How Long Should a Cover Letter Be? The Ideal Length, Explained

If you are asking how long should a cover letter be, the short answer is one page — and in practice, 250 to 400 words, arranged in three to five short paragraphs. That range is not an arbitrary rule invented by career writers. It is the length at which a letter can do its full job — name the job, prove your two or three best matches with evidence, show genuine interest in the employer, and close politely — without asking a busy reader for more time than the decision is worth at this stage.

But the complete answer is more useful than the short one, because the right length shifts slightly with your situation: an internship application, an experienced hire, a career change that needs one explaining paragraph, and an email application all have slightly different ideal lengths. This guide gives you the exact numbers for each case, the paragraph-by-paragraph word budget that makes hitting them easy, what to cut when your draft runs long, what to add when it runs short, and the formatting choices that make a letter of the right length also feel like the right length to read.

The Short Answer, With the Numbers That Matter

• Total length: one page, always. Never two.
• Word count: 250–400 words for a standard application.
• Paragraphs: three to five — an opening, one or two body paragraphs, and a closing, plus contact blocks and sign-off.
• Reading time: about one to two minutes. That is the real budget you are working within.

Every other rule in this guide is a consequence of those four numbers. If your letter fits on one page with comfortable margins and readable type, holds between 250 and 400 words, and can be read in under two minutes, it is the right length — whatever your word processor’s page count anxiety says. So when someone asks how long should a cover letter be, the safe answer stays the same: one page, 250 to 400 words.

Why One Page Became the Standard

Recruiters handle applications in batches and read cover letters as a screening tool, not as literature. A letter’s job at this stage is to earn an interview, not to close the hire — the full story of your career belongs to the interview itself. One page respects the reader’s workflow, and it forces the writer’s most valuable discipline: selection. When you have room for everything, you include everything, and the letter becomes a second resume. When you have one page, you must choose your two or three strongest matches — which is exactly the material that persuades.

There is also a simple signaling effect. A two-page letter for a mid-level role does not read as thorough; it reads as unaware of the reader’s time and of professional norms. A half-page of vague generalities reads the opposite way: as if the applicant had nothing specific to say. The 250–400 word middle is where confidence lives, and hiring managers recognize it on sight.

The Word Budget, Paragraph by Paragraph

Hitting the right total is easy when you budget each part. Use these ranges as your draft targets:

• Opening paragraph: 40–70 words. Name the exact job and where you saw it, state your level, and land your strongest matching proof point. Three to four lines is enough; if your opening needs more, your strongest point is probably buried — move it up.
• Body paragraph one: 80–120 words. Your best two matched requirements from the posting, each with an example and a result. This is the heart of the letter and deserves the largest share of the budget.
• Body paragraph two (optional): 60–100 words. A third matched point, brief context for anything unusual (a gap, a change, a relocation), or your sentence of specific interest in this employer expanded slightly. Many strong letters merge this material into one body paragraph instead; either structure works.
• Employer-interest sentence: 20–40 words. Often its own short paragraph. One true, specific reason you chose this employer. Never more than two sentences — flattery expands, sincerity is compact.
• Closing paragraph: 30–50 words. Thanks, a one-line restatement of fit, an invitation to interview, and your availability. Then your sign-off and name.

Total those ranges and you land between roughly 250 and 380 words every time — inside the ideal band without counting a single word as you draft. If you want ready structures that already follow this budget, our cover letter templates are built to exactly these proportions, and our step-by-step guide on how to write a cover letter shows how to fill each part with evidence.

Ideal Length by Situation

Entry-Level and First-Job Applications: 200–300 Words

With less experience to select from, your letter is naturally shorter — and that is correct, not a weakness. Lead with your strongest evidence from education, projects, internships, or volunteering, prove two matched requirements, and close. Padding an entry-level letter to 400 words with general claims about enthusiasm makes it weaker, not stronger. Three solid paragraphs beat five thin ones at every level.

Experienced Candidates: 300–400 Words

A longer history earns the upper half of the range, because you have more genuine matches to select among. Use the space for a second body paragraph with a third matched point or a significant achievement with a number attached. The discipline does not change: you are still selecting your best evidence for this posting, not summarizing a career.

Career Changers: 300–400 Words, With One Explaining Paragraph

A change of field needs one short paragraph — 50 to 80 words within the total — to translate your experience and show the change is deliberate and already in motion (a course, a certification, relevant volunteer work). Earn that space by trimming elsewhere, usually the opening and closing, rather than by expanding the letter past one page.

Internships and Short-Form Applications: 150–250 Words

Many internship, apprenticeship, and part-time first-job postings are best served by a deliberately short letter: placement named, one or two proved skills, one line of genuine interest, a polite close with your availability. Where the application is a form field or an email rather than an uploaded document, this shorter range is also the safer default.

Email Applications: Slightly Shorter Than a Document

When the cover letter is the body of an email, aim for the lower half of the standard range — roughly 200–350 words. Email readers skim faster, the contact block shrinks to a signature, and your subject line (“Application for [Job Title] — [Your Name]”) does part of the opening’s work. Attach your resume as a clearly named PDF unless the posting says otherwise.

