Cover letter openers that aren't generic

"I am writing to apply for the [role] position" tells the reader nothing they don't already know from the subject line. It's not wrong, exactly — it's just the sentence every other applicant is also opening with, which means it earns no attention at all.

A stronger opener does one of two things in the first sentence: names a specific, relevant result ("In my last role, I cut our support backlog from nine days to two"), or names a specific point of connection to the company or role that isn't copy-pasted ("Your team's approach to X is the reason I'm applying, specifically because..."). Both work because they could only have been written by someone who actually has that result or actually looked at that company.

What doesn't work is a stronger version of the same generic move — an opener built entirely from adjectives ("I am a passionate, driven professional") instead of a fact a reader could check. Passion is not evidence; a number or a specific detail is.

One structural trick: write the rest of the letter first, then come back and open with whichever sentence from the body is the strongest single fact. It's usually not the first thing you'd think to lead with, and it's almost never "I am writing to apply."