How Long Should a Cover Letter Be? (Recruiter Word-Count Test)

I did an experiment a while back that I want to tell you about, because it changed how I advise candidates on cover letter length.

I took 50 cover letters from a single job posting I was hiring for. I timed myself reading each one, from “click open” to “decision to continue or skip.” No cheating, I set a stopwatch on my phone. I wanted to know where the actual inflection point was between I’ll read this and I’ll skim it.

The answer: around 250 words. Below that, I always read the whole thing. Above 350 words, I always skimmed. Between 250 and 350 was mixed, depending on how the first sentence landed.

So if you’re wondering how long your cover letter should be, and you’re getting “one page” advice from Google, let me give you a more useful answer: around 250 words, three paragraphs. Anything longer is fighting the attention economy, and the attention economy always wins. (For the bigger structural picture — when a letter is even worth writing, what to send instead — start with the cover letter pillar.)

Why the number matters

Recruiters don’t read cover letters the way candidates assume we do. We’re not looking for a well-structured argument. We’re looking for signal, fast. In a typical application review, I’m checking three things:

1. Can you write? (The first sentence usually tells me.)
2. Do you have a reason for applying? (One specific sentence is enough.)
3. Are you a plausible fit? (The CV confirms; the letter just signals intent.)

All three can be answered in 200-250 words. Anything beyond that is you writing for yourself, not for me. And when I see a 600-word cover letter, I don’t think “what a thorough candidate.” I think “this person doesn’t know their reader.”

The three-paragraph structure that hits the length

The reason 250 words works is that it maps cleanly onto three paragraphs of 80-90 words each. Each paragraph does one job. When you know the job of each paragraph, you don’t pad.

Paragraph 1: the hook (80 words)

Specific first sentence. No “I am writing to express my interest.” No “I am excited to apply for the position of.” Just a concrete sentence that tells me why you, why this role, why now.

Examples I’ve seen work:

“Your job ad mentions rebuilding the pricing model after the last person left, and I just did the same thing at [prior company] for a product with twice the catalog complexity.”

“I’ve been following [Company]‘s move into [market] for a year because I’m on the customer side of that market and I’ve been waiting for someone to solve the problem you’re solving.”

The hook should make me want to read paragraph 2. If it doesn’t, the rest of the letter doesn’t matter. The 5 opening line patterns that work covers each variant in detail with before/after examples.

Paragraph 2: the case (100 words)

Two or three specific reasons you’d be good at this role. Not your full CV, just the two or three things most relevant to this specific posting. Use numbers wherever you can. “Built X that increased Y by Z” beats “led initiatives to drive improvements.”

Don’t try to cover everything. Pick the two things that are most relevant and explain them in enough detail that I can picture you doing similar work here. A common mistake: candidates list 6 qualifications at shallow depth. Better: 2 at real depth.

Paragraph 3: the close (60 words)

Short, direct, warm. Restate interest in one sentence. Signal availability if it matters. End with something human, not corporate.

“Happy to elaborate on any of the above in a call. I’m UK-based, available for a conversation any time next week.”

Don’t finish with “I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.” That’s a phrase people stopped writing in 2015 and only AI now produces.

What AI gets wrong about length

If you paste the job description into ChatGPT and ask for a cover letter, you’ll almost certainly get 400-500 words. The default AI cover letter is long. It’s also structurally perfect, grammatically clean, and instantly recognizable as AI output, partly because of the length.

When I edit candidate drafts, roughly half my edits are cuts. AI expands every sentence, hedges every point, and adds corporate connective tissue (“additionally,” “furthermore,” “moreover”) that pads the word count without adding information.

The fix is a specific prompt constraint. When I use AI for a cover letter draft, my prompt includes:

“Maximum 250 words. Three paragraphs. First sentence must be specific, not generic. No ‘I am writing to express interest.’ No ‘I look forward to hearing from you.’”

That produces a draft closer to the right length. Then I cut another 20% in the edit, because AI still overshoots.

When longer is acceptable

There are specific cases where a longer cover letter (up to 400 words, occasionally more) is appropriate:

Senior executive roles

If you’re applying for a C-level or VP role, search committees and HR directors expect a full one-page letter. Shorter can read as underprepared. The exception: if the role is at a technology company with a casual culture, shorter still works.

Career changers

If you’re switching industries or functions, you need a paragraph to explain the pivot. That adds 50-80 words. So a career-change cover letter might run 300-350 words rather than 250. Still not a full page, just a bit more room for the bridge — see career change cover letter for the specific structure.

Academic and legal roles

Different norms. Academic cover letters are often 400-600 words with a research statement embedded. Legal cover letters tend to be formal and slightly longer. If you’re in these fields, ignore my 250-word default and follow the field’s conventions.

When the posting explicitly asks

If the ad says “please include a detailed explanation of your interest” or similar, that’s a license to go longer. They’ve told you they’ll read it. Use up to 400 words, not more.

The word-count check

Before you send, do this. Paste your letter into a word counter (any online tool, or the one built into Google Docs or Word). Read the number. If it’s over 350, cut. Every time.

The cuts are usually:

• Entire sentences that restate something the CV already says
• Transition phrases like “additionally,” “moreover,” “furthermore”
• Hedges like “I believe,” “I feel,” “it is my opinion”
• Adjectives that don’t add information (“various,” “numerous,” “innovative”)
• The closing sentence, which is often 30 words longer than it needs to be

A 400-word draft cut to 250 is almost always a better letter. The best candidates I’ve placed sent the shortest letters. Not because brevity is a magic formula, but because brevity forces clarity, and clarity is what recruiters actually respond to.

The minimum floor

The other direction matters too. Below 100 words, a letter stops reading as a cover letter and starts reading as a dashed-off email. I’ve seen 60-word notes that said essentially “I saw the ad, I’m interested, CV attached.” Technically a cover letter. Practically, it signals low effort.

The minimum that reads as considered: around 120-150 words. Three short paragraphs, each doing their job. It’s closer to the floor than the ideal, but it’s not insulting.

Related reading

• How to write a cover letter with AI — the 20-minute workflow that produces a 250-word letter from scratch.
• ChatGPT cover letter prompts — the prompts I use that force AI to hit the right length.
• Cover letter mistakes recruiters spot — the six patterns that make me stop reading, most of which correlate with longer letters.
• Cover letter pillar — the full map of recruiter-tested cover letter advice.

What to take from this

Cover letter length is not a format rule. It’s a reader-attention rule. Recruiters spend 20 seconds or less on cover letters, and your letter has to earn more time by being short enough to read in that window and specific enough to justify the read.

The safe default: 250 words, three paragraphs, first sentence specific, last sentence human. You can adjust up or down for your situation, but if you’re within 50 words of that target, you’re in the right zone. Most candidates fail by going long, not by going short. Be the one who goes the other way.