How to write a cover letter with no experience (template and examples)

Hiring managers for junior roles are usually looking for four things. Each paragraph of your letter should answer at least one:

1. You understand the job. You’ve read the ad and know what the role actually does day to day.
2. You can do the basics. Evidence from study, projects, part-time work or volunteering that matches the ad’s requirements.
3. You’re reliable. Holding down a job alongside study, being trusted with responsibility, finishing what you start.
4. You want this job, not any job. One specific, genuine reason connected to the company.

What it doesn’t need: an apology for your lack of experience. “Although I don’t have much experience…” points the reader straight at the weakness. Lead with what you have.

1. Opening (2 sentences): the role, who you are in one line, and a specific reason for this company.
2. Evidence (3–4 sentences): take the ad’s top two requirements and match each with something you’ve done.
3. Reliability (1–2 sentences): a job, society role or commitment that shows you turn up and take responsibility.
4. Close (2 sentences): what you’d like to happen next and when you’re available.

Keep the whole letter under about 300 words, which fits comfortably on one page. Hiring managers for entry-level jobs often read many letters for one role; short and specific gets read.

Replace everything in square brackets. Delete the paragraph notes before sending.

Dear [Hiring manager's name, or "Hiring Manager"],

I'm applying for the [Job title] role at [Company]. I'm [studying / a recent graduate in] [subject] at [institution], and [one specific thing about the company or role that made you apply].

[Evidence paragraph] The ad asks for [requirement 1] and [requirement 2]. At [project, part-time job, society or course], I [what you did], which [result]. I also [second piece of evidence that matches another requirement].

[Reliability paragraph] Alongside my studies I [worked X hours a week at / volunteered with / ran] [place], where I [one sentence showing responsibility: trusted with keys, trained new staff, handled complaints].

I'd welcome the chance to talk about how I could help [team or goal]. I'm available from [date] and can be reached on [phone].

[Yours sincerely (UK) or Sincerely (US)],
[Name]

The UK’s National Careers Service describes a similar shape: a short letter of three to five paragraphs that introduces you, shows why you’re right for the job, and ends by thanking the employer (nationalcareers.service.gov.uk). In the US, “Sincerely” is the standard sign-off. In the UK, it’s “Yours sincerely” when you’ve used the person’s name and “Yours faithfully” after “Dear Sir or Madam”; “Kind regards” is also widely used.

The person, company and campaign are invented to illustrate the structure.

Dear Ms Patel,

I'm applying for the Marketing Assistant role at Brightside Travel. I graduated in July with a 2:1 in Media and Communications from the University of Leeds, and your "Weekend in a Backpack" campaign is the reason I started following travel brands on Instagram in the first place.

The ad asks for social media content and basic analytics. For my final-year project I ran an Instagram account for a student-run café for twelve weeks, planning a weekly content calendar and tracking reach in Meta Business Suite. Posts with short behind-the-counter videos consistently outperformed photos, so we switched most of our content to video for the second half of the project. I also completed Google's free Fundamentals of Digital Marketing course.

Throughout university I worked 15 hours a week at a busy city-centre café, where I was trusted to open on Saturdays and trained three new baristas.

I'd love to bring that mix of content and customer experience to your team. I'm available to start immediately and can be reached on 07700 900789.

Kind regards,
Amira Hassan

Why it works: the opening reason is specific to the company, the evidence paragraph mirrors the ad’s two requirements with a real project and what was learned from it, and the café job proves reliability in one sentence. It never mentions a lack of experience.

Again an invented applicant and company. US internship letters tend to be a little more direct about dates and availability.

Dear Hiring Team,

I'm a junior studying Computer Science at Ohio State, applying for the Software Engineering Intern position at Fieldnote. I use Fieldnote to organize my own research notes, and I'd like to help build the sync features I rely on every week.

Your posting mentions JavaScript, React and working with APIs. This spring I built a React app that pulls bus arrival times from the city's open-data API; about 40 classmates use it daily. In my Software Engineering course, I worked in a four-person team using Git pull requests and code review, and I wrote most of our test suite.

Outside class, I've worked 12 hours a week at the campus IT help desk for two years, resolving student laptop and network issues and writing three of the desk's how-to guides.

I'd welcome the chance to discuss the internship. I'm available from May 26 for the full summer.

Sincerely,
Daniel Kim

Before writing an evidence paragraph like this one, check which skills the ad and similar postings emphasise. The software engineer and frontend developer keyword pages show what live postings ask for most.

The pattern is the same every time: replace a claim about yourself with a short piece of evidence that lets the reader reach the conclusion on their own.

Many applications have a cover letter box with a character limit, or you’re sending your CV by email. Use a three-sentence version: the role and who you are, your single strongest piece of evidence, and your availability.

“I’m applying for the Junior Data Analyst role. I’m a recent Economics graduate and built a dashboard of local bus punctuality in Python and SQL that a student society used in a letter to the council. My CV is attached, and I’m available to start immediately.”

If you’re filling in many similar forms, the FindAJobAI Chrome extension autofills the repeated fields from your profile, leaving you time for the parts that need thought (it never submits an application for you).

• The company name is correct everywhere (copying from another letter is the classic mistake).
• Every claim in the letter appears on your CV, or is explained in the letter itself.
• It’s under one page and has no spelling errors; read it aloud once.
• The file is a PDF named “Firstname-Surname-Cover-Letter.pdf”, unless the ad asks otherwise.

Your CV should tell the same story. Our guide to writing a resume with no experience shows how to present projects and part-time jobs, and the free CV score checker tells you which of the ad’s keywords are missing.