Land more interviews with our FREE tools. Click To Get Your Free Resume Score
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Manager Cover Letter Examples For 2024 (20+ Skills & Templates)
30 Mar 2023 Laura Lorta

Manager Cover Letter Examples For 2024 (20+ Skills & Templates)

Are you looking to land more Manager job offers?

You're going to need a strong cover letter. This comprehensive guide is packed with everything you need to know in order to write a job-winning Manager cover letter. It's got everything from effective strategies and essential skills to helpful templates and real-life examples.

You can trust that all the insights and tips in this guide are based on data from coaching thousands of job seekers, just like you, who have gone on to secure positions at some of the world's most reputable companies.

Whether you're an experienced manager or just starting out, reading this guide from start to finish can help you land your dream role. But if you're short on time and looking for specific information, here's a breakdown of what's included:

Here's the step-by-step breakdown:

Manager Cover Letter Overview: What To Know To Write A Cover Letter That Wins More Job Offers

What do companies look for when hiring for a manager role?

When hiring for a manager role, companies look for candidates with a combination of technical expertise, leadership skills, and interpersonal abilities. Effective communication, decision-making, problem-solving, and organizational skills are also essential for success in a managerial position.

Managers should also possess technical knowledge that's relevant to the industry, and have strong interpersonal skills that are necessary for building strong relationships and working effectively with others.

Typically, organizations also look for candidates with prior management experience, as it demonstrates a track record of success in a leadership role. However, this isn't a requirement. Overall, companies seek candidates who can lead their team to achieve organizational goals, communicate effectively, and make timely and effective decisions.

Your resume should show your potential employer that both your personality and your experience encompass all of these things.

Additionally, there are a few best practices you want to follow to write a job-winning manager resume:

  1. Highlight your leadership and management skills. Include examples of how you have motivated and led teams to achieve organizational goals.
  2. Emphasize your communication and interpersonal skills. Provide examples of how you have effectively communicated with team members, stakeholders, and clients.
  3. Include keywords from the job description: ensure your resume is optimized for applicant tracking systems (ATS).
  4. Highlight your problem-solving and decision-making skills. Provide examples of how you have addressed complex issues and made effective decisions.
  5. Include any relevant certifications, awards or professional development courses. Demonstrate your expertise in your industry or field.
  6. Quantify your work: Use numbers to showcase the impact of your leadership on your team's performance. Some examples include improvements in employee productivity, increased team morale,  and boosts in overall team performance.
  7. Proofread: Carefully proofread your resume for errors and typos, as these can give a negative impression to potential employers (I recommend using the Hemingway App).

Let's dive deeper into each of these so you have the exact blueprint you need to see success.

The Best Manager Skills To Include On Your Cover Letter

Keywords are one of the most important factors in your cover letter. They show employers that your skills align with the role and they also help format your cover letter for Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).

If you're not familiar with ATS systems, they are pieces of software used by employers to manage job applications. They scan cover letters for keywords and qualifications and make it easier for the employers to filter and search for candidates whose qualifications match the role.

If you want to win more Manager interviews and job offers, you need to have a keyword-optimized cover letter. There are two ways to find the right keywords:

1. Leverage The 20 Best Manager Keywords

The first way to find the right keywords is to leverage our list of the best keywords and skills for an Manager cover letter.

These keywords were selected from an analysis of real Manager job descriptions sourced from actual job boards. Here they are:

  • Communication
  • Management
  • Operations
  • Training
  • Friendly
  • Marketing
  • Engaging
  • Sales
  • Team Member
  • Performance
  • Product
  • Leadership
  • Development
  • Flexible
  • Influence
  • Consistency
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Integrity
  • Accountable
  • Organization

2. Use ResyMatch.io To Find The Best Keywords That Are Specific To Your Cover Letter And Target Role

The second method is the one I recommend because it's personalized to your specific cover letter and target job.

This process lets you find the exact keywords that your cover letter is missing when compared to the individual role you're applying for.

Manager Resume Skills

Here's how it works:

  1. Open a copy of your target Manager job description
  2. Head over to ResyMatch.io
  3. Select the “Job Description Scan” from the scan type selector in the upper right corner of the tool
  4. Copy and paste the Manager job description into the field on the left
  5. Hit scan and review the results

ResyMatch is going to scan the target job description and show you the exact keywords and skills that are relevant for the role and that you should weave into your cover letter.

Here's a video walking through this whole process:

How To Address A Manager Cover Letter

Adding a personal touch is what makes a cover letter stand out, and that starts from the very first sentence! You should always greet the person reading your cover letter and there are two ways to do this well:

1. Use The Hiring Manager's Name

The first, and best, is by including the hiring manager's name. Let's say that you discovered the hiring manager's name from a post on LinkedIn or via an informational interview.

