Good Cover Letter: Examples for Australia & How to Write

So you found out you have to write a cover letter. You rush to the search bar and type “how to write a good cover letter”. 

Ugh. Hundreds of results. What am I even looking at? “Tl;dr! Give me some good cover letter examples!” Ye asked, and ye shall receive. 

Behold! A guide that will unveil the mystery of writing a Good Cover Letter ©, plus good cover letter examples for Australia to accommodate any request.

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You can go to certain sections or job-specific good cover letter examples directly:

1. Good Cover Letter Examples
   
   1. Good Cover Letter Example: Experienced Candidate
   2. Good Cover Letter Example: Little/No experience or Internship
   3. Good Cover Letter Example: Jobs Relying on Soft Skills
   4. Good Cover Letter Example: Jobs Relying on Hard Skills
   5. Good Cover Letter Example: Speculative/Cold-Call
2. How to Write a Good Cover Letter
   
   1. Format Right: The Rules
   2. Open Strong: Greeting and Intro
   3. Tailor Carefully: Describing Skills/Yourself
   4. Close Wisely: The CTA
   5. Add Value: The Postscript

1. Good Cover Letter Examples

Let's start by looking at some good cover letter examples for various professional scenarios. You’ll get a brief comment on why the given sample works, plus case-specific tips.

1. Good Cover Letter Example: Experienced Candidate

Okay, this isn’t your first rodeo. You’ve been kicking goals, accumulating a bunch of experience, now how do you showcase it? 

Have a look at this example:

Good Cover Letter Example: Experienced Candidate

Numbers? Intriguing. Accomplishments? Impressive, but not overwhelming. Boldness? Irresistible.

Here’s how to write a good cover letter if you’re a pro:

• Numbers, baby! You’re in a strong position where you can actually provide those. Cost reductions, great KPI’s, big teams you’ve managed, you name it.
• Only focus on the most impressive stuff. Honestly, don’t list every job you’ve had in the last 15 years in detail. Leave those accomplishments for your resume.
• Be bold. If you’re applying for senior/leadership positions, it’s expected that you know exactly why you’re proposing your candidacy (because you’re it).

2. Good Cover Letter Example: Little/No experience or Internship

So you want to apply for a job/internship, but you have very little experience or none at all? You’re certainly not alone. 

Let’s have a look at this example: 

Good Cover Letter Example: Little/No experience or Internship

This is an entry-level candidate, but the letter’s still dardy. Why? Because it’s not just about what you have (or don’t yet have) under your belt, but about how you can present it. 

Here’s how you nail your cover letter with no experience:

• Focus on academic achievements. 
• Find anything in your background that’s relevant. There’s a reason you chose this position, right? Start with a list, write down anything you’re proud of, and see if it matches the application.
• Bring out the soft skills. You may not have a bunch of specific hard skills just yet, but there should have been situations that allowed you to develop certain capabilities. Wrote your thesis on time despite the tight deadline? That made you diligent and stress-resistant.
• Make up for your entry-level status by your passion and desire to bring value.

3. Good Cover Letter Example: Jobs Relying on Soft Skills

You’d like to make sure the recruiter knows how great you are, thank you very much. But, you can’t measure your communications skills and your critical thinking. Or can you?

Here’s an example:

Good Cover Letter Example: Soft Skills

Cheeky, but matches the company values. The first phrase grabs the attention, the letter feels tailored to the occasion, and ends with a value proposition. Who wouldn’t want to tee-up an interview and find out how to earn more?

What makes a good cover letter is proof that you’re a solution:

• Focus on stories/experiences, and their outcomes. Great customer service? Say how many clients returned. Good organisational skills? Share how you came up with a simple checklist, and it reduced errors by 50% (because previously, that happened half the time, literally).
• Show who you are. If your job heavily relies on your personal skills, it’s crucial that your personality is there, shining through every line. At the end of the day, this is why cover letters exist in the first place. Be sincere. 

4. Good Cover Letter Example: Jobs Relying on Hard Skills

Good news: your skills justify themselves. They are easy to quantify, which means you can impress by metrics only. You’re literally killin’ it. 

Like here:

Good Cover Letter Example [Hard Skills]

This letter keeps a delicate balance between being specific, precise, but still human. It makes it clear why the person is applying for a senior position, too: there are skills, there’s leadership, and there are measurable, business-oriented results.

Here’s how you make your good cover letter even better:

• Be specific. Say, if you’re familiar with all the programming languages the world has ever known, you don’t need to mention them all. Focus on results vs. skills.
• Don’t forget about the soft skills, especially if you’re applying for senior positions. Yes, being technical is nice, but someone has to handle the stakeholders, too.

5. Good Cover Letter Example: Speculative/Cold-Call

Why wait for the perfect moment, when you can seize the day and show initiative! 

Not all the opportunities end up online, some have a “pending” status (“we could hire someone, if the person literally materialised or something”), so don’t hesitate to shoot your shot.

Have a gander at this sample:

Good Cover Letter Example: Speculative/Cold-call 

It is definitely harder to tailor your cover letter to the job, because there’s no specific job and no description. Hard, but not impossible! The more input you have, the easier it will be. Good luck!

