cover letter for cv nz

• Tips for nailing your CV
• Writing the perfect cover letter
• Searching for jobs
• Landing your first job
• Effective interviewing
• Your online presence
• Workplace tips & wellbeing
• Changing careers
• Growing your skills
• Managing job loss
• Taking leave
• Market updates
• Newshub Summer Series
• Careers advice

How to write an NZ cover letter (with examples and templates)

Along with your CV, a cover letter is essential to any NZ job application. Let's get you started.

Every New Zealand job application should include a cover letter.

This document is key to showing an employer you’re serious about their vacancy, and for demonstrating what you bring to the table . Despite its importance, many people aren’t sure how to write a cover letter – and their applications suffer as a result.

That’s why we’ve created this guide, giving you advice on everything from what to include, to how to lay it out.

We’ve also snuck in a few examples to make life even easier for you … aren’t we nice?

Cover letters vs. CVs: what’s the difference?

To understand the role cover letters play in job applications, it’s important to realise how they differ from CVs:

1. Purpose:

CVs give a broad picture of you as an applicant – providing details such as educational background and employment history . By contrast, a cover letter targets why you want this specific role, and how your skills and experience make you a great candidate.

While there will be areas of overlap as you select qualifications or abilities to draw out in your cover letter, it definitely should not be an elongated version of your CV.

An NZ cover letter should be no longer than one page, while CVs are usually between one and two.

The most obvious visual difference between these documents and CVs hinges around bullet points.

While your CV should be a bullet point bonanza, cover letters favour full sentences. That’s not to say you can’t have any bullets in a cover letter, just use them more sparingly.

You should include a cover letter with every job application.

What to include in a cover letter

1. your contact info, the date and the business’ address.

At the top of your cover letter should be:

• Your full name, contact details and home address
• The date you submit the application
• The business’ postal address

It should look like this:

Head up your cover letter like this.

2. Your opener

People worry about how to start a cover letter , but there’s a simple formula and structure for getting this right:

Make it personal : start with ‘dear’, and address it to a person – i.e. the hiring manager. If their name isn’t in the job listing, try a good old fashioned stalk of the company website, or ring the business and find out. ‘To whom it may concern’ is a no go.

Make it clear : organisations often list multiple vacancies at a time, so make it obvious which position you’re applying for. A sentence like, ‘I’m writing to apply for the Marketing Assistant role, as advertised on Trade Me Jobs’, will do the trick.

Make it punchy : next, add a snappy one-liner summing up why you’re interested in the role and what you’d bring to their business. Remember, you can go into more detail in the interview itself. For example:

3. Why them

A common cover letter mistake is to only focus on yourself. Before choosing you, employers want to know why you’re choosing them. This helps sort candidates who are genuinely passionate about their organisation from those who are mass applying to anything and everything.

Warning : this section is not about inflating the hiring manager's ego by flattering the company – be positive, but be thoughtful.

Now, it’s time to sell yourself.

This section of your cover letter is where you highlight your most relevant skills and experience.

You can draw on anything from previous work experience to certificates and qualifications. The important bit is linking whatever you mention to the job – simply listing skills is not the answer.

To do this effectively, you need to carefully study the job ad and identify what capabilities the employer values most. If your Trade Me Jobs Profile is up-to-date, you can then quickly skim your skills and experience to find those which most closely match the job description.

Top tip: the more detail you can give, the better. Helped raise sales? Great. Helped raise sales by 6%? Even better.

If you want to add some extra skills or information to this section, a bullet point list is a good option. Note : only do this after introducing your headline examples in full sentence form, as above, and keep your list to three or four concise bullets.

5. Signing off

The end of your cover letter should (politely) prompt the reader to get in touch with you to arrange the next steps. Make sure you end on a high, and continue the energy from earlier in your closing sentence, for example:

How to format a cover letter

With your content sorted, it’s now about nailing the visuals. Cover letters are usually easier than CVs in this regard, as they’re laid out like a traditional letter. However, there are a few things to bear in mind:

• What font should I use? Keep it simple, and the same as on your CV. If your font is hard to read, or too small, the letter will end up in the wrong pile.
• How long should a cover letter be? New Zealand cover letters should be under one page long.
• Should I use paragraphs? Would you read huge, unbroken chunks of text? We doubt it, so make sure to break up your cover letters into paragraphs.
• What are the correct cover letter margins? Leave these at their default setting so your cover letter has plenty of blank space, and doesn’t look crowded.

All done? Not quite.

