How Long Should a Cover Letter Be [Ideal Length + Examples]

How Long Should a deckblatt Letter Be Ideal Length + Examples How Long Should a titel Letter be? The Ideal deckblatt Letter LengthJuly 4, 2019 By Zachary Vickers Reviewed by Mark Slack, CPRWUnderstanding exactly how long a cover letter should be can be tricky. Well help you out with ur in-depth guide to cover letter length and free cover letter examples.Build My titelblatt Letter NowAccording to a survey by Saddleback College, hiring managers spend 30 to 60 seconds reviewing a candidates job application. Theyre busy people, so submitting a rambling, lengthy cover letter is a surefire way to have your application overlooked entirely.Keep reading to find out the perfect cover letter length, so you can craft the ideal cover letter for a job application and soon land fulfilling work.Table of ContentsWhat is the Ideal Cover Letter Length?Formatting a Brief Cover LetterHow Long Should an Electronic Cover Letter Be?1. What is the Ideal Cover Letter Length?Its a common question brought up by job recruiters as well as those within the resume industry are cover letters necessary? Lets go ahead and assume that they are for a moment. In that case, how long should a cover letter be?The short answer is, well, short. Avoid writing your cover letter as if its an actual letter it isnt. Its a way to flesh out the most impressive aspects of your resume, and should be treated as a brief addition. TipDownload our free short cover letter examples and fill them in with your own information if youre pressed for time.With that said, the standard cover letter length is200-300 wordsBetween and one pageone to four paragraphs longHow Many Words Should a Cover Letter be?The average reading speed of an adult in the US is roughly 300 words per minute. Since hiring managers typically spend less than a minute reviewing a resume, we can assume that a brief cover letter of around 200-300 words is ideal. TipRemember the simple acronym KISS when writing Keep It Short and Sweet.Should a Co ver Letter Be One Page?The ultimate goal of any job application is to sell yourself as the ideal candidate while making a great first impression.Naturally, the desire to describe your accomplishments and aspirations in painstaking detail might seem like the optimal way to sell yourself but leid so fast.Submitting a long-winded, two-page cover letter is the perfect way to make any hiring managers eyes glaze over especially if youre applying for an entry- or mid-level position. TipWhile you may have to talk about a wider variety of your experience (including your education) to write a convincing entry-level cover letter, you should always keep your cover letter to one page.In order to fit everything on one page, follow these rulesInclude only the most relevant information concerning the position.Choose a single, impressive bullet point from your resume and expand on it.Provide a short call-to-action telling the hiring manager when youre available for an interview.Include a brief si gn-off.One Page Cover Letter ExampleOur retail sales associate cover letter sample below is a great example of a one-page cover letter. The candidate keeps the letter brief at only 223 words which would take the average adult just under a minute to read.Does a cover letter have to be one page? Well, no, leid necessarily, but a single page is standard. The optimal cover letter length, as mentioned earlier, falls in that half to full-page range. TipApplying to a bunch of jobs? Learn how to write a general cover letter that not only saves you time, but impresses recruiters as well.Can a Cover Letter Be Two Pages?Writing a two-page cover letter can be acceptable in some cases although, consider this the cover letter page limit.For most positions, a typical cover letter should only be a single page. However, top-level management roles, or careers that involve sophisticated analysis, research, and/or development can certainly go beyond one page.We recommend sticking to one page unless youre applying for one of the following positionsAcademicAccountantBusiness AnalystData AnalystExecutive (CEO, CIO, CTO)EngineerMarketing ManagerSales ManagerTwo Page Cover Letter ExampleWhen applying for highly technical roles or jobs requiring 5 to 10+ years of experience, submitting a two-page cover letter is acceptable.Take a look at our two page example for a CEO position at a prestigious tech companyOur executive cover letter uses the prestigious Westminster template. Download it for free or browse our seven other professional cover letter templates.2. Formatting a Brief Cover LetterCover letter format should be a major consideration when creating a document thats as extremely important to first impressions as this one.A typical cover letter should follow this standard formatContact informationThe employers contact informationA brief greetingOpening, middle, and closing paragraphsA short sign-offThese five key points are all thats needed to craft a perfectly formatted cover le tter.Should a Cover Letter Be Double-Spaced?So, youve finished writing your cover letter. Its as short as you could possibly make it, and then you realize youve only filled up half the page How on earth will the hiring manager believe youre a qualified candidate if you dont even have a full pages worth of information?Dont worry. Theres no need to start messing with line spacing just to fill up the page (its not a college term paper, thankfully).Resume writing experts agree that each paragraph of a cover letter should be single spaced.The only time you should use the double-spaced format is between paragraphs. This improves the readability and flow of your cover letter.How Many Paragraphs are in a Cover Letter?As previously stated, keeping your cover letter concise should be your number one priority. That means no unnecessary information and no overly wordy rants. It isnt a thesis, its a cover letter for a job application. At most, everything you need to mention should be contained w ithin three to four paragraphs.While it depends on the nature of whats being written, a single paragraph typically contains around 100-200 words. Therefore, a three-paragraph cover letter should fit within the recommended cover letter word limit of 300 words.Three Paragraph Cover LetterAContact information The cover letter header should include your name and how to contact you.BEmployers contact information Include the hiring managers name, company info, and date.CBrief greeting If you dont know the recruiters name, include a generic Dear Hiring Manager.DOpening paragraph State the position youre applying for, and explain why you should be hired.EMiddle paragraph Describe past work experiences that hard sell why you deserve the job.FClosing paragraph Here, thank the hiring manager and let them know how to reach you for an interview.GShort sign-off End with your signature.3. How Long Should an Electronic Cover Letter Be?By and large, the cover letter rules that weve discussed in this article are for hard-copy cover letters those that you physically print out.If youre applying online, there will most likely be an area where you can upload PDF or Word document versions of your resume and cover letter. The saatkorn word count, paragraph count, and page length rules apply to electronic cover letters.Having said that, you should make a few small tweaks when submitting your application via emailDitch the employer contact information.Move your personal contact information below the signature.Create a simple subject line that includes the job position and your name.Since there technically arent any pages in an email, you may think its fine to exceed the recommended cover letter word count when submitting an application electronically. You would be mistaken.Hiring managers have a limited amount of time to review job applications, and to strengthen your chances of landing an interview, a short cover letter is totenstill your best bet.Ensure you achieve the perfec t cover letter length with our free cover letter builder, or try writing your own by downloading any one of our 120+ cover letter templates