What to Cut When Your Draft Is Too Long

Almost every first draft runs 500–700 words. Cut in this order, and you will usually reach the target without losing anything that persuades:

1. Resume repetition. If a sentence restates a bullet from your resume without adding a reason, a result, or a connection to this posting, it goes. The letter selects and explains; it does not narrate.
2. Adjectives without evidence. “I am a highly motivated, extremely hardworking, truly passionate professional” is eleven words saying nothing. Replace clusters like this with one proved fact — or simply delete them and watch the letter get stronger.
3. Your life story. How you first became interested in the field, your journey since school, your philosophy of work: almost all of it belongs to the interview conversation, not the letter.
4. Every match instead of the best matches. Six requirements answered thinly persuade less than three answered with examples and results. Choose the posting’s most repeated requirements and prove those.
5. Throat-clearing openings. “I am writing this letter in order to express my sincere interest in applying for…” says in fifteen words what “I am applying for…” says in four. Tighten every sentence that announces instead of states.

What to Add When Your Draft Is Too Short

A draft under 200 words for a standard role usually is not concise — it is unfinished. The missing material is almost always evidence, not words. Add, in this order: a result or number attached to your strongest claim; a second matched requirement from the posting, proved with an example; your sentence of specific interest in this employer if it is absent; and one line connecting your experience to the team’s stated goal. I

If, after adding real evidence, the letter is still short and the role is junior, accept it — a tight 220-word letter with proof in every paragraph will outperform a padded 400-word one. Compare your draft against the finished letters in our cover letter examples to see how much evidence a correct-length letter can carry.

Formatting Choices That Change How Long a Letter Feels

Length is not only word count; it is also the reader’s experience of the page. A 350-word letter in a cramped block feels long. The same letter, well formatted, feels brief and professional:

• Font size 10.5–12pt in a standard, readable font — matching your resume, so the pair reads as one application.
• Margins of about one inch / 2.5 cm, and clear blank lines between paragraphs. White space is what makes a full page feel calm instead of dense.
• Short paragraphs. If any paragraph passes roughly 120 words, split it or cut it; walls of text are where readers stop reading.
• PDF format with a clear file name, so your careful formatting survives the employer’s system exactly as you made it.

One caution: never reach one page by shrinking the font or crushing the margins. A reader can see the trick instantly, and it converts a length problem into a judgment problem. Cut words instead — the cutting order above will get any honest draft home.

Common Length Mistakes

• The two-page letter. Signals you do not know the norm or cannot select. There is no standard application where a second page helps.
• The five-line letter. “I am interested in this job, my resume is attached, thank you” wastes the one document that could argue for you. Short is professional only when it is still specific and evidenced.
• Padding with enthusiasm. Paragraphs about how excited and passionate you are add length without adding a single reason to interview you.
• Shrinking fonts and margins to fit. Visible, unprofessional, and unnecessary — cutting repetition always gets a real draft to one page.
• Counting the contact blocks as an excuse. Your header and the employer’s block take space on the page; that is already accounted for in the one-page rule. They do not license a second page of body text.
• Using email length for a formal document application, or a full formal letter where a short form answer was requested. Match the medium the employer chose.

Final Checklist

• One page, with comfortable margins and readable type — achieved by cutting, never by shrinking
• 250–400 words total (150–300 for internships and entry-level short forms)
• Three to five paragraphs: opening, one or two body, employer-interest, closing
• The opening fits in 40–70 words and lands your strongest proof point
• Every body paragraph carries evidence — an example, a setting, or a number
• No sentence repeats the resume without adding a reason or a result
• Nothing could be sent unchanged to a different employer
• The file is a clearly named PDF that matches your resume

Frequently Asked Questions

How many words should a cover letter be?

Between 250 and 400 words for a standard application — enough to prove your two or three best matches with evidence and show specific interest in the employer, on one page. Entry-level letters often sit naturally at 200–300 words, and short internship letters at 150–250.

Is a 500-word cover letter too long?

Almost always, yes. At 500 words the letter is either repeating the resume, answering too many requirements too thinly, or telling background story the interview is for. Cut in the order this guide gives — repetition first, then unproven adjectives, then history — and most 500-word drafts land near 350 without losing anything persuasive.

Can a cover letter be too short?

Yes. A letter under about 150 words for a standard role rarely contains any evidence, and evidence is the letter’s whole job. Short is fine for internships and email applications when every line is specific; a five-line generic note attached to a resume is not a cover letter in any useful sense.

Should a cover letter always be one page?

Yes. One page is the settled professional standard across industries and experience levels. Even very senior candidates keep to one page for the letter itself — the depth of a senior record belongs in the resume and the interview, not in a longer letter.

Does the one-page rule include the addresses and sign-off?

Yes — everything on the page counts toward the page: your contact block, the date, the employer’s block, the greeting, the body, and the sign-off. That is precisely why the body budget of 250–400 words works: it leaves comfortable room for those formal parts on a single well-formatted page.

Conclusion

A cover letter should be exactly as long as its job requires and not a sentence longer: one page, 250 to 400 words, budgeted across an opening that lands your strongest proof, body paragraphs that answer the posting with evidence, one true sentence about this employer, and a courteous close. Write long in your first draft if you must — then cut repetition, adjectives, and history until only the argument remains. That discipline, visible on the page, is itself one of the strongest signals your letter sends. That is how long should a cover letter be — and why the length works.