Your Guide To Writing The Perfect Cover Letter in Chinese

Looking for work in China? Then chances are you’ll need to write a cover letter in Chinese.

But where on earth do you start?

How do you begin to lay it out?

Who should you address and how?

As ever, you’ve nothing to fear because we’ve prepped a complete guide to writing the killer cover letter in Chinese, complete with excellent and free downloadable flashcards to help you along the way!

FIRST AND FOREMOST – the keyword of the day is Cover Letter, which in Chinese is 求职信 qiú zhí xìn.

DID YOU KNOW – we’ve already covered a couple of similar topics that might also be really useful for you as well:

• Writing a KILLER CV in Chinese
• How to write the PERFECT EMAIL in Chinese

Anyway, back to the matter in hand. Let’s break this down for you:

Write a Cover Letter in Chinese – Introductions

Write a Cover Letter in Chinese – Structure

Write a Cover Letter in Chinese – Getting Started

Write a Cover Letter in Chinese – Sell Yourself

Write a Cover Letter in Chinese – Wrapping Up

Write a Cover Letter in Chinese – Signing Off

FREE DOWNLOAD – Your Very Own Cover Letter Template (Word & PDF files)

Write a Cover Letter in Chinese – FAQ’s

COVER LETTER IN CHINESE – INTRODUCTIONS

How do you start to write a cover letter in Chinese?

Very similar to how you would in English – there are no special rules here. This is a chance to sell yourself, show them you are the right person for the position!

Be snappy, be concise and give them a number of good reasons why they shouldn’t cast you to one side.

Getting started can be very similar to writing an email in Chinese.

尊敬的 zūn jìng de effectively means respectfully. Ideally you are adding a surname to this making:

尊敬的李小姐 – here we are respectfully addressing Miss Li.

Of course you don’t always know the name of the person you are addressing.

In this instance you can use 尊敬的收信人 zūnjìng de shōu xìnrén which you can effectively think of as “To whom it may concern” in English.

Here are some other useful ways to address people when writing a cover letter (or email for that matter).

WRITE A COVER LETTER IN CHINESE – STRUCTURE

Ideally you want to be following this kind of structure:

1. Introduction / Greeting
2. Opening Paragraph – Confirm the role you are applying for
3. Second Paragraph – What can you offer? Show them you are the real deal
4. Third Paragraph – Goals, aims and targets along with your experience (perhaps also reinstate your desire to work for the company)
5. Conclusion
6. Sign Off

You want to be keeping your cover letter shorter than a page in most cases. Be to the point. There are fewer bigger turn-offs than a couple of pages of block text.

Get to your point, even use bullet points to emphasise this further if you so wish.

REMEMBER – Don’t forget at the start of the cover letter to include both yours and the companies contact details along with the date.

COVER LETTER IN CHINESE – GETTING STARTED

OK so we know how to open the cover letter and we know how lay it out.

Now let’s get into the nitty-gritty of the content.

First we want to address the position we are going for:

I would like to apply for the position of…

我想申请…一职 – wǒ xiǎng shēnqǐng…yī zhí

Enter the name of the position after 申请 (which means to apply for).

You could also take it one step further and be even more courteous with:

I am delighted to apply for the advertised position of…

很高兴申请您所刊登的____职位招聘 hěn gāoxìng shēnqǐng nín suǒkāndēng de____zhíwèi zhāopìn

Fill in the blank again and you are good to go.

You can then give some reasoning if you so wish:

I would like to apply for this position because… 我想为您工作，因为… wǒ xiǎng wèi nín gōngzuò, yīnwèi

Maybe some of these useful adjectives might also be words to consider adding to your application.

For a full list of more useful words like these check out our blog on how to describe your feelings in Mandarin.

500+ Chinese Vocabulary 📚Your Complete List

Chinese Vocabulary: Food, Shopping, Colors, Numbers, Sports and MORE! Learn from over 50 categories of Chinese Vocabulary to get by in China.

CHINESE COVER LETTER – SELL YOURSELF

The foundations have been laid, now it’s time to really sell yourself.

Why should you be hired over the other candidates?

Be confident, be bold, and believe in yourself!

Show them what you are about:

My strengths are…我的强项是 wǒ de qiángxiàng shì…

OR

My area of expertise is… 我的专长是 wǒ de zhuāncháng shì

Maybe you are good under pressure?

