How to email a CV when applying for a job
Use a short application email with a clear subject line. Copy a first application, a reply to someone who asked for your CV, a referral or a speculative note.
Ghosted editorialPublished 11 min read
On this page
- Applying for the first time
- When they already asked for your CV
- What an application email actually has to do
- The five parts of a CV email
- Subject lines that land in the right pile
- Name the file, then check the file
- Three more emails you can copy
- In the email, as a second file, or not at all
- Four things to settle first
- The mistakes people make most often
- A checklist before you send
- What to do once it’s gone
- Questions people ask about emailing a CV
The email
Applying for the first time
SubjectSupport Engineer application | Alex Reed
Hi Jo,
I’m applying for the Support Engineer role. I currently help customers troubleshoot account issues and write bug reports for our developers. I’ve attached my CV.
Thanks, Alex
That’s the whole email. Four lines: which job, one thing you do that the job needs, the attachment, your name. Swap in your role, your line and your name, and it works for most postings that give an email address.
The posting’s instructions win
If the ad says “put REF-2231 in the subject” or “send your CV as a Word file”, do exactly that. Some teams filter on those words. Everything below is for when the posting says nothing.
Already talking
When they already asked for your CV
Reply in the same thread, so the subject stays theirs and the conversation stays in one place.
SubjectRe: their thread
Hi Jo,
Thanks for the chat today. Here’s the CV we talked about. I’d be happy to tell you more about the support role.
Alex
A recruiter who asked for your CV already knows who you are. They don’t need the pitch again. They need the file, and a line that reminds them which conversation it belongs to.
Start here
What an application email actually has to do
An application email isn’t a cover letter with a send button. It’s a label on a parcel. Someone with a full inbox opens it, decides which job it’s for, and either opens the attachment or files it for later. Your email has three jobs, and only three.
Say which job
Name the role the way the posting names it. “Support Engineer”, not “the role on your website”. If there’s a reference number, use it.
Say who you are, in one line
One thing you do now that the job asks for. Not your life story: the line that makes someone want to open the file.
Deliver the right file
The CV for this job, named so it can be found again, opening on the first click. Most of the mistakes people make happen here.
Everything else is optional. A longer note helps when you have something the CV can’t say: a referral, a move to a new city, a gap you’d rather explain than leave to guessing. When you don’t, short wins.
Line by line
The five parts of a CV email
The subject line
Role, then your name: “Support Engineer application | Alex Reed”. It reads well in a list of fifty emails, and it’s searchable when someone looks for you next week.
The greeting
Use the name on the posting if there is one. “Hi Jo” is fine for most companies. If there’s no name, “Hello” beats “To whom it may concern”, which reads like a form.
The opening line
Which job, straight away: “I’m applying for the Support Engineer role.” If you found it somewhere specific, or someone sent you, say so here.
One line about you
Pick the one thing from your CV that matches the posting best, and say it plainly. “I currently help customers troubleshoot account issues and write bug reports for our developers.”
The attachment and the sign-off
“I’ve attached my CV.” Then your name. Your phone number under it is useful; a quote, a logo or three links to social profiles isn’t.
Write it in your own words
The email is the first thing they read in your voice. If a line sounds like it came from a template, including this one, change it until it sounds like you.
Subject lines
Subject lines that land in the right pile
A subject line does sorting, not selling. The person reading it wants to know which job your email belongs to. Adjectives don’t help them; the role, a reference and your name do.
| Situation | Subject line |
|---|---|
| A posting with no instructions | Support Engineer application | Alex Reed |
| A posting with a reference number | REF-2231 Support Engineer | Alex Reed |
| Someone referred you | Sam Patel suggested I get in touch | Support Engineer |
| No posting, a speculative note | Support engineer looking for a role at Northline |
| They asked for your CV | Keep their subject: reply in the thread |
Leave out “URGENT”, all capitals, emoji and “Hello!”. They look like marketing, and some filters treat them that way.
The attachment
Name the file, then check the file
Whoever opens your email may save the attachment into a folder with a hundred others. “CV.pdf” disappears there. “CV_final_v3_NEW.pdf” tells them you have several. Your name and the role tell them exactly what they’re looking at.
- File name
- Alex-Reed-Northline-Support-Engineer.pdf
- Format
- PDF, unless the posting asks for Word
- Size
- Under 2 MB, so it attaches rather than becoming a link
PDF or Word? A PDF looks the same on every screen, which is why most people send one. Some companies run applications through software that reads Word files more reliably, and they’ll say so in the posting. Follow the posting; when it says nothing, send the PDF.
Then open it. Send the email to yourself first, or open the attachment from the draft. Check the name at the top, the role it’s pitched at, and that the first page reads well on its own. The first page does most of the work.
