The recurring question … how long should a cover letter be?

The content and style are up to you, but a logical and engaging structure is key. Below are some guidelines.

Gerrard Green
3 min readApr 3, 2022
Photo by DocuSign on Unsplash

According to of careers.ox.ac.uk A cover letter introduces and markets you effectively by complementing your CV. It tells your story by highlighting your relevant strengths and motivation for the person and organization you are writing to, rather than listing all the things that can already be seen on your CV.

Always take the opportunity to submit a cover letter if you are given the chance.

The cover letter gives you scope to showcase what interests and drives you, and your enthusiasm for an organization and the role. You can use it to align yourself with the organization’s strengths, values, and culture, and highlight in a targeted way your knowledge and strongest, most relevant skills for the position.

In high school, college and university, 500 words is considered the bare minimum for essays. Other projects, such as term papers and research papers, are much longer. If you don't know where to start consider using an online resume builder like this one.

It seems like we translate this “minimum” to everything else we write. When people start blogging, they try to meet that self-imposed requirement. The same thing happens with cover letters. The only problem is: that 500 words are too much for a cover letter. Hiring managers don’t have time or nerves to read application documents that look like essays.

The cover letter should never be longer than a single page. Although employers don’t mention a specific word count in the requirements, the unwritten rule is to aim for 250–300 words. For the sake of readability, you should divide the content into 3–to 4 short paragraphs.

If your cover letter is longer than that, you should try to make it shorter and sweeter before sending the application. A complete detailed description of how long should a cover letter be can be found here.

Your word processor contains a grammar and spelling check function, but you shouldn’t fully rely on it. Make sure to read the cover letter, word by word, and fix the mistakes you notice. Don’t stop there! We’re talking about double-checking, remember? Use one or more of the following tools to make sure you’ll get it perfect.

The source of citation is can be found, Online: https://www.careercast.com/career-news/5-resume-tips

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