# Cover Letter Template — with the quality gates inline

> A cover letter has one job: make the reviewer open the résumé with a *hypothesis* instead of a sigh. 250 words, four paragraphs, zero throat-clearing.

**Paragraph 1 — the hook (2-3 sentences)**
Name the role, then immediately the ONE thing about your background that makes this application non-generic. Not passion; evidence.
`GATE: delete your first sentence. If the letter still works, it was throat-clearing (it usually is).`

**Paragraph 2 — the proof (3-4 sentences)**
One story that maps to the job posting's hardest requirement. Situation in half a sentence, your decision, the measured result.
`GATE: contains "I" with a verb of decision (chose, cut, shipped, killed) — not "was responsible for."`
`GATE: contains one number the interviewer could ask you to defend.`

**Paragraph 3 — the why-them (2-3 sentences)**
One specific, checkable fact about the company (their launch, their engineering blog, their pricing change) and what you'd want to touch first. This is the paragraph 95% of letters fake — the one that gets read twice when real.
`GATE: could this paragraph be sent to their competitor unchanged? If yes, rewrite.`

**Paragraph 4 — the close (1-2 sentences)**
Direct, unservile. "I'd welcome the conversation" beats "I would be incredibly honored by the opportunity to possibly discuss."

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*Anti-gates: no "I'm a passionate, detail-oriented team player" (says nothing, costs credibility) · no restating the résumé (they have it) · no salary talk (wrong document) · match the company's register — a bank and a game studio should not receive the same voice.*
