How long should a cover letter be?

One page, which in practice means three to five paragraphs. Anything longer is rarely read in full, and the examples on this page stay inside that range.

What belongs in a German cover letter?

A subject line, a salutation naming the actual contact person, a body that answers the requirements in the posting, and the closing Mit freundlichen Grüßen. This differs from the US cover letter structure, which is often translated rather than adapted.

Are these real cover letters?

No. Every person and company on this page is invented. The examples show structure and how a letter answers a posting, not documents from real users.

Does Appliqu write a new cover letter for every role?

Yes. Appliqu reads the full job posting and writes the CV and cover letter for that specific role, not from a template.

Cover letter examples

Three complete cover letters, each shown beside the job posting it answers. The highlighted phrases show which line picks up which requirement. That is the difference between a letter about you and an answer to the posting.

Project Manager

Nordhaus Systems · Hamburg

Example. Fictional person, fictional company.

From the job posting

At least five years leading technical projects
Confident with agile methods, ideally Scrum and Kanban
Experience managing external suppliers
Fluent German and English

The cover letter Appliqu wrote

Application for Project Manager, reference PM-2481

Dear Ms Brandt,

The Project Manager position at Nordhaus Systems caught my attention because it combines technical ownership with supplier management. That intersection is where I have worked for the past six years.

In my current role at a mid-sized logistics software provider, I run projects lasting between four and eighteen months. I have led technical projects for six years¹, most recently a migration with a budget of 1.2 million euros and fourteen people across three departments.

We work in Scrum, with Kanban for the maintenance track², and I introduced both formats across two teams. Managing external suppliers is part of my week: I currently steer three partners, from tender through acceptance to invoice review³.

I work in German and English daily, including with our development site in Dublin.

I would welcome the chance to go into more detail in person.

Kind regards

Katrin Ostermann

Software Engineer

Blauwerk Technologies · Stuttgart

Example. Fictional person, fictional company.

From the job posting

Solid knowledge of Java and Spring Boot
Experience with continuous integration and automated testing
Willingness to own a service area
Container orchestration an advantage

The cover letter Appliqu wrote

Application for Software Engineer, posting of 12 August

Dear Dr Weiler,

I read your posting for a Software Engineer in manufacturing control with real interest. The shape of the role, technical depth combined with genuine ownership of a service area, is exactly the direction I want to grow in.

For five years I have built backend services in Java and Spring Boot¹, currently for a team processing production data in real time. I raised test coverage on our main service from 34 to 81 percent and moved the build pipeline to GitLab CI², which cut run time from roughly 20 minutes to under 7.

For the past two years I have owned a service area outright³, including on-call and release planning. Our services run on Kubernetes and I maintain the Helm charts myself.

I would be glad to walk you through how I approach a concrete problem.

Kind regards

Tobias Reinhardt

Sales Manager

Meridian Trading · Munich

Example. Fictional person, fictional company.

From the job posting

Several years leading a field sales team
Demonstrable growth in existing accounts
Experience running sales through a CRM
Willing to travel across the DACH region

The cover letter Appliqu wrote

Application for Sales Manager, Region South

Dear Ms Hoffmann,

The Sales Manager role for Region South at Meridian Trading appeals to me because it pairs leadership with direct customer work. I have carried both at once for several years.

Most recently I led a field team of nine¹ across Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. In existing accounts I grew my region from 6.4 to 9.1 million euros over three years², largely through structured annual reviews and a much tighter contact rhythm with our A accounts.

We run everything through Salesforce³. I rebuilt the pipeline logic for my team and work with weekly forecast reviews, which noticeably improved forecast accuracy.

Travel is part of the job for me. I am with customers three to four days a week, regularly in Austria and Switzerland.

I would be glad to discuss this in person.

Kind regards

Andreas Klingbeil

Common questions

How long should a cover letter be?: One page, which in practice means three to five paragraphs. Anything longer is rarely read in full, and the examples on this page stay inside that range.
What belongs in a German cover letter?: A subject line, a salutation naming the actual contact person, a body that answers the requirements in the posting, and the closing Mit freundlichen Grüßen. This differs from the US cover letter structure, which is often translated rather than adapted.
Are these real cover letters?: No. Every person and company on this page is invented. The examples show structure and how a letter answers a posting, not documents from real users.
Does Appliqu write a new cover letter for every role?: Yes. Appliqu reads the full job posting and writes the CV and cover letter for that specific role, not from a template.

Appliqu writes this letter for every role you apply to.

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