Do Cover Letters Even Go Through ATS?
Yes - at most mid-size and large companies, they do. When you submit an application through a portal like Workday, Greenhouse, Lever, or Taleo, the ATS ingests every document you upload. That includes your cover letter. The system parses the text, runs keyword matching, and in some cases scores the cover letter separately from the resume.
Even at companies where cover letters are not scored automatically, recruiters often use the ATS search function to find candidates by keyword. If your cover letter contains relevant terms and a competitor's does not, you surface in that search and they do not.
The short answer: write every cover letter assuming it will be parsed. The formatting and keyword rules that apply to your resume apply here too.
Use the Job Description as Your Template
The job description is not just context - it is the answer key. ATS systems are configured to match candidates against the same keywords the recruiter used when writing the posting. If the posting says "cross-functional collaboration" and your cover letter says "working with different teams," the ATS may not count that as a match.
Pull the three to five most repeated phrases from the job description and mirror them exactly in your cover letter. Do not paraphrase. If the posting says "data-driven decision making," use that exact phrase - not "decisions backed by data" or "analytical approach."
Example
Job description says:
"We are looking for someone with experience in stakeholder management, agile delivery, and data-driven decision making."
Your cover letter should include:
"In my last role, I led stakeholder management across four business units while owning agile delivery for a core platform rebuild. Every major decision was grounded in data-driven decision making - from sprint prioritization to roadmap sequencing."
Three phrases, used naturally, in one paragraph. The ATS sees exact matches. The human reader sees relevant experience. Both goals are served by the same text.
Format for ATS First, Humans Second
Cover letter formatting mistakes that break ATS parsing are the same ones that break resume parsing. Tables, text boxes, multi-column layouts, and headers with embedded graphics all cause parsers to misread or skip content. A beautifully designed cover letter in Canva may look impressive as a PDF - but the ATS often sees garbled text or blank sections.
The safest format is a plain .docx or a simple single-column PDF exported from Google Docs or Microsoft Word. No columns, no decorative borders, no text in header fields. Your contact information goes in the body of the document - not in the document's header field, which many parsers skip entirely.
ATS-safe cover letter structure
Your name - email - phone - LinkedIn (in the body, plain text)
Date
Hiring manager name / company name
Opening paragraph (role name + why you are applying)
Middle paragraph (mirror 2-3 job description keywords with proof)
Closing paragraph (call to action)
This structure is boring by design. ATS parsers are trained on standard formats. The more your cover letter looks like what the parser expects, the more reliably it is processed. Save the personality for the words - not the layout.
The Keyword Placement Strategy
Not all keyword placements are equal. ATS systems weight keywords differently depending on where they appear in the document. Keywords in your opening paragraph and in your closing paragraph tend to score higher than the same keyword buried in the middle of a long sentence. Think of it like a web page - the headline and the conclusion carry more signal than the body copy.
A practical three-pass strategy works well here. First, identify the primary keyword - usually the exact job title or core competency. Put it in your first sentence. Second, identify two secondary keywords from the requirements section. Use them in your middle paragraph where you describe your experience. Third, use the primary keyword again in your closing paragraph.
Keyword placement in practice
Opening (primary keyword):
"I am writing to apply for the Senior Product Manager role at Acme Corp..."
Middle (secondary keywords):
"My background in roadmap prioritization and cross-functional collaboration maps directly to what this role requires..."
Closing (primary keyword repeated):
"I would welcome the chance to discuss how my experience translates to the Senior Product Manager role."
Do not stuff keywords. Three to five distinct keyword phrases used naturally will score better than the same keyword repeated eight times. ATS systems check for keyword presence and context - not raw frequency.
Test Your Cover Letter Before You Send It
Most people send cover letters without checking whether they will parse correctly. That is a mistake. The same way you would proofread for typos, you should check for ATS parsing failures before submission.
A quick self-test: copy your cover letter text and paste it into a plain text editor (like Notepad or TextEdit in plain text mode). If the text looks coherent - sentences in order, no garbled characters, contact info visible - your formatting is likely ATS-safe. If words run together or sections appear out of order, your file format is the problem.
For the keyword check, take the job description and highlight every skills-related phrase. Then read your cover letter and mark each time one of those phrases appears. If fewer than three highlighted phrases are covered, add them. If none of your matches are in the opening or closing paragraph, move one there.
The same keyword principles that apply to cover letters apply to your resume - and your resume is where most ATS scoring actually happens. At Resume Roaster, we analyze resumes for exactly these keyword gaps - the phrases the job description uses that your resume is missing, plus formatting issues that cause parsers to skip content. If you are applying to roles where ATS matters (and most roles do), your resume deserves the same scrutiny you are applying to your cover letter. Run it through a free check before your next application.