Free part-time job cover letter template

For students, parents, carers and second jobs. A full example for a school-hours job after a career break, and what to mention in yours.

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A part-time job cover letter in the One Page design, with a made-up name and a typed signature

Part-time job cover letter example

Amira Haddad, Part-time Pharmacy Counter Assistant, school hours · returning after a career break, five years in banking

Dear Mr Siddiqui,

I would like to apply for the part-time Pharmacy Counter Assistant role advertised in your window. The hours, Monday to Thursday from 9.30am to 2.30pm, fit around my children’s school day, and after a four-year break to raise them I am ready to get back to work with the public.

Before my break I spent five years as a customer adviser in a high street bank. I served customers at the counter, handled cash accurately, dealt with sensitive personal information every day and helped older customers who found the move to online banking hard. I was trusted to open and close the branch and to train new advisers on our identity checks.

For the past year I have volunteered two mornings a week at my children’s primary school, hearing children read and helping in the office, where I answer the phone and keep the visitor log. I am patient, discreet and calm when a queue builds, which I know matters in a busy pharmacy.

I know you will train me in your procedures and in selling medicines safely, and I would be glad to start straight away. I can also cover extra hours in the school holidays with some notice. Thank you for considering my application.

Yours sincerely,
Amira Haddad

Or write yours from the job advert

What to mention in a part-time job cover letter

Keep it to one page. Pick what the advert stresses most, and give an example for each point.

Writing the CV too? See the part-time job CV template and our student CV example.

Tips for yours

  • Put your hours in the first paragraph. If they do not match the job, a manager will stop reading anyway.
  • Do not apologise for a break or for wanting part-time work. Say it once, plainly, and move on to your strengths.
  • Students: say when your availability changes, such as during exams or the summer holidays.

  1. Your hours, exactly

    The days and times you can work, term time or all year, and how flexible you can be in the holidays.

  2. Why part-time

    One honest line: study, children, caring, a second job or easing back into work. You do not have to give details.

  3. Relevant experience

    Paid work, volunteering or study that fits this job, with one real example.

  4. A career break, if you have one

    One positive sentence, with anything you did or learned in that time, then move on.

  5. Reliability

    How long you stayed in past jobs, your attendance, or being trusted to open up or cash up.

Part-time job cover letters: your questions

Do I need a cover letter for a part-time job?

Not always. Many part-time jobs use a short form or just a CV. A few lines help when you email your CV, need to explain your hours or are coming back after a break.

How do I explain a career break in a part-time cover letter?

In one sentence, without detail you do not want to share, for example "after four years at home with my children, I am ready to return to work". Add anything you did in that time, such as volunteering or a course. Our guide to gaps in your CV has more example wording.

What should a student write in a part-time cover letter?

Your course and how long you will be in the area, the hours you can work in term time and in the holidays, and any experience of serving customers. Our part-time job CV guide for students covers the CV.

What if I have more experience than the job needs?

Say why this job suits you now, such as the hours or the kind of work, and show you will do it well. There is no need to play down what you have done.

Keep going

Cover letters for other jobs: Nurse Healthcare assistant Care worker Teacher Teaching assistant Retail Customer service Hospitality Administrator Receptionist Accountant Project manager Sales Marketing Software developer Electrician Warehouse School leaver Apprenticeship Career change

Your turn. Write yours

Paste the job advert and make the draft your own. Download it in your CV’s design, with your signature.

Write yours freeSee the example