What is the cover letter in an application?
The cover letter, in Switzerland often called Bewerbungsschreiben or Motivationsschreiben, is the letter that leads your application dossier. In under a page it explains why you are applying for the role and why you are suited to it. The CV shows your roles, the cover letter connects them to the requirements of the job.
A good cover letter is not a second CV in prose, but a focused argument. Our overview of the Swiss application shows which other documents belong in the dossier.
The formal structure of the cover letter
A cover letter follows a fixed formal frame. At the top are the sender and recipient, the date on the right, then a meaningful subject line with the exact job title, then the greeting, the body and the closing with a signature.
In the greeting, address a specific person if a name is given. If none is provided, Dear Sir or Madam is correct. In Switzerland the formal Sie form applies throughout.
