How to Start a Cover Letter (Opening Examples)

The opening line of a cover letter decides whether the rest gets read. Skip the tired "To whom it may concern" and "I am writing to apply for…" — they waste your strongest sentence. Instead, lead with something specific: a genuine reason you want this role, or a quick proof point that maps to what they need.

Here is how to open well, plus examples you can adapt.

Address it to a person

Whenever you can, find the hiring manager’s name from the posting, the company site, or LinkedIn and open with "Dear [Name]". If you genuinely cannot find it, "Dear Hiring Manager" is a safe fallback — never "To whom it may concern".

Four ways to open the first paragraph

• The fit hook: name the role and one concrete reason you are a strong match.
• The achievement hook: lead with a quantified result relevant to the job.
• The mission hook: connect to something specific about the company you genuinely admire.
• The referral hook: mention a mutual connection who suggested you apply.

Opening line examples

• Achievement: "Last year I cut our support response time by 40% — exactly the kind of impact your Customer Success role is built around."
• Fit: "Five years of building React design systems makes your Senior Frontend Engineer opening feel like a natural next step."
• Mission: "Your work making financial tools accessible to first-time savers is why I want to bring my product design experience to your team."
• Referral: "Maria Chen on your data team suggested I reach out about the Analytics Manager role, and after reading the posting I can see why."

What to avoid in your opening

• "To whom it may concern" and other generic salutations.
• "I am writing to apply for the position of…" — they already know.
• Restating your whole resume in the first paragraph.
• Empty enthusiasm ("I would love this job") with no reason behind it.

Put it into practice: browse resume examples by role, start from a free ATS-friendly template, and generate a tailored letter with our AI cover letter generator.