7.4 seconds
The average time recruiters spent on a CV’s first screen in Ladders’ 2018 eye-tracking study. Simple layouts with clear section headings held their attention best.
Other situations
Three more emails you can copy
Same shape, different opening. Each says which job, gives one line about you, and attaches the file.
SubjectSam Patel suggested I get in touch | Support Engineer
Hi Jo,
Sam Patel on your platform team suggested I write to you about the Support Engineer role. I’ve spent two years on a support queue for a payments product, and I write the bug reports our developers work from.
My CV is attached. I’d be glad to talk whenever suits you.
Thanks, Alex
SubjectSupport engineer looking for a role at Northline
Hi Jo,
I couldn’t find an open support role at Northline, but I’d like to be considered if one comes up. I help customers troubleshoot account issues and write the bug reports our developers work from, and your product is one I already use.
I’ve attached my CV. Thanks for reading.
Alex
SubjectSupport Engineer application | Alex Reed
Hi Jo,
I’ve just applied for the Support Engineer role through your careers page, and I wanted to let you know directly. I currently handle account escalations and write bug reports for our developers.
My CV is attached here too, in case it’s easier to read in your inbox.
Alex
Cover letters
In the email, as a second file, or not at all
Whether you need a cover letter depends on what the posting asks for. When it asks, give them what they asked for, where they asked for it.
Write it in the email
- When the posting says “tell us why you’re interested” and gives an email address
- Three short paragraphs: the role, the evidence, the ask
- No separate file to open, so it actually gets read
Attach it as a second file
- When the posting asks for “a CV and a cover letter”
- Name it like the CV: Alex-Reed-Northline-Cover-Letter.pdf
- Keep the email itself to the four lines above
Skip it
- When the posting doesn’t ask, and you have nothing the CV doesn’t say
- When someone asked for your CV after a call
- A good four-line email beats a generic letter
Before you press send
Four things to settle first
Which address to send it to
The one in the posting, even if you’ve found a person on LinkedIn. Shared inboxes like jobs@ are watched by the people who track applications; a personal inbox can belong to someone on holiday.
Whether anyone else should see it
Copy in the person who referred you only if they offered. Never put several companies in one email, and never in CC: each application is its own email.
Which address you send from
One with your name in it. An old nickname address gets judged before the CV is opened, and a work address tells your current employer what you’re doing.
When to send
Any working day is fine. There’s no magic hour; what matters is that you send it while the posting is open, and that you can answer a reply the same day or the next.
What goes wrong
The mistakes people make most often
The CV for a different job
You tailored a version for the QA role and sent it to the support role. It happens most to people applying a lot. Name each file for its job, and you’ll see the mistake before you make it.
The wrong name in the greeting
“Hi Sam” to Jo, because you copied last week’s email. Read the greeting last, every time.
A link instead of a file
A shared-drive link set to private is a CV nobody can read, and many people won’t click a link from someone they don’t know. Attach the file.
An empty email
An attachment with no text looks like a mistake, and a filter may treat it like spam. Four lines is enough; zero isn’t.
Pasting the whole CV into the email
It arrives without its layout, and it can’t be saved with the others. Paste it only if the posting asks for plain text, and attach the file anyway.
Keep the version you sent
Save the exact file you attached, and note which job it went to. If they call you next week, you’ll want to read what they’re reading.
Last look
A checklist before you send
After you send
What to do once it’s gone
Note the date, the company, the role and the file you sent. Most people apply to many jobs at once, and the replies arrive out of order. A note is how you know which CV they’re holding when they call.
If a week or two passes with nothing, a short follow-up is normal and expected. Our follow-up email after applying has the words. And if you can’t remember which version you sent, here’s how to find it.
Questions
Questions people ask about emailing a CV
Should I attach my CV as a PDF or a Word file?
A PDF, unless the posting asks for Word. A PDF keeps its layout on any screen. Some companies ask for Word because their software reads it more reliably; when they do, send Word.
How long should the email be?
Four to six lines for most applications: the role, one line about you, the attachment, your name. Write more only when the posting asks a question or you have something the CV can’t say.
Do I need a cover letter as well?
Only if the posting asks for one, or you have a reason the CV can’t carry, like a referral or a move. When it asks, put it where it asks: in the email or as a second file.
Can I send the same email to several companies?
Send each its own email, with its own role in the subject and the first line. Never put several companies in one message, in CC or BCC.
What if the posting only has an online form?
Apply through the form. If you also have a contact at the company, a short email saying you’ve applied, with the CV attached, is a polite nudge. It doesn’t replace the form.
Is it OK to send my application at the weekend?
Yes. It’ll be read when someone next opens the inbox. What matters more is sending while the posting is open, and being able to answer a reply within a day or so.
Sent it? Ghosted remembers the rest.
Keep every application, and the CV you sent, in one place.