How long should a cover letter be?

Half a page for casual, retail and hospitality. Three quarters of a page for trades, internships and graduate programs. One page for selection-criteria-driven public service jobs. Anything longer than one page is too long for an entry-level role.

Should I address the cover letter to a person or 'To whom it may concern'?

A name if the job ad gives one, or you can find one with a quick LinkedIn search. 'Dear hiring manager' is acceptable. 'To whom it may concern' is dated and reads as low-effort.

What if the job description does not ask for a cover letter?

Send one anyway, kept to half a page. A short cover letter that explains why you want the role and links to your relevant experience adds context the resume cannot. The exception is when the system explicitly says 'no cover letter please'; respect that.

Do I need to address every dot point in the selection criteria?

Public service and large-graduate-program applications, yes. Each criterion deserves its own paragraph or short STAR answer. Private-sector applications usually just want a single cover letter that hits the top three or four points implicitly.

Cover letter template for school leavers and graduates

A cover letter is short, structured, and answers a specific question: why you, why this role, why now. Most school leavers either overwrite it (one page of self-description) or underwrite it (two sentences). This page is the structure that works in the middle.

The four-paragraph template

[Your name]
[Email]   [Phone]   [Suburb, postcode]

[Date]

[Recipient name and title, if known]
[Company]
[Address, if formal]

Dear [Mr or Ms surname, or 'hiring manager'],

[Paragraph 1: opening, 2 sentences max]
I am applying for the [role name] role advertised on [where you saw it,
e.g. Seek, on the company website, through your office on Saturday].
I am a [school leaver / final-year student / recent graduate of X],
and I have [specific experience that maps to the role].

[Paragraph 2: why this role and this employer, 3 to 4 sentences]
What attracted me to [employer] is [a specific, true reason: a product
you use, a value you respect, the team you would join]. The role
description mentions [a specific task or responsibility]; I have
done [a related task] for [duration or context], so I would
[contribute specifically].

[Paragraph 3: your strongest evidence, 4 to 6 sentences]
A short example. Use the STAR structure (Situation, Task, Action,
Result). One paragraph is fine; you do not need to label the parts.

[Paragraph 4: closing, 2 to 3 sentences]
I would welcome the chance to discuss the role. My resume is attached
and I am contactable on [phone] or [email]. Thank you for considering
my application.

Yours sincerely,
[Your name]

That is the whole thing. Half a page in 11 or 12 point font.

Worked example: casual retail (JB Hi-Fi)

Dear hiring manager,

I am applying for the casual retail assistant role advertised on the
JB Hi-Fi careers page. I am a year 12 student at [school], available
weekends and weekday afternoons from January 2027.

JB Hi-Fi's value proposition (range, low prices and knowledgeable
staff) is something I notice as a customer. I have built my own
desktop PC, switched from iPhone to Android last year and back, and
read reviews of laptops and audio gear weekly. I would be a useful
floor staff member because I already speak the language customers
use when comparing products.

In 2025 I volunteered at the school musical's audio crew, where I was
responsible for the stage microphones across 4 nights. The biggest
challenge was a feedback issue on opening night caused by a
misconfigured mixer. I sat down with the school music teacher, walked
back through each input and identified the issue in 20 minutes. The
remaining three nights ran clean and the show ran on time.

I would welcome the chance to discuss the role. My resume is attached
and I am contactable on 0xx xxx xxx or firstname.lastname@gmail.com.
Thank you for considering my application.

Yours sincerely,
Firstname Lastname

Worked example: trades apprenticeship

Dear [Builder Name],

I am applying for the first-year carpentry apprenticeship advertised
on Apprenticeships.gov.au, reference number XXXX. I am a year 12
leaver from [school], with a current White Card, my P1 driver licence
and access to a car.

I picked carpentry because the practical side of school suited me
better than the academic side. I did year 11 and 12 design and tech,
built two timber side tables for my year 12 major work and have spent
school holidays labouring for a friend's father who runs a small
residential building business.

In November 2025 I spent three weeks on site with [builder name] in
[suburb], doing site clean-up, carrying timber and learning how to
set out wall plates. The first week I made the mistake of cutting two
noggins half an inch short; the carpenter pointed out the measurement
error and I redid them. From that day I measured twice and have not
repeated the mistake.

I would welcome the chance to come in for a chat. I am contactable on
0xx xxx xxx or firstname.lastname@gmail.com any time. Thank you for
considering my application.

Yours sincerely,
Firstname Lastname

Selection criteria applications

For public service roles (Australian Public Service, state government, council) and most large graduate programs, you write to specific criteria rather than a free-form letter. Each criterion gets a STAR answer of 150 to 300 words. The structure looks like this:

Criterion 1: Strong written communication skills

Situation: In year 12 I led the school's debate team into the state final.

Task: I was responsible for writing the team's main affirmative case for a topic that changed every fortnight.

Action: For each new topic I researched 6 to 8 sources, mapped the strongest three arguments and drafted a 4-minute speech. I shared the draft with my teammates 48 hours before the debate for feedback and revisions.

Result: My drafts contributed to our team winning 7 of the 8 debates that season. The state final feedback singled out the structure of our main case.

You will write one of these per criterion. The whole application can run to 4 or 6 pages, which is a lot longer than a private-sector cover letter; that is the format the public service is screening on.

The list of things to avoid

'I am writing to apply...'. Of course you are. Cut.
'I believe I would be a perfect fit for your team'. Of course you do. Cut.
'I have always been passionate about [industry]'. Almost never true and very rarely interesting. If you have been, prove it with two sentences of evidence.
Copying the job description back as your skills. Recruiters read both documents. Echoing the ad does not show capability; it shows you can read.
Long quotes from the company's marketing. The hiring manager wrote some of that copy. They know what it says.
Spelling the company name wrong. Or the role name. Or the hiring manager's name. Re-read before sending.

File names and format

Save as PDF, named firstname-lastname-cover-letter-company.pdf. Match the format and naming convention to your resume so the two files file together for the recruiter.

The information here is general only and is not employment, legal or career advice. For advice on your individual situation, talk to your school careers adviser, the university careers hub or a Workforce Australia provider at workforceaustralia.gov.au.