Perhaps the most important stage of cover letter writing is proofreading. After all that hard work, you don’t want a few silly typos or poor punctuation letting you down.

So check it yourself, then get someone else to have a look, then have a final glance.

Once you’re happy, it’s time to attach it to your application, and hit send.

Al Hall is a regular contributor at Trade Me Jobs and Trade Me Property. He’s dedicated to helping people succeed in their aspirations to find their dream job and place to live.

Other articles you might like

A good CV can make all the difference to your job hunting hopes. Check out our must-read advice and free templates.

A good cover letter intro is like a good espresso – short, sharp and energising. Here’s how to brew one of your own.

A Trade Me Jobs Profile lets employers come to you, and means you can download a professional looking CV in seconds.

• List an item
• My Trade Me
• Marketplace
• Latest deals
• Closing soon
• Browse categories
• Salary guide
• Advertisers advice
• Boats & marine
• Other vehicles
• International property
• News & guides
• Homes.co.nz
• OneHub for agents
• Domestic services
• Events & entertainment
• Health & wellbeing
• Announcements
• Trust & safety
• Seller information
• Desktop site
• Privacy policy
• Terms & conditions
• Follow Trade Me on Facebook
• Follow Trade Me on Twitter

Work homepage

We can help you get ready to apply and find the right job for you. We can even help you while you're working.

• Get ready to work

You can get training, help with CVs and cover letters, and advice for job interviews.

Find out what jobs are available, which job is best for you and how you can plan your career.

Whether you've just started a job or need some help at work, we've got your back.

• Lost your job

We'll help you get ready to find a new job and support you while you're between jobs.

• Start your own business

Get help to plan and set up a successful business or be a self-employed contractor.

Benefits and payments homepage

Take a look at the range of benefits and payments we have available.

Not working

Redundancy, health condition or disability or another reason you can’t work

Living expenses

Food, school costs, power, accommodation or other living expenses you need help with

Relationship changes

You’ve had a relationship break-up, family breakdown or violent relationship end

Health and Disability

Counselling, prescription and GP costs, medical alarms and other costs we can help with

Travelling overseas, how to apply, payment rates and dates, overseas pensions, income and other info for Seniors

Caring for someone else’s child or someone with a health condition, injury or disability

Urgent or unexpected costs

Dental, glasses, car repairs, fridge, washing machine, funeral or other urgent costs you need help with

Childcare, school uniforms, stationery, having a baby and other costs if you have children

Moving to New Zealand

Payments you can get from us, settling into NZ, overseas pensions and more.

Benefits and forms

A-Z list of benefits, forms, benefit rates

On a benefit homepage

Check out what you need to do when you're getting a benefit or other payment from us.

Something's changed

Address, contact details, overseas travel, childcare, relationship or anything else that’s changed.

Declare income and income deduction tables

Change in your childcare situation, continue childcare payments, cohort entry schools and other childcare information

Going overseas

Travelling or moving overseas may affect your payments.

Re-apply, review or renew

Re-apply for a payment, review circumstances, renew medical certificate and more

Check or stop your payments, payment cards and other information

Check your debt, repayments and other debt information

Rights and responsibilities

Our commitment to you,  obligations, complaints, benefit fraud and more

Housing homepage

Find out how we can help you with housing.

Nowhere to stay

Get help if you have nowhere to stay right now.

Find a house

Find out where to look for private housing, or apply for public (social) housing.

Living in your home

Get help with accommodation costs, and advice on any housing issues and public housing tenancies.

Moving house

Find out how we can help if you’re moving house.

Other languages

Read some of our housing information in other languages.

• Go to the Work and Income home page

WARNING: Your device is running Android version 7 or below. From September, you may experience issues accessing our website. We recommend using the Firefox browser.

CVs and cover letters

Take the hard work out of writing your CV and cover letter. Get advice about what to write, support to show you what to do, and free templates you can use.

When you apply for a job, employers will look at your:

• CV, to see your skills, any qualifications, and your work history
• cover letter, to find out what kind of person you are and why you want this job.

They'll use this to decide if they want to interview you, so it's really important to make a good impression.

What's available

'build my cv' service.

A free service to help you write or review your CV and cover letter. It's run by the Auckland Business Chamber, and it's available online throughout New Zealand.

You can sign up if you're getting Jobseeker Support or Sole Parent Support.

If you've been getting one of these benefits for less than 12 months, you can sign up through MyMSD:

If you've been getting one of these benefits for more than 12 months talk to your local service centre or call our Job Search line on 0800 779 009 .

