How Long Should A Cover Letter Be?

One of my goals for 2018 is to create more video content, knowing that people have different learning styles and also feel more connected when they can see the person they're learning from. 

...truthfully, this was a goal for 2017 but I procrastinated because while I love presenting, shooting and editing videos of myself is a totally different experience! I know I'll get more comfortable and my true personality will come out more with time, so I'm honoring this growth period and not letting perfection be the enemy of good. 

So without further adieu. here is my first video (outside of my online coaching program)! It's called "How Long Should A Cover Letter Be?" and you can view it through clicking below.

When helping people with their job search, one of the most common questions I get asked is, “How long should my cover letter be?” If you want more information on the pros and cons of writing a cover letter, I'm happy to share with you my free cover letter writing guide. 

For today, we're going to focus on the length of a cover letter. When you're writing the letter, you want to keep in mind you only have a really short amount of time to deliver a lot of valuable content to the employer because they read your application materials so quickly. With that in mind, knowing you have only a short period of time to deliver valuable information to an employer about why you're the best fit for the role, your cover letter should never be longer than one page. Also, it shouldn't come close to the bottom of the page either. Let’s discuss a little bit more about the structure of the letter so you can get a better sense of what really goes into it. 

In your first paragraph, and I say that loosely because it's only a sentence or two long, should cover what position you're applying for and how you found out about it. This section is where you would name drop if there was someone referring you, or someone you did an informational interview to include a quick summary sentence talking about what you're going to discuss in the rest of your letter. 

For example, you could say “I'm writing to apply for X, Y, Z role, and I found out about it after Bob Smith referred me to this opportunity. The combination of my x y, and z skills coupled with my A, B, and C, makes me a great fit for this position.”

Then you get into the next, the second and third paragraph, which is what I call the meat of your cover letter. So this is where you're really thinking strategically about what is most important about you and your background to emphasize to an employer. It should not be a regurgitation of what's on your resume. It's more of a narrative approach to maybe fleshing out an example or a story that showcases multiple qualifications you have for the role. 

The most important part of a letter that most people leave out is why you want to work for that organization. It doesn't have to be again a verbose thing. It can be a short and sweet sentence or two, explaining what about this organization and what they do is unique and why that makes you want to deliver and use your skills for them in this role in particular. 

So hopefully this helps you get a little bit more clarity on the length, as well as the structure of your cover letter writing. If you have any questions feel free to shoot me a note or download my cover letter writing guide posted in the comments below.

If you learn better through reading, you can see this information in my previous cover letter blog posts or my free comprehensive guide. If you have questions, leave a note in the video comments! 

How Do You Address Your Cover Letter?

Read more about the benefits of writing letters here.

A common question that arises when writing cover letters is which person should be addressed in the opening of the letter. Here are some options, along with the pros/cons for each of them:

To Whom It May Concern

This is your worst-case scenario option. It’s fine, it gets the job done, but it’s cold and doesn’t show much effort to get more personalized information.

Dear Hiring Manager or Dear Selection Committee

Still not ideal in terms of personalization, but it's a bit warmer and a better option if you truly can’t find any information regarding the person/people in charge of hiring.

Dear Mr./Ms. _________ (insert last name)

Best-case scenario! But indeed, not always possible. This would be the name of the person in charge of the department/office/team you’re applying to, and there are a few ways to dig in to try to find this information. Start by looking on the website of the organization, as some have tons of information including names, emails, and an organizational chart.

If you strike out there, you can do an advanced search on LinkedIn. Try the name of the organization in the “company” section and input the division you’re applying to in the “keyword” section. If that doesn’t work, play around with other keywords or try your luck with Google to see if there may be clues in publications/news.

This little step can help demonstrate your attention to detail and enthusiasm for the opportunity. Bonus tip: if you’ve done an informational interview with someone before applying, ask them for a name and/or include their name in the body of your cover letter too!

NEED MORE SUPPORT? DOWNLOAD MY COVER LETTER WRITING GUIDE SO YOU CAN STOP STRESSING AND START WRITING LETTERS THAT CONVERT TO INTERVIEWS!

Prefer one-on-one support? Or not even sure of what you need to land work you love? Learn more about the 3 benefits of working with a career coach.

The Top 8 Mistakes Job Seekers Make and How to Recover from Them

The job-search process can often leave candidates feeling frustrated and powerless. Not being selected or never hearing back from employers after submitting applications can only exacerbate these feelings.

Discovering that you’ve been doing something “wrong” can actually be good news.

It means there’s room to improve the process and yield different results. If you’re doing everything perfectly and still not making any headway in your search, it would be much more frustrating.

These are the eight common mistakes I've seen job seekers make over the last 10 years of being a career coach. If any of these sound like you, modify your approach and you’ll notice the difference!

1) You spend all of your time applying to jobs posted online or waiting for things to open.

While it’s a necessary step in the process, many jobs that are posted are actually either already filled (HR has a legal obligation to post) or nearly filