Do I still need a cover letter?
You need something a person reads, and a short email does that job better than a page-long letter. Keep it between 60 and 90 words: the exact role and one detail from the advert, two things you have done that matter for it, and one question. Attach the CV and say so in the sign-off. If a portal has a cover letter box, paste the same short version in. Across 86 cold emails to UK employers written this way, 22 got a reply, which is 26%.
The short version works better
A hiring manager with a pile of applications gives each one a few seconds. A page-long letter gets skimmed; a short email gets read to the end. What it has to do is prove you read the advert and give a reason to open the CV.
What goes in it
- The exact role and one detail from the advert: the site, the team, the kit. "Maintenance technician on your Dyce packaging lines."
- Two things you have done that matter for this job, with a figure if you have one.
- One question. One, so answering is easy.
- Name, phone number, CV attached. The same sign-off every time.
Where to send it
To a person, not only the Apply button. An address printed in the advert or on the company's own website is where replies come from. Type the company's name here to find one.
Before you send it, check it does not read like AI wrote it.
Where these numbers come from
86 cold emails to real UK employers over four weeks, sent by one person looking for work, logged as they went. 22 replies. The full method and every table is in the playbook, free, no account.
They are engineering and technician roles in Scotland, so a different trade may behave differently. Where a row is thin it says so on the row.
Since then: 171 applications across 137 employers, 32 replies, 19%. Live, and updated after every run.
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