A cover letter for Denmark

What the letter is for

The CV says what you did. The letter says what you will do in this job, and why this one. Employers in Denmark look for the match with the ad and for a reason you want this work and this company. They also want to see what they gain by hiring you, not what you gain by being hired.

One test before you send it: could this letter go to another company without changing a word? If it could, it is not a letter yet.

A plain structure

1. Open with the role. Name the job in the first line, and say in one line who you are. If someone referred you, say that first.
2. The employer's task. One thing about their work and what is hard in it, in your own words, not the ad's sentences. If you have nothing true to say about the company, leave the paragraph out. Do not flatter.
3. Two or three pieces of proof. For each: the task the job names, what you did, where, and a number. Hard skills first, such as degrees, tools and results; soft skills after, shown by an example, not named.
4. The gap, said once. If the ad asks for something you do not have, say so plainly, with no apology, then name the nearest thing you have done. You do not need to match every line.
5. One practical line, if the ad asks. A start date, your right to work, the language. If your Danish is still growing, “I am learning Danish” is enough; do not name a level you could not hold in an interview.
6. Close by asking for a talk. Say how to reach you, and sign your name.

An example

Invented writer, invented company. Each sentence does one job: it names the role, shows a fact, or asks for a talk.

What to leave out

• Adjectives about yourself: flexible, ambitious, proactive. Show the trait with something you did, or leave it out.
• The ad's own sentences, copied back. Use your own words for the task.
• Your whole CV, retold. The letter adds what the CV cannot: why here, and what next.
• Enthusiasm in words, such as “I am thrilled”. A specific reason does more.
• Salary. That is for the interview.
• Mistakes. Read it aloud, and ask someone to read it, especially if English is not your first language.

Three cases that come up

You do not meet every requirement. The list in a Danish ad is often a wish list. Name what you lack once, then the nearest thing you have done, as in the example. Skills that carry over count.

There is no contact named. “Dear hiring team” is fine. If you write to a company that has not advertised a job, an uopfordret ansøgning, an unsolicited application, say why you are writing to them and what you could do for them.

You want to use AI. It can give ideas and feedback. Øresund Direkt warns that employers often recognise generic chatbot text, so do not paste it in. Give it your real facts, keep the numbers your own, and read every line before it goes out.

Danish words you will meet

• ansøgning: an application. In a job application, usually the cover letter.
• motiveret ansøgning: a motivated application, a letter that says why you want this job.
• uopfordret ansøgning: an unsolicited application, sent when no job is advertised.
• ansøgningsfrist: the application deadline.
• stillingsopslag: the job ad.
• samtale: a talk; in a job, the interview.

Before you send it

1. Is the job named in the first line?
2. Could it go to another company unchanged? If so, rewrite.
3. Does each example have a place, a fact and a number?
4. Is the gap, if there is one, said once and followed by the nearest thing you have done?
5. Does it ask for a talk and say how to reach you?
6. Is it one page, in the language of the ad?

Questions

Next

Before the letter, the CV: a Danish CV for international candidates.

Where this comes from

• Work in Denmark: write a cover letter
• Øresund Direkt: how to write a job application in Denmark
• Ansøgningshjælpen: writing a CV for the Danish market