.
The letter doesn't apologise for being a first job: it says so in one sentence and moves on to availability, including weekends, which matters a lot to a visitor attraction.
Why an Example Isn't Enough
A short letter leaves no room for padding, so every sentence has to come from the advert and from your own background. Copied under your name, Dev's letter still talks about 640 people, two pay runs and a 0.2% error rate. Sent for a different advert, it misses within two lines.
Tailoring a short letter means choosing the right task from the advert, then the piece of evidence from your background that answers it best. For a 150-word letter, those two choices do almost all the work.
That's what our cover letter generator does: it starts from your CV and the advert you paste in, and writes a letter for that advert, which you can then cut down further.
Your Letter, Written for the Job You Want
Create a free account, add your CV, answer a few questions about what you're after, then paste the job ad, and we'll write the letter from your background and what the employer is asking for. On your first application the cover letter is free, download included.
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What You Can Cut
To shorten a letter, start with what the reader already knows or can't check. A year-by-year account of your career is already on your CV. Qualities with no example behind them ("hard-working", "dynamic", "motivated") add nothing. Openers like "I am writing to apply for the position advertised on…" and paragraphs on the company's history can go too.
What You Should Never Cut
Three things stay, even in the shortest letter. The task from the advert that matters to you, quoted in its own words. One piece of evidence that you can do the work, with a number if you have one. Your availability: when you can start, your notice period if you have one, and that you're happy to interview.
One Short Letter for Every Job?
The three-paragraph structure works for any role, from warehouse operative to payroll manager, as the examples show. The content changes with every advert. An identical letter sent everywhere gets recognised, and it loses the one advantage of a short letter: being read in full. For a fuller letter, see our cover letter examples, and if you're just starting out, our guide to a cover letter with no experience.