This is the jackpot! All you need to do is use their name in the introduction, like this:

Example of Starting A Cover Letter With The Hiring Manager's NameBut we won't always have the luxury of knowing the hiring manager's name. Here's what you do in those cases:

2. Use This Formula: To The [Department] Team at [Organization]

If you don't have the hiring manager's name, no problem! You can address your cover letter to the team that you're applying to.

For example, if you're applying to for a Product Marketing Manager role at Discovery Education, you might start you cover letter like this:

Example of Starting A Cover Letter With The Team & Company

This shows the reader that this letter has been written specifically for them and the content inside of it will support that.

It's much more relevant and personal than “To Whom It May Concern!”

For more advice on writing a strong opening to your cover letter, check out this guide.

3 Manager Cover Letter Examples For 2023

Now let's take a look at all of these best practices in action. Here are three cover letter examples for different situations from people with different backgrounds that are all applying for Manager roles:

Manager Cover Letter Example #1: A Traditional Background

Our first example is a cover letter written by a candidate with traditional Manager experience. Here is what an example of their cover letter might look like:

Manager Cover Letter Example #1
Download Cover Letter Example As PDF

Manager Cover Letter Example #2: A Non-Traditional Background

Our second cover letter example comes from a candidate looking to make the leap from an individual contributor role to a management position. While this person doesn't have traditional management experience, they do a good job of speaking to their relevant leadership skills and how they can transfer to this new role.

Manager Cover Letter Example #2
Download Cover Letter Example As PDF

Manager Cover Letter Example #3: Landing a Senior Management Role After a Career Gap

Our third example highlights a candidate with extensive management experience who has been freelance consulting during a career break. Addressing a gap in your employment history can feel tricky, but this person does a good job of demonstrating their value as a leader and what they can bring to this new role.

Download Cover Letter Example As PDF

The 8 Best Manager Cover Letter Templates

At this point, you know all of the basics you'll need to write a Manager cover letter that wins you more interviews and offers. The only thing left is to take all of that information and apply it to a template that's going to help you get results.

We made that easy with our CoverBuild tool. It has 8 proven templates that were created with the help of recruiters and hiring managers at the world's best companies. These templates also bake in thousands of data points we have from the job seekers in our audience who have used them to land job offers.

Just click any of the templates below to start building your cover letter using proven, recruiter-approved templates:The Best Cover Letter Templates

3 Tips For Writing A Job-Winning Manager Cover Letter

You're off to a strong start! But I've got a few more tips to help you take your cover letter to the next level:

1. Use ChatGPT To Write Your Cover Letter In <30 Seconds

All of these tips and best practices work, but you still have to implement them. Normally, that'd mean you sitting down and spending hours brainstorming ideas, typing, deleting, and typing again, and then feeling absolutely drained.

Now there's a way to work around all of that so you save your best energy for the writing and edits that matter most. Here's how it works:

  1. Head to ChatGPT (you'll need to create an account – it's free)
  2. Ask ChatGPT, “Please write me a cover letter for an Manager role. The role I'm applying for is [Job Title] role at [Company]. Here is the job description: [Paste Job Description]. And here is my resume: [Paste Resume].
  3. Watch ChatGPT write up a pretty darn good cover letter base!

Here's a video of me doing this with a real cover letter if you want to see the steps in action:

Note: do not recommend or advise that you simply copy and paste the content from ChatGPT into your cover letter and submit your application. ChatGPT is great for doing 80% of the baseline work, but you still need to review, revise, and personalize the content yourself.

2. Include Measurable Metrics And Outcomes

Too many job seekers only focus on the actions that they took and not the outcomes that resulted from those actions. As a campus principal, it's impossible to differentiate between a dozen candidates who were all “Responsible For Creating a Safe Learning Environment.” 

If you want to win, your cover letter should speak to the specific outcomes that you drove in previous roles. That could be:

  • The percentage by which your team increased revenue under your leadership.
  • The average reduction in overall expenditures.
  • The average employee satisfaction rate.
  • The rate at which your employee retention increased from year to year.
  • Etc.

These numbers will show hiring teams what you're capable of and make your value crystal clear!

3. Match Your Cover Letter And Resume Design

Design has a big impact on perceived quality. Take the below image for example, which car is worth more?Quality Impacts Perceived Value - Car ExampleIf you said Car A, you'd be wrong!

They're the exact same car, down to the year, make, and model. The only difference is the way the product was presented. Like I said, quality impacts perceived value.

