Short Cover Letters That Work (Under 150 Words, 5 Samples)

Q: Should the short letter go in the email body or as an attachment?

Body — that’s its natural habitat ( email application format ). If the employer requires an attached letter, attach the formal version and keep the body to two lines.

A short cover letter — four to six sentences, under 150 words — outperforms a long one whenever the reader is fast and the evidence is strong: email applications, high-volume adverts, referrals, and follow-ups — because it forces the two facts that get you shortlisted to stand alone, unburied. Short is a discipline, not a shortcut: every sentence must carry a load, which is precisely why weak applications can’t survive the format. Here’s the formula and five complete samples.

The 4-sentence formula

Sentence 1 — the ask, precisely: role, reference, source. Sentence 2 — the headline proof: your single strongest matched qualification with a number. Sentence 3 — the second proof or fit fact: one more, chosen against the advert’s top requirement. Sentence 4 — the close: attachments, availability, phone. Optional fifth: one research line (“I noticed…”) when it’s genuinely specific. Everything else — career narrative, philosophy, adjectives — belongs in the interview or nowhere. If a sentence could appear in anyone’s letter, it doesn’t belong in a short one.

Sample 1 — Standard email application (the workhorse)

Dear Ms. Wanjiru,

I’m applying for the Accounts Assistant role (Ref: FIN/2026/11) advertised on JobsInKenya.ke. I’m a CPA Section 4 candidate processing 300+ supplier invoices monthly at [Company], with our top-20 supplier statements reconciled to zero variance across the past year. My application letter and CV are attached; I’m available for interview at your convenience on 0712 345 678.

Kind regards, Brian Kiprop

(58 words of body — and nothing a recruiter needs is missing.)

Sample 2 — Referral

Dear Mr. Otieno,

James Mwangi in your dispatch team suggested I write to you about the storekeeper vacancy. I’ve run inventory for [Distributor] for three years — 2,000-line stockroom, four consecutive clean stock-takes, zero unexplained variances. My CV is attached; I’d welcome a conversation this week. 0723 456 789.

Regards, Peter Kamau

The referral name is sentence one — it’s the reason the letter gets read — and the referee should know you’ve used it.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I’m applying for the Sales Agent position advertised 15 August. I turned a KES 3,000 float into KES 15,000 in one December hawking at Kongowea market, and I’m motivated by commission-based pay. Available immediately, smartphone-ready, county-wide. CV attached — 0708 123 456.

Yours faithfully, Kevin Otieno

For mass-screening adverts, speed-to-point is the differentiator: the recruiter is skimming three hundred of these.

Sample 4 — Internal application

Dear [HR Manager],

I wish to be considered for the advertised Branch Supervisor role. In three years as Senior Teller (Nakuru), I’ve acted as supervisor for five cumulative months, passing two spot audits with zero exceptions, and my float-reconciliation checklist now runs at three other branches. Happy to discuss my readiness with the panel.

Regards, Grace Njeri

Sample 5 — Speculative one-liner-plus

Dear Mr. Mwangi,

Does [Company] anticipate accounts openings as the Eldoret depot scales? I’m a CPA finalist with three years in receivables — KES 4.2M in aged debt recovered last year — and I’d value fifteen minutes on where collections experience could help. CV attached; I’ll call Thursday morning. 0734 567 890.

Sincerely, Achieng Odhiambo

When NOT to go short

The short format loses where formality or completeness is the test: government and county applications expecting the full formal application letter with addresses and RE: lines; adverts that specify content (“your letter should address the following…”) — answer everything asked, at whatever length that takes; career changes needing the reframing paragraph (that structure); and senior roles where a considered letter signals considered candidacy. The judgment rule: match the reader’s speed — fast reader, short letter; formal process, formal letter; and when the advert itself is long and structured, your response should mirror it.

Editing a long letter down (the 5-minute compression drill)

Most writers can’t draft short but can cut short — so draft freely, then compress: strike every adjective describing yourself (hardworking, passionate, dynamic — all of it; nouns and numbers stay); strike every sentence the reader already knows (“I am writing to apply…” opener survives only in its shortest form; “I believe I would be an asset” dies entirely); merge proofs — two half-proofs become one sentence with both numbers; convert narrative to fact — “During my time at X I was able to grow…” becomes “At X, I grew…”; and read the survivor aloud once — anything you stumble on, simplify. A 400-word draft reliably compresses to 120 words that outperform it, because compression forces the strongest-evidence choice that long formats let you dodge. The drill doubles as interview prep: the letter’s surviving sentences are your 90-second introduction’s raw material.

Frequently asked questions

Can a cover letter really be 60 words?

Yes, when the 60 words contain a reference number, a quantified proof and a contact — which beats 400 words containing none. Recruiters consistently report reading short letters fully and skimming long ones.

Should the short letter go in the email body or as an attachment?

Body — that’s its natural habitat (email application format). If the employer requires an attached letter, attach the formal version and keep the body to two lines.

Doesn’t a short letter look lazy?

Only if it’s generic. Specific-and-short reads as confident; generic-and-short reads as spam. The reference number, the number-bearing proof and the tailored fit line are what separate the two.

Can I reuse a short letter across applications?

The skeleton travels; sentences two and three never do — they’re rebuilt per advert from its own requirements, which takes three minutes precisely because the format is short. A reused proof-sentence that mismatches the advert is more visible in 60 words than in 400, so the short format punishes laziness faster than it rewards it.

What font/format for a short letter in the email body?

Plain email text — no pasted formatting, no colours. The formal-document rules apply only to attachments (format guide).

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