Cover Letter Tips for ATS: What You Need to Know

Does the ATS Even Read Your Cover Letter?

This is the first question most people ask, and the answer is: it depends. Some Applicant Tracking Systems scan and parse cover letters alongside resumes, extracting keywords and factoring them into your overall match score. Others store the cover letter but don't analyze it at all. You usually have no way of knowing which setup a given employer uses.

That uncertainty is actually the best argument for writing a good cover letter. If the ATS does scan it, relevant keywords will boost your score. If it doesn't, the recruiter will still see it attached to your application. Either way, a strong cover letter works in your favor.

What the ATS Looks For in a Cover Letter

When an ATS does parse your cover letter, it's doing the same thing it does with your resume: scanning for keywords that match the job description. It's looking for skills, tools, certifications, and qualifications.

The difference is that cover letters are written in paragraph form, which makes keyword extraction less precise than it is with a structured resume. The ATS can still pick up relevant terms, but the cover letter is never going to replace your resume as the primary scoring document.

Think of the cover letter as a secondary keyword source. Your resume does the heavy lifting. The cover letter adds context and, in some systems, a slight score boost.

Writing a Cover Letter That Works for Both ATS and Humans

The biggest mistake people make with ATS-aware cover letters is writing them for the software instead of the person. A cover letter stuffed with keywords but no narrative is obvious and off-putting. The goal is to include relevant terms naturally, inside a letter that a recruiter would actually want to read.

Start With the Job Title and Company

Open by stating the specific role you're applying for. This seems basic, but it helps the ATS associate your cover letter with the right posting, and it signals to the recruiter that this isn't a generic letter.

Something like: "I'm writing to apply for the Senior Financial Analyst position at [Company]. My background in FP&A and financial modeling at growth-stage SaaS companies aligns closely with what you're looking for."

In two sentences, you've named the role, the company, and dropped three keywords from the job description.

Mirror the Job Description's Language

Just like with your resume, use the same terminology the employer uses. If the job says "cross-functional collaboration," don't write "working with other teams." If it says "Tableau," don't write "data visualization tools."

Weave these terms into your paragraphs naturally. A cover letter gives you more room to provide context around the keywords, which is actually an advantage over bullet points.

Weak: "I have experience with data tools and enjoy analyzing business problems."

Strong: "At [Previous Company], I built Tableau dashboards that gave the executive team weekly visibility into $4M in pipeline activity, which directly informed our Q3 go-to-market strategy."

The second version uses a specific tool name, a business metric, and shows the impact of the work, all while reading like a normal sentence.

Include Your Top 5 to 7 Keywords

You don't need to match every keyword from the job description. Your resume handles comprehensive coverage. In your cover letter, focus on the 5 to 7 most important terms, the ones that appear in the job title, the required qualifications, or that are repeated multiple times in the posting.

Spread them across your paragraphs rather than clustering them in one section. One or two per paragraph keeps the density natural.

Keep It to One Page

Cover letters should be three to four paragraphs, roughly 250 to 400 words. Anything longer and you're losing the recruiter. Anything shorter and you're not providing enough value to justify the attachment.

A strong structure:

1. Opening: Which role, why you're interested, one or two headline qualifications.
2. Body (1 to 2 paragraphs): Your most relevant experience with specific examples and results. This is where most keywords go.
3. Closing: Restate your interest, mention what you'd bring, and invite next steps.

Formatting for ATS Compatibility

Cover letter formatting is simpler than resume formatting, but the same core rules apply:

• Plain text layout. No tables, text boxes, columns, or graphics. Just paragraphs.
• Standard font. Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman at 10 to 12 point.
• No header/footer content. Put your name and contact info in the body of the document, not in the page header.
• Submit as .docx unless told otherwise. Some older ATS platforms struggle with PDF formatting in cover letters specifically.
• Match the file naming convention. If they ask for a specific format ("LastName_CoverLetter.docx"), follow it exactly. Some systems use file names for sorting.

What Not to Do

Don't repeat your resume. The cover letter isn't a prose version of your bullet points. It's a chance to explain the "why" behind your career moves, connect your experience to the specific role, or highlight something that doesn't fit neatly into a resume format.

Don't use a generic template. "Dear Hiring Manager, I am writing to express my interest in the open position at your company" is the cover letter equivalent of spam. Name the role, name the company, and say something specific about why this particular job caught your attention.

Don't skip it when it's optional. "Cover letter optional" doesn't mean "cover letter unwanted." If you have the opportunity to provide additional context and keywords, take it. It's a low-effort way to differentiate yourself from candidates who didn't bother.

Don't over-optimize for ATS at the expense of readability. A cover letter that reads like a keyword salad won't impress the recruiter even if it scores well with the system. Write for a person first. The keywords should fit naturally.

When a Cover Letter Matters Most

Not every application needs a cover letter. But there are situations where it carries extra weight:

• Career changes. Your resume might not obviously connect to the new role. The cover letter explains the transition.
• Gaps in employment. A brief, honest explanation in the cover letter is better than leaving the recruiter to guess.
• Roles that require writing skills. Marketing, communications, content, PR, any role where writing quality is part of the job.
• Small companies. At a 50-person company, the hiring manager is more likely to read every cover letter. At a 10,000-person company, it depends on the recruiter's workflow.

The Bottom Line

Your resume is the primary document for ATS scoring. The cover letter is a supporting player. But a supporting player that includes the right keywords, tells a compelling story, and is formatted for parseability gives you an edge that most applicants skip.

Write it for the recruiter. Format it for the ATS. Keep it short. Make every paragraph count.