One of the best ways to boost the quality of your cover letter is to make it look clean, professional, and have it match your resume. That's why the resume templates in our resume builder tool match the cover letter templates in our cover letter builder:

Matching Cover Letter And Resume

If you use both tools to create your cover letter and your resume, your entire application is going to be top notch.

Key Takeaways To Wrap Up Your Job-Winning Cover Letter

You made it! We packed a lot of information into this post so I wanted to distill the key points for you and lay out next steps so you know exactly where to from here.

Here are the 5 steps for writing a job-winning Manager cover letter:

  1. Start with a proven cover letter template from CoverBuild.io
  2. Use ResyMatch.io to find the right keywords and optimize your cover letter for each Manager role you apply to
  3. Start your manager cover letter with a personalized greeting for the hiring manager or Human Resources representative.
  4. Emphasize the measurable outcomes and value you drove in previous roles (include metrics!)
  5. Compare the draft of your manager cover letter to the examples on this page to make sure you're on the right path
  6. Use a tool like Hemingway App to proofread your cover letter before you submit it

If you follow those steps, you're going to be well on your way to landing more Manager interviews and job offers.

 

Laura Lorta

Laura is an Editor at Cultivated Culture. She transitioned from teaching into the world of content so she's no stranger to career pivots. She also has a bachelors in Entrepreneurship and a Masters in Curriculum & Instruction / Bilingual Education. She currently shares job search advice to help people like you land jobs they love without applying online.

LEAVE A REPLY

YOU’VE SEEN AUSTIN IN

Fast Company Logo
Business Insider Logo
Inc. Logo
The Muse logo
x
Cultivated Culture
SIGN UP
LOG IN
Cultivated Culture ResyBullet ResyBuild Mailscoop HeadlineAnalyzer.io

Welcome Back To Cultivated Culture!

Log into your Cultivated Culture account using one of the options below:

You have exceeded the maximum number of phone messages in a 24 hour period. We limit the number of times you can request security codes in order to protect your security. Please try again later or contact us for assistance with accessing your account.

Sign in with LinkedIn
Sign in with Email
LOG IN

Forgot your password? Click here to reset.

Need a free acount? Click Here To Sign Up

By logging in, you agree to Cultivated Culture's Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and agree to receive email updates.

One Free Account, Four Job-Winning Tools

Sign up for a free Cultivated Culture account and get access to all of our job search tools:

Your Bullet Score is:

Sign up for a free Cultivated Culture account to get the full breakdown of your bullet along with suggestions for improving it:

Sign Up To Save & Export Your Resume

Sign up to create, save, and export your resume and get access to our suite of job search tools!

Sign Up To Get More Free Email Searches

Create a free account to unlock more email searches and get access to all four of our job-winning tools:

Your Headline Score is:

Sign up for a free Cultivated Culture account to get the full breakdown of your headline along with suggestions for improving it:

Sign up with LinkedIn
Sign up with Email
Sign Up

Already have an acount? Click Here To Log In

By logging in, you agree to Cultivated Culture's Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and agree to receive email updates.

SIGN UP
LOG IN
Cultivated Culture

We Just Need You To Verify Your Email.

We just emailed you a 6-digit code. Please check your email and enter it below.

Note: Your progress will not be saved until your email is verified. Closing this pop up or window might cause you to lose your progress.

Invalid Code

Verify

Choose one of the options below to get the verification code we sent you!

We'll need you to verify your email address before you're able to unlock free scans.

We'll need you to verify your email address before you're able to unlock free templates, saves, and exports.

We'll need you to verify your email address before you're able to unlock free email searches.

We sent a verification code to your email, all you have to do is paste that code here and submit to get full access!

Resend Verification Email
Verify Your Account Now

Need a free acount? Click Here To Sign Up

By logging in, you agree to Cultivated Culture's Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and agree to receive email updates.

Cultivated Culture

Looks Like You Still Need To Verify Your Email Address!

Whoops! Looks like you still haven't verified your email address. We'll need you to do that before granting free, unlimited access to our tools.

If you can't find the original verification email, click the link below and we'll send a new one:

Sent! Please check your email.

Resend Verification Email

Need a free acount? Click Here To Sign Up

By logging in, you agree to Cultivated Culture's Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and agree to receive email updates.

Cultivated Culture

Oops! You've Hit Your Credit Limit.

Looks like you've used all 10 of your free credits for the month. Your credit limit will refresh in days. You can learn more about your credit limit here.

Want to stop worrying about credits?

Sign up for our Unlimited plan to get instance unlimited access to all of our jon search tools for one low price. Click below to learn more:

LEARN ABOUT UNLIMITED

Go Unlimited!

Change Plan!

Upgrade to get unlimited access to our full suite of tools to help you craft personalized job application materials in 15 minutes (or less!).