Even under high pressure I can maintain strong standards… 即使在压力下我也能保持高标准 jíshǐ zài yālì xià wǒ yě néng bǎochí gāo biāozhǔn.

Or perhaps you can speak multiple languages (if you’re a student of ours then we’d certainly hope so)!?

My native language is ___ but I can also speak ___ … 我的母语是___，但我也会说___ wǒ de mǔyǔ shì___, dàn wǒ yě huì shuō___.

You’ll want to tell your potential new employers that you are a superb communicator:

Excellent communication skils… 出色的沟通技能 chūsè de gōutōng jìnéng.

Maybe you are a great thinker when it comes to solving problems, your presentations skills are immaculate or you are super at striking a deal?

Logical thinker… 逻辑性思考 luójí xìng sīkǎo

Presentation skills… 观点陈述能力 guāndiǎn chénshù nénglì

Negotiation skills… 谈判技能 tánpàn jìnéng

PSST – did you know Logic is one example of a number of handy loanwords in Chinese you should also learn! They are the easiest words to remember!

Whatever your strengths, get them down on that cover letter along with any noteworthy achievements.

📨 And of course, once you’re ready to send off this letter, make sure you’re wording your email professionally in Chinese. Check out our guide to Business Emails in Chinese here.

If you want to discover more jobs in Chinese check out our extensive list of over 60 occupations in Mandarin here.

WRITE A COVER LETTER IN CHINESE – WRAPPING UP

We’re almost there!

You’ve done superbly well so far and given the best account of yourself possible. However, it’s only right that we wrap things up the correct way.

Firstly this should involve giving another mention as to your desires to join the company. Show passion and how much it means to you.

I see this assignment/task as a challenge and I am looking forward to starting this job
我把新任务/这个职位看作挑战，并且很期待获得这个职位
wǒ bǎ xīn rènwù/zhège zhíwèi kàn zuò tiǎozhàn, bìngqiě hěn qīdài huòdé zhège zhíwèi

Perhaps you can show the recruiters of your openness to discuss things further. This invite, if accepted, could be a great way allow you to stand out from the rest:

I look forward to having the chance to talk to you about the position
我很期待有机会和您进一步讨论职位细节
Wǒ hěn qídài yǒu jīhuì hé nín jìnyībù tǎolùn zhíwèi xìjié

After giving your final pitch it’s time for the standard cover letter formalities:

• Attaching the CV
• A word for your references
• Signing off the correct way

Firstly, the CV…

Attached is my CV, please take a look… 附上我的简历。请查收 fù shàng wǒ de jiǎnlì。 qǐnɡ chá shōu

… and then our references:

I can also supply references if needed… 如果需要，我也可以提供参考资料 rúguǒ xūyào, wǒ yě kěyǐ tígōng cānkǎo zīliào

OR

References can be requested from… 可以从___处获得推荐信 kěyǐ cóng___chù huòdé tuījiàn xìn

WRITE A COVER LETTER IN CHINESE – SIGNING OFF

Excellent work getting this far, now just the final touches.

Here is a table we wrote for our “perfect email in Chinese” article.

It’s worth noting here that whilst these are all good email sign-offs we should ONLY BE USING THE LAST ONE for our Cover Letter in Chinese.

Best Regards… 此致敬礼 cǐ zhì jìng lǐ

Whilst this sounds a little informal compared to Yours Sincerely or Yours Faithfully in English, this is the correct and proper way to sign off a cover letter in Chinese.

Another couple of options would be:

Sincerely… 敬祝 jìnɡzhù

Sincerely and Well… 敬祝安好 jìnɡzhùānhǎo

Respectfully Yours… 肃然至上 sùrán zhìshàng

There we have it, you wrote your very first cover letter in Chinese! Now good luck with getting the job!

FREE DOWNLOAD – COVER LETTER IN CHINESE TEMPLATE

YES we are that good to you!

Just because we care that much we’ve even prepared a template cover letter in Chinese.

Take a read and see what you understand and note down any new words. These could come in incredible handy in your future studies or work.

Study it, use it, download it and share it at your own free will!

Any questions of course do leave a comment below, we’ll get back to you as soon as possible!

COVER LETTER IN CHINESE – FAQ’S