Step-by-step CV builder

A free, interactive tool from Careers.govt.nz.

• Makes sure your CV has all the information employers look for.
• Tips and advice to help you build a CV to get you noticed.
• Your CV will save automatically to your account, and you can download, print and email it in Word and PDF.

How to write a cover letter

Careers.govt.nz has great advice about:

• what your cover letter needs
• how to make it look good
• templates you can use.

• Skip to main navigation
• Skip to main content
• Skip to Chat now
• Skip to footer

Get in touch with us for career information.

We're here from 8:30am to 5pm Monday to Friday – except Wednesdays when we're here from 9.30am to 5pm.

We're closed on all public holidays, including Wellington Anniversary.

Call 0800 601 301

Email us with your career question

• Job hunting
• Finding work

How to write a CV

Cv and cover letter templates, how to describe skills in your cv, how to write a cover letter, how to write an application form, how to make an online job hunting profile, how to create a video cv, job application checklist.

• Got a job offer?
• What's happening in the job market?
• New to New Zealand

Create CVs, cover letters and profiles

Create an effective CV, cover letter, application form and online job hunting profile.

How to write a CV employers will want to read.

Templates and examples to help you create your own CV's (resumes) and cover letters.

Make your CV stand out to employers by showing them your skills and how you’ve used them.

How to write a cover letter employers will want to read.

How to write a job application form employers will want to read.

How to create an online job hunting profile that highlights your skills and experience to potential employers.

Create a video CV to show your personality and get your job application noticed.

Use our checklist before you send in your job application.

Updated 8 Mar 2022

Back to top

• CV Templates Simple Professional Modern Creative View all
• CV Examples High School Student Teacher Student Academic Nurse View all
• Cover Letter Templates Simple Professional Modern Creative View all
• Cover Letter Examples Caregiver Teacher Nursing Administrative Supermarket View all
• Cover Letter Builder

Use our free online cover letter builder

Build a winning cover letter now.

Our cover letter tools are helping Kiwis create impressive, powerful cover letters in less than ten minutes. Say goodbye to writer’s block with our pre-written phrases and tools, designed by experts, created for professionals.

Looking to create next-level cover letters and CVs? and resumes . We’ll help you stay up-to-date with the job market with our modern templates and tools! Use our CV builder to get one step closer to your dream career!

Loving our professional design formats? Want to see more? Keen to discover what CVapp.nz has to offer? Build powerful CVs in minutes with our CV builder. No hassle, no worries.

Check out our cover letter template designs samples . We’re helping Kiwis tell their professional stories and get closer to achieving their dream careers. Come try us out!

Proven cover letter templates

How our cover letter builder drastically increases your chances of securing your dream job.

At CVapp.nz, we streamline the application process for you. You don’t have to build anything from scratch! You can use our free cover letter templates and input your info easily. All of our designs are expert-approved and trusted by professionals. Come check them out for yourself!

With our in-built, automatic spell-checker, you don’t have to worry about being rejected due to grammatical errors or typos. We have everything in one place to remove the hassle from telling your professional story. Start making professional CVs and cover letters and advance your career now!

With our job tracker, you can add jobs to your wish list, monitor job listings, stay up-to-date with scheduled interviews and empower your job-hunt. We help you organise every stage of your job search. Come check it out for yourself!

Reviewed, community-centred and expert-approved

How to build a cover letter.

Building a convincing cover letter can take time and skills we don’t always have. Now, with CVapp.nz, we’ll help you build an effortless and easy cover letter that helps showcase your skills.

With our diverse range of stunning cover letter design templates, there’s something for everyone. All of our templates have been designed with professionals in mind, allowing users to pick a template for any job, industry or employer. professional Curious? Come take a look!

Employers need reliable contact information, so be sure to add relevant and appropriate contact details. With our expert-designed templates, headers and formatting, you can be sure your CV will be noticed and get you hired faster. No boring visuals, no problems!

Save on time by using our pre-approved phrases and top career tips and tricks! Use our free guides and resources to create impressive cover letters that leave a lasting impression and save you time and energy!

Customise the design, structure and formatting of your cover letters with ease. Our templates can be adjusted to your preferences, and you can edit on-the-go with our offline sync features. You won’t lose any progress or edits, even if we lose connection. Pretty cool, huh?

Use our PDF files to keep your CV and cover letter formatting perfectly intact. No matter what interface or email your employer uses, our flexible export options make launching your dream career easy.

Score your ideal job now!