Fresher cover letter example

If you are a graduate, fresh out of university, ready to take your first steps in the wide world of work, some people might call you a “fresher.” It is not a common term in the United States, but in a global business community it is useful to know the phrase. 

While freshers may have a tough time deciding what to write in their resume as they do not have so many concrete achievements to discuss, the fresher cover letter is a different matter. Here, hiring managers will hope to read about your career objectives and personality, as well as why you feel that the role and company is right for you.

No hiring manager is expecting miracles, and many will pay more attention to the exploratory cover letter than the artificially padded resume. Use the cover letter to give them a feel for who you are and what you are looking for in your early career. How do they fit it? Do your plans make sense to them? Do they feel that they will be able to make a difference to you?

How should your freshers cover letter differ from your resume? Well, to start with it may be worth looking at some examples of other cover letters. Our 180+ cover letter examples will help you to see how various professions approach this task? After you have an appreciation of what a cover letter entails, you should be able to appreciate the advice in this guide that bit better. Our fresher cover letter guide covers:

• Writing a fresher cover letter to outline your career objectives
• How to share your personality in the various sections
• Ensuring a suitable format for the cover letter
• Writing a fresher cover letter with no experience
• Mistakes to avoid if you want to secure that interview

Best format for a fresher cover letter

While your fresher job search story may have a different slant to that of a seasoned professional, the format of the cover letter should not vary from the norm. Hiring managers have certain expectations around how a cover letter should be set out. The standard format of any cover letter follows this structure:

• The cover letter header
• The greeting / salutation
• The cover letter intro
• The middle paragraphs (body of the letter)
• The ending paragraph of your cover letter (conclusion and call-to-action)

The core message of the cover letter should be that your aims and fledgling experience fit with the nature of the role and the direction of the company. It is also important that the hiring manager feels that they would get on with you. If your cover letter is devoid of personality, they will be suspicious. Your personality is one of your selling points, so don’t be afraid to share some details about who you are.

There are plenty of other things to consider when you are writing a cover letter. Our comprehensive cover letter guide explores all sorts of details that you might not consider. It is easy to obsess about your story and miss those little things that can nonetheless leave an impression. What font should you choose? What design is most effective? 

When you have made some of these basic decisions, you are ready to go.

Cover letter header

You might be a fresher, but there is no reason why your cover letter shouldn’t look the part. Choose a header design that is stylish but simple: avoid a fancy design that seeks to distract from your lack of experience. Let your content speak for itself. 

The header should contain your full name, email, and mobile number. There is no need for your full home address as there are potential data protection and discrimination issues. You can share these details at the offer stage. The inside address of the employer is something that is old-fashioned and simply takes up valuable cover letter space.

Cover letter greeting

You might think that writing a greeting is not too tricky, but what if the name of the hiring manager or HR representative is not included in the job description?

First a warning: the old salutation “To whom it may concern” is now considered out-of-date and stale. “Dear Company team” is a warmer option that is more common these days. Better still, use your initiative to find out the name of the hiring manager or HR person. Give the company a call or ask a contact on social media. You need to be certain about this one, though. If in doubt, opt for the friendly and general greeting. Plenty of people will read the cover letter in any case.

Cover letter introduction 

The introduction for a fresher cover letter should begin with your most relevant piece of work experience or volunteering. No matter how tenuous the link, you need to show that you have thought about transferable skills and that you have the potential to do the job. If you have nothing to share, maybe you should think about aiming a little lower or looking at other ways into the industry. 

Show that you have planned your way into your chosen career and that you are good at picking up new skills and learning from your experiences. It is no good having potential if you have not got a track record of being coachable.

Cover letter middle part (body)

The middle part of the fresher cover letter should contain two main aspects of your application: your career objectives and your personality.

Writing a paragraph about how this particular role will fit into your early career will reveal much about your motivation. Make sure that you tailor it carefully for each position and analyze the job description to pick out the bits that fit best with you.

In terms of personality, describing yourself in simple adjectives is not helpful. Anyone can reel off a list of attributes that they think the hiring manager would value. Instead, tell a couple of stories that illustrate you and your qualities. This will form a great introduction to further explorations at interview. A fresher with stories to tell is someone who is not afraid to open themselves up to a potential new boss. Give the hiring manager something to think about.

How to close a fresher cover letter (conclusion and sign-off)

End with one last story for the hiring manager to remember. They will likely be reading plenty of other cover letters, so make them want to linger on yours for that bit longer. Maybe even re-read some sections?

The final lines of a cover letter should then include your desire to find out more about the role at a potential interview. This call-to-action should be expressed in hope rather than expectation, but it will certainly make them think about sending that interview invite.

Fresher cover letter with no experience

It is clear that some freshers will have minimal work experience. Some are so focused on their studies that work has long taken a back seat in terms of their priorities. If you have no experience to speak of, try to share moments from your education when you had to show the qualities that may be required in a job. Every student needs to deal with stress, overcome objectives, communicate with people and present their work. You might have more to talk about than you think. Be as creative as you can be. Hiring managers will understand.

Basic mistakes in a fresher application letter (and how to avoid them)

With the amount of academic work that they’ve recently faced, freshers should understand the impact of mistakes. When hiring managers do not have too much to judge within an application, attention to detail is one of those things that simple should be spot on.

• Grammar errors. Check for grammar mistakes with online software such as Grammarly. Get a friend or family member to proofread the document if possible.
• Maintain a formal tone. You might be relatively chatty with your long-term clients, but this is not a tone that you should convey in the cover letter.

Key takeaways

1. Share your objectives, personality, and transferable skills.
2. Study the job description and make your fresher cover letter relevant.
3. Tell the stories that you wish to repeat at interview.
4. Choose an attractive cover letter template. Check out our cover letter templates.