Here is the situation most job seekers find themselves in: you have spent an hour tailoring your CV, you have found the application portal, and then you hit a text box labelled "additional information" or nothing at all. No cover letter field. No instructions. Just a submit button staring back at you.
Do you paste a cover letter in? Write a short note? Say nothing and hope for the best?
The answer depends entirely on where and how you are applying. This guide breaks it down so you are never guessing again.
Why there is no single right answer
The UK job market has fractured into several distinct application formats, and they do not all play by the same rules. You might be applying through an ATS portal like Workday or Greenhouse, firing off a direct email to a hiring manager, submitting a public sector application form, or responding to a speculative opportunity. Each one calls for a different approach.
The good news is that once you understand the logic behind each format, the decision becomes almost automatic.
When you are applying through an ATS portal
Applicant tracking systems have quietly become the default for most mid-to-large employers in the UK. If you are uploading your CV through a company's careers page and filling in fields one by one, you are almost certainly in an ATS.
Some ATS portals include a cover letter upload field. If it is there and optional, use it. A well-written cover letter is still one of the more effective ways to give context that a CV cannot, and most candidates will skip the optional fields entirely. That alone makes it worth doing.
If there is no cover letter field at all, do not try to shoehorn one in by stuffing your CV with paragraphs of prose. The ATS will not thank you for it, and neither will the recruiter parsing the output. Focus on making your CV do the heavy lifting instead. If you have not already, it is worth reading up on ATS-proof your CV: what recruiters' software is really looking for before you submit anything.
Some portals include a free-text "personal statement" or "about you" box. That is not a cover letter field, but it is close enough. Treat it like a short, punchy introduction: two or three paragraphs covering who you are, why this role, and what you bring. Keep it focused.
When you are applying by email
Direct email applications are more common than people realise, particularly at smaller companies, in creative industries, and for senior or specialist roles where the hiring manager has posted something directly rather than routing it through HR.
In this case, your email body is your cover letter. There is no need to write a separate attached document called "Cover Letter.pdf" unless the job advert specifically asks for one. A well-crafted email does the same job more efficiently.
A strong application email should:
- Open with a clear, specific line about what you are applying for and why
- Include two or three sentences on your most relevant experience or skills
- Reference something specific about the company or role that explains your interest
- Close with a brief, confident call to action
That is it. Four to six short paragraphs at most. You are not writing a biography. You are giving the reader enough to want to open your CV.
If you are struggling with how to start, how to start a cover letter, the first lines that get you read applies just as much to email openers as it does to formal letters. The principle is the same: earn their attention in the first two lines.
When a formal cover letter is still expected
There are sectors and situations where a traditional, formally structured cover letter is not just expected but genuinely evaluated as part of the application.
Public sector roles are the clearest example. Local councils, NHS trusts, Civil Service positions and similar organisations often require cover letters as standard, and they are frequently assessed against specific competency frameworks. In these cases, a casual email-style note will not cut it. You need a properly structured letter that addresses the person specification point by point.
Legal and professional services firms, particularly at trainee or graduate entry level, often still expect formal cover letters as part of a multi-stage process. The same applies to many roles in academia, finance, and some areas of the charity sector.
Speculative applications (where you are reaching out about a role that has not been advertised) also benefit from a more considered, letter-style format. You are asking someone to create an opportunity that does not yet exist, so the bar for making a strong first impression is higher. There is more on the mechanics of this in speculative applications: how to reach out when there's no job posted.
If you are writing a formal cover letter and want to get the structure right, the perfect cover letter structure (with a template you can actually use) is a practical place to start.
The application form problem
A growing number of UK employers, particularly in retail, hospitality, and the public sector, use their own bespoke application forms that do not include a CV upload at all. Instead, you fill in sections covering your work history, qualifications, and competency-based questions.
In this format, a cover letter is typically not expected unless specifically requested. The form is the application. Your job is to answer each section carefully and specifically, rather than padding it out with generic prose that could apply to any employer.
Career changers often find this format tricky, particularly when the form seems designed for people with a linear career history. If that sounds familiar, thinking clearly about your transferable skills: how to identify yours and sell them before you fill anything in will make the whole process a lot cleaner.
A few things that trip people up
Attaching a cover letter to an email and then also writing a covering email creates an awkward duplication. Pick one. If you are applying by email, the email body is your cover letter. If the job advert asks for a cover letter as an attachment, write it as a document and keep the email brief.
Length is a persistent problem. A cover letter or application email that runs to four dense paragraphs covering your entire career history is not more impressive than a concise one. It is just longer. Most hiring managers are reading these on a screen, often quickly, often alongside dozens of others. Short and specific will always outperform long and thorough.
Generic is the real killer, though. "I am a highly motivated individual with a passion for excellence" has been written by approximately everyone who has ever applied for anything. It signals nothing. Specific detail about this role, this company, and this moment in your career is what separates an application that gets read from one that gets skipped.
Match the format to the context
The underlying principle across all of this is straightforward. Understand what format you are working within, then use that format as well as it can possibly be used. Do not paste a formal letter into an ATS text box. Do not send a casual three-line email for a Civil Service role. Do not ignore an optional cover letter field just because it is optional.
The candidates who get interviews are rarely the most qualified on paper. They are the ones who bothered to communicate clearly, specifically, and in the right format. That is genuinely achievable for anyone willing to put in a bit of thought before they hit submit.
Sources
- Civil Service Recruitment: application and interview guidance. GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/civil-service-recruitment
- CIPD. Recruitment: an overview. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. https://www.cipd.org/uk/knowledge/factsheets/recruitment-factsheet/
- NHS Jobs help and guidance for applicants. NHS Business Services Authority. https://www.jobs.nhs.uk/candidate/help
- Office for National Statistics. EMP04: Employment by occupation. ONS Labour Market Statistics. https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/employmentbyoccupationemp04
- TotalJobs. The Candidate Behaviour Report 2023. https://www.totaljobs.com/advice/candidate-behaviour-report