Go Unlimited
(& Save 10%)!

Upgrade to get unlimited access to our full suite of tools to help you craft personalized job application materials in 15 minutes (or less!), and 10% off our regular pricing thanks to your friend :

Discount Unlocked!

Get 22% off any Unlimited Plan when you upgrade in the next 24 hours!

$9 $9 $8.10 $9 $7 billed weekly

Weekly

Monthly

(Save 40%)

Quarterly

(Save 50%)

Your Unlimited plan comes with...

Unlimited access to 6 of our job search tools

Unlimited AI optimizations and generations

200 Mailscoop searches per week

No obligations - cancel any time

UPGRADE MY PLAN
UPGRADE WITH DISCOUNT
CHANGE PLAN

HOURS

MINS

SECS

By clicking "Upgrade My Plan," you agree to Cultivated Culture's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

By clicking "Change Plan," you agree to Cultivated Culture's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Cultivated Culture

Confirm Your Plan Change

Here is a summary of your plan change:

Current Plan:

New Plan:

Please note the following for plan changes:

Your new plan and rebill date will be effective immediately

The number above depict retail plan pricing, any adjustments or credits will be available in the Invoices section of your Billing tab

If you're moving to a lower cost plan, the difference will be credited to your account and applied towards your next payment

CONFIRM PLAN CHANGE

By clicking "Confirm Plan Change," you agree to Cultivated Culture's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Cultivated Culture

Unlimited Plan Upgrade

Change Payment Method

APPLY

Promo code has been applied to your purchase!

Note: This is a weekly subscription, your card will be automatically charged every week until you cancel your plan.

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

(C) 2024 Cultivated Culture

Note: You will not be charged for updating your credit card using this form. After your new card is added, you will be billed on the date of your next billing cycle.

Cultivated Culture

Upgrade Complete!

You are officially a

Unlimited Member

Invoice Details

Invoice:

Paid Today:

Plan:

Start Date:

Subscription:

Next Bill Date (Est.):

Note: This receipt and future invoices will be available in the Billing Tab of your Account Dashboard.

VIEW RECEIPT
RETURN TO TOOLS

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

(C) 2024 Cultivated Culture

Cultivated Culture

Do You Want To Secure Your Account?

Increase your account security with one of our multi-factor authentication options:

Set Up 2 Factor Authentication
Skip Adding Additional Security
Note: You are able to set up multi-factor authentication at any time in your Account Dashboard.

Choose An Authentication Method

Awesome! Let's make your account more secure.

Choose your preferred authentication method:

Text Message Authentication
Email Address Authentication

Text Message Authentication

Enter the phone number that you want to use to set up text-based authentication for your account:

You have exceeded the maximum number of phone messages in a 24 hour period. We limit the number of times you can request security codes in order to protect your security. Please try again later or contact us for assistance with accessing your account.

SEND CODE

Note: Message and data rates may apply. Your phone number will only be used to send authentication codes. You will receive one message per login attempt. For more information, click here to view our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

Text Message Verification Code Sent!

Please check your phone for verification code and enter below:

VERIFY

Email Verification Code Sent!

Please check your email for verification code and enter below:

VERIFY

Choose An Authentication Method

No problem, we'll skip this for now. Do you want us to remind you to secure your account?

Yes, Remind Me Next Time
No, Don't Remind Me Again
Note: You are able to set up multi-factor authentication at any time in your Account Dashboard.

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

(C) 2024 Cultivated Culture

Cultivated Culture

Welcome !

It's great to have you. We just have a few questions so we can personalize your experience with our tools:

GET STARTED!
Skip For Now
Cultivated Culture

Join Our Free, Live
Job Search Strategy Sessions!

Congrats! You officially have access to an ecosystem of job search tools that's going to help you accelerate your job search!

The next step? Grab a seat for one of our free, live job search strategy sessions!

Our team hosts these every week with the goal of covering the top 3 strategies we're seeing help our clients score:

💰 Average Raise: $43,000+

⏱️ Avg. Time To Offer: 3.5 Months

✅ Complete Career Clarity

They're totally free, grab a seat here:

BOOK YOUR FREE SEAT
No thanks, I’m good for now.
Cultivated Culture
Job Toolkit
Coaching Call
Resume Course
Ahh So Close!
Job Toolkit
Coaching Call
Resume Course
Ahh So Close!
Want A GUARANTEED WAY TO WIN MORE JOB OFFERS?
I'm giving away some of my premium content for FREE. This is stuff you won't find anywhere on the site. Stuff that's helped people just like you land jobs at places like Google with no "traditional" experience and without applying online. If you're tired of job searching and want to land a job you love, spin for a chance to win strategies most people pay for: