A product manager cover letter is a document that complements your role-specific resume and helps you showcase your skills and experiences and get ahead of the competition. This document is often optional, which is why many candidates don’t bother writing it at all. As a result, those who do significantly increase their chances of landing a job interview.
In this comprehensive guide, we’re going to examine the process of writing product manager cover letters. You’re going to learn how to format your document, which sections to include, and how to write them to grab attention and convey relevant information in an optimal manner.
Key Takeaways
Your product manager cover letter should follow a business letter format.
A typical cover letter should have 3–5 paragraphs (around 250–400 words) and fit to one page.
A strong introductory paragraph helps you grab the attention of the hiring manager, while a call to action toward the end increases your chances of being called back.
Your cover letter should match your resume to create a cohesive application package and demonstrate your professionalism.
How to Format a Product Manager Cover Letter
You should follow a business letter format when writing your product manager cover letter. It’s the traditional way of arranging the contents of your letter to create an optimized experience for recruiters and hiring managers.
This cover letter format puts the sections in a specific order, and it goes like this:
Cover Letter Mandatory Details
Contact information goes into the header of your cover letter.
A greeting salutes the reader and introduces them to your writing.
The introduction should be one paragraph long and impress the hiring manager with your key strengths.
The main body represents 1–3 paragraphs of your most impressive skills and experiences relevant to the job.
The closing paragraph should feature a call to action.
A conclusion with a sign-off should politely close the letter.
Another important aspect of your cover letter is its layout. A professional layout makes the document visually appealing and easy to read.
Here are some tips on how you can achieve that:
Resume Layout Guidelines
A cover letter should be one page long with concise writing.
The perfect length for the body of text is 3–5 paragraphs or 250–400 words.
You want a professional font for your cover letter, like Arial and Cambria.
You should set the font size to 10–12 pt.
Margins should be at least 1 inch on all sides.
Line spacing should be 1.0, with an additional line between paragraphs.
By following these simple rules, you’ll get a stellar product manager cover letter in no time. But if you don’t feel like starting from scratch and formatting a blank page, you’re welcome to use our cover letter builder.
Our sophisticated software solution features expert-made templates where you don’t need to worry about format and layout. On top of that, our AI tool can help polish your writing for a truly outstanding cover letter.
Cover letter templates
Create a cover letter by filling in a free template and sharing it for free7 Essential Elements For Your Product Manager Cover Letter
Let’s learn how to write a job-winning product manager cover letter by examining all of the essential parts you should include. To help you better understand the guide, we’ve prepared a visual how-to:
#1. Heading
The heading of your cover letter is the perfect place for contact information and date of writing.
You should start with your details and include the following:
Heading Mandatory Details
Name
Job title
Phone number
Email address
You can also add your:
Heading Optional Details
Mailing address
LinkedIn
Relevant social media profiles
Links to a personal website or portfolio
After that, you should include the date and location of writing before listing the recipient’s contact information.
Let’s see all that in an example:
Heading Example
Olive Braun Product Manager 4942 Peck Court Bellflower, CA 90706 949-540-8069 olivebraun@example.com
Chicago, 05/13/2024
Carolyn Shepard Hiring Manager Ultraviolet Solutions 4469 Cecil Street Chicago, IL 60606
#2. Greeting
A formal greeting is a well-established way of starting a cover letter. The key here is to address the hiring manager or employer by their name. This creates a personal connection with the reader and increases the impact your cover letter has on them.
Here’s an example:
Greeting Example
Dear Ms. Shepard,
You should research the company and the job ad to get the name of the recipient. If you’re unable to find anything concrete, you can simply address them by their job title or department.
It’s important not to use generic greetings, like “To Whom It May Concern” or “Dear Sir/Madam,” as these can make you sound disinterested.
#3. Introduction
The introductory paragraph is one of the most important ones, as its goal is to grab the reader’s attention and persuade them to pay attention to the rest of the letter.
