How Long Should a Cover Letter Be?

One page. That's it. If you need a number, shoot for 250–400 words. Most of the time that lands you at three solid paragraphs.

People usually get worked up about length from one of two places: either they've written three sentences and worry it looks lazy, or they've got a page and a half and can't figure out what to cut. Both feel worse than they need to.

Why hiring managers stop reading long letters

They're not reading just yours. They're reading a pile. A long letter doesn't come across as thorough — it comes across as more work. And whatever point you're trying to make usually ends up buried somewhere in paragraph four. If your strongest stuff is on the second page, there's a decent chance it never gets seen.

A short, specific letter does the opposite. It makes one clear point and the reader actually finishes it.

What's too short (and when that's fine)

Two or three sentences is usually too short. Not because of some arbitrary minimum, but because you can't really make a case for yourself that fast. Letters that short tend to just restate the resume or echo the job title back at the employer. Neither tells them anything they didn't already know.

Exception: if the application only asks for a brief note, or you're following up on a referral where the context is already there, keep it short and direct. Length was never the point. Whether you've said something worth reading is.

The right length in practice: three paragraphs, not a word count

Forget the word counter for a second and just think in paragraphs:

Paragraph one: One or two sentences. The most direct link between what you've actually done and what this role needs.

Paragraph two: Two to four sentences. One real example that shows you can do the job — not a laundry list of responsibilities. This is the part most people mess up. Here's exactly what belongs in it and what to leave out.

Paragraph three: One or two sentences. Say you're interested, name the role or the company, and leave the door open for a conversation.

That's the whole thing. If a paragraph starts running long, it's usually trying to do two jobs at once. Split it, or cut the half that's doing less work.

The hard part isn't the structure — it's figuring out what actually belongs in those three paragraphs for this specific job when you're staring at a blank page.

When a slightly longer letter is justified

A few cases where going a little past one page is okay:

Senior roles, where you genuinely have more relevant history to draw on. Career changes, where you need an extra sentence or two to connect experience that doesn't obviously match on paper (that's its own challenge). Or a role with a genuinely unusual story behind why you're interested.

Even then, “slightly longer” means four paragraphs, not a second page. If you feel like you need more space than that, the letter probably isn't unfocused — it's trying to make more than one point. Pick the strongest one and cut the rest.

Closing

Cutting a letter down when you feel like you have more to say is genuinely hard. But the length question itself is simple: one page, three paragraphs, one story. Say the thing that actually matters for this job, then stop.