How Long Should a Cover Letter Be?

Three templates with the format already right.

Every rule below is already applied inside these — copy one to Google Docs or download the Word file, and you are editing a correctly formatted letter instead of building one.

Word counts, paragraphs, and the one-page rule.

• Standard cover letter: 250–400 words, three or four paragraphs, half to three-quarters of a page. This is the range every template on this page lands in with the brackets filled.
• Short cover letter: 100–150 words, three short paragraphs — role, one hard result, one company-specific line, the ask. Right for email, for referrals, for busy industries, and for anyone whose resume already does the arguing.
• Academic, research, and some public-sector letters: up to 500 words, still one page. Readers in these fields tolerate more detail; specificity still beats length.
• Never: a second page. If the letter doesn’t fit at 11 pt with 1-inch margins, the body is too long — cut, don’t shrink.

Paragraph count matters less than paragraph length. Four paragraphs of three sentences each read faster than two paragraphs of eight.

What to cut when you're over.

Most long cover letters have the same three extra paragraphs. Cut them in this order:

• The resume summary. A paragraph that walks through your history in order. The resume already does this; the letter should select two or three results, not list all of them.
• The warm-up. ’I am writing to express my sincere interest…’ Start with the job and one specific reason instead — you’ll save fifty words and sound like a person.
• The adjectives. ’Detail-oriented, motivated, passionate team player’ — every claim without evidence. Replace each with a number or a specific, or delete it.

A useful test: read only the first sentence of each paragraph. If those four sentences make the case on their own, the letter is the right length; if you need the rest of every paragraph to understand the argument, it’s padded.

How long by situation.

• Email cover letter (in the body): 80–150 words. Three short paragraphs and a subject line — the email collection has the exact shape.
• Entry-level or no experience: 200–300 words. You have less history; a shorter, more specific letter reads as confident rather than thin.
• Career change or returning to work: 300–400 words — you have a story to frame, and one extra paragraph earns its place.
• Executive and senior: 300–400 words. Scope and results, not a career narrative; the resume carries the rest.
• Referral: 100–200 words. The referrer’s name does most of the work.
• Online form with a text box: whatever fits without scrolling — usually 150–250 words, no header or recipient block.

One more consideration: mobile. Recruiters increasingly read letters on a phone. A 400-word letter is six screens; a 200-word letter is three. Length is a courtesy.

A complete 120-word cover letter — proof that short works.

Cover Letter Length FAQ

More cover letter guides and collections.