That’s why you want to use it to state the role that you’re applying for and highlight the key strengths that are relevant to it. This includes everything from the years of experience you have in the field to your product manager skills, accomplishments, accolades, and more.
Here’s a good example:
Introduction Example
I am writing to express my keen interest in the product manager position at Ultraviolet Solutions. With more than five years of experience leading cross-functional teams in delivering a variety of projects, I believe I can contribute to your esteemed organization. One of my notable results includes piloting the launch of a tech product that increased my previous company’s revenue by 47% within the first year and helped it improve customer retention rates by 19%.
#4. Skills, Qualifications, & Experiences
The body of your product manager cover letter needs to showcase your most prominent skills and qualifications. The goal is to convince hiring managers that you’re the right person for the job by emphasizing the experiences and qualities relevant to the role that you’re applying for.
This is typically best done by highlighting notable results from your previous professional efforts and using these to point out your abilities. To maximize the impact this has on the reader, you can use numbers and statistics to quantify your work.
Here’s a good example:
Skills, Qualifications, & Experiences Example
Additionally, my leadership skills allowed me to build exceptionally high-performing teams. At NewMobile Technologies, I led a team of graphic designers and software developers to launch a smartphone app that garnered more than 750,000 downloads within the first 6 months and received 4.85-star ratings on the App Store and Google Play Store.
If you’re writing a product manager cover letter with no experience, you can always put more emphasis on your skills or leverage substitute activities, such as academic accomplishments, volunteer work, personal projects, etc.
#5. Reasons for Applying
When you specify the reasons for applying to the company, you show a level of motivation that goes beyond simple job hunting. That’s why you want to mention something specific about the organization that you want to join.
That way, you’ll demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the company’s team, work, goals, and culture, signaling to hiring managers that you’ll likely fit in effortlessly.
Here’s an example of how you can achieve that:
Reasons for Applying Example
I am excited to join Ultraviolet Solutions because of your incorporation of AI into the workflow. I studied your latest project, which showed how you used state-of-the-art language models to automate processes, and I am confident that my proficiency in LLMs will allow me to contribute to your goals.
#6. Call to Action
To finish your product manager cover letter with a bang, you should include a call to action in the last paragraph to increase your chances of getting an interview invite. This can be as simple as thanking the reader for their time and suggesting they contact you for further discussion.
Here’s an example:
Call to Action Example
Thank you for considering my application. I would be eager to discuss further how my abilities align with your company’s needs over an interview.
You can also use a call to action to draw attention to your resume or portfolio, ensuring hiring managers examine them more thoroughly.
#7. Conclusion & Sign-Off
The conclusion and sign-off should be short and polite, much like the greeting.
Let’s see that in an example:
Conclusion & Sign-Off Example
Sincerely, Olive Braun
Let’s take a look at a sample of a product manager cover letter:
Let’s conclude this all-encompassing guide on crafting a product manager cover letter with a couple of expert strategies that will help you perfect the document:
3 Top Strategies for Crafting a Product Manager Cover Letter
Your cover letter should match your product manager resume. The two documents should have the same visual identity, including formats and layouts, and they should provide complementary information without repetition.
The skills you mention in your cover letter should be highly relevant to the job you’re after. That’s why you want to research the job ad and the role to find out which hard and soft skills to focus on.
You should carefully proofread and edit the document before submitting it. This allows you to iron out the kinks, fix any grammatical or typographical errors, and polish your writing to have the most impact on the reader.
Final Thoughts
Going the extra mile to write a cover letter demonstrates dedication and helps you get ahead of the competition. The rules outlined in this article help you create such a document quickly and effortlessly.
Moreover, these rules are universal and applicable whether you’re writing a program manager cover letter, a brand manager cover letter, or anything in between. Remember to keep your writing concise and focus on the abilities and experiences that are relevant to the job you’re applying for.
That’ll help you present yourself as the right person for the job and persuade hiring managers to call you over for an interview. Best of luck!
