Does Your Cover Letter Go Through ATS? What You Need to Know
If you have spent time optimising your CV for ATS, you might be wondering whether you need to do the same for your cover letter. The answer is nuanced — and depends on how the employer has set up their ATS.
Do ATS Systems Read Cover Letters?
Most ATS systems are primarily configured to parse and score CVs, not cover letters. The keyword matching and scoring that filters applications is typically applied to the CV. Cover letters are often stored in the ATS as an attachment that a human reviewer can open — but they do not usually drive the initial ATS ranking.
That said, there are exceptions:
- Some employers configure their ATS to parse the cover letter alongside the CV
- Some application portals combine the CV and cover letter into a single document that the ATS processes as one
- Some ATS systems include a text field where you paste a cover letter rather than uploading a file — this text is more likely to be parsed
The Practical Implication
Do not rely on your cover letter to boost your ATS score. Treat it as a human-facing document and write it for the recruiter who will read it after your CV passes the initial screen.
However, if you are submitting your cover letter as part of a combined document or in a text field, it is worth ensuring it contains relevant keywords naturally — not because you are trying to game ATS, but because keywords in a cover letter are signals of genuine relevance that a human reader will also appreciate.
What Cover Letters Are Actually For
Since ATS primarily filters on CV content, your cover letter's job is to complement your CV for the human reviewer who reads it. A strong cover letter:
- Explains your motivation for the specific role and organisation
- Addresses anything unusual in your background (gaps, transitions, relocation)
- Reinforces one or two key points from your CV with context
- Demonstrates that you have researched the employer
None of this is ATS-optimised content. It is human-optimised content — and that is appropriate for the purpose.
Should You Include Keywords in Your Cover Letter?
Use the employer's language naturally, as you would in any professional communication. If you are applying for a data science role and the job description uses "machine learning," do not contort your cover letter to include it artificially — but if you are naturally describing your experience, use the same terminology the employer uses.
The cover letter is primarily a human document. Optimise it for the recruiter, not for the algorithm.
Check your CV's ATS score free at CVCircuit — and write a cover letter that complements it.