In this case, writing a good cover letter would involve:

• Research. Find out as much about the company as you can, google their values, know what they’re known for.
• Referrals. If you could name-drop a bit, that would make you more appealing and less random (no, seriously, it’s true: studies prove that familiarity leads to attraction).
• Relevance. It should be instantly clear why you chose that particular company: maybe you worked on similar projects, or you’ve been following them for a decade, or both. In any case, it should be very obvious why you chose to apply.

2. How to Write a Good Cover Letter

You’ve seen some good cover letter examples, now let’s explore the science behind them.

Here are the general tips for crafting a good cover letter:

1. Format Right: The Rules 

First things first: what does a good cover letter look like?

“Not overcrowded”. It has to be neat and laid out properly. This can be achieved via choosing a template (similar to what you’re using for your resume).

Alternatively, you can follow these cover letter formatting rules:

• Spacing: 1” margins on all sides, single or 1.15 line spacing.
• Font: professional (no Comic Sans, yes Arial), 12 pts. 

As for what goes where on the page, the top left corner contains:

• Your contact info (name, position, address, phone #, email, etc.).
• Date and location.
• Employer’s contact info (name of the hiring manager, title, address).

Done? Let’s go flat chat to the main body and see how you write a cover letter.

Read more: Simple Templates for Your Resume

2. Open Strong: Greeting and Intro 

Okay, the page is not as terrifyingly blank as it was before, what’s next?

If you look at a couple of good cover letter examples, you’ll see they begin with:

• A proper greeting. 
• A powerful 1st paragraph.

This is how you do that:

• Find the hiring manager’s name. If it’s not indicated, do some research via Google/LinkedIn
• Go with “Dear [First Name]” or “Dear Mr./Ms. [Last Name]”.

And then (important):

• Lose the excessive niceties and cut to the chase.
• Mention the position you’re applying for, who’s referring you (if applicable).
• Stun the hiring manager with your most celebrated accomplishment. 

We usually spend a lot of time thinking we’ll be judged by how we write. With resumes and cover letters, it’s more about what we write and how we structure it. Recruiters don’t have time to read into every application they receive. They look through them, and it’s your job to make the most important info stand out.

Pro Tip: Struggling to choose an accomplishment? Even Bradman made a duck. Analyse the job description, and try to understand exactly what the company is looking for. Then look back on your professional development. Any matches? Yup, that’s it.

3. Tailor Carefully: Describing Skills/Yourself 

The middle paragraphs of a strong cover letter are for describing how good you are at what you do, and why they HAVE TO choose you. 

For example, it could go this way:

• Paragraph 2: skills, achievements & how you got them (experience).
• Paragraph 3: “personal touch” (what you know about the company, how you can relate to their values, how impressed you are by their projects).

BUT, all of that can’t be random. How do we make it relevant? You guessed it: we come back to the job description.

Playbook:

• Research the company and examine the job description meticulously.
• Demonstrate your relevant experience based on your findings, and reflect how that expertise can become the solution to the company needs.
• Talk numbers. Nothing’s more impressive than measurable results.
• Write about what you’re proud of, mention something that you couldn’t really develop upon in your resume.
• Give compliments. After all, you want this job for a reason! Show that you know what they’re all about.

Double-check. Does your cover letter show your best sides? Is it clear you’ll be a great fit for their environment and an asset to the team? Is it clear why you want it, and why they should want to work with you? If it’s “yes” to all of the above, it’s a good cover letter. 

Pro Tip: Want to write one good cover letter to rule them all? That won’t work. Tailor each to the specific job. One position—one cover letter (and one resume).

4. Close Wisely: The CTA

The last paragraph is definitely not the least. 

Do you think it’s time to wrap things up, say thank you, and be looking forward to the response?

Then think about how you skim. According to a study, we all focus on introductions, summaries, first and last sentences of paragraphs. So, the ending is actually a strategic spot to place something important. 

The last sentence of your good cover letter should include:

• CTA + value proposition

• closing

A call to action is a prompt for the hiring manager towards the desired next step. You’re not writing that letter just to impress, right? The goal is to get an interview, so be very clear about that. And if you’re asking for something, why not offer something in return? Tell them how you’re planning to make the company a better place. Who can say no to THAT, eh? 

For the closing, just go with “(Kind/Best) regards” or “Sincerely yours” + your name. Add your contact details below for convenience. 

5. Add Value: The Postscript

The above sections were a must, but there’s a little-known extra gem that can be the icing on your cover letter.

Introducing: the postscript.

The reason adding a P.S. is such an efficient technique is because it stands aside in your cover letter, drawing the recruiter's attention. Which means, you can use it to cement your message: you are whom they’re looking for. Do that by:

• Leaving them interested—share something about yourself and your career that truly makes an impression (1).
• Offering to provide more information—preferably during an interview (2). 

It may look something like this:

And just like that, you’re all set! Let’s summarise the above info:

How to Write a Good Cover Letter [Structure]

• Formatting + Contact info
• Greeting + Powerful Intro (paragraph 1)
• Skills + Measurable Achievements + Values (paragraphs 2–3)
• CTA + Closing
• P.S.

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Thanks for reading. Did you find those good cover letter examples helpful? Are you now 100% sure about how to write a good cover letter in Australia? Do let us know in the comments below if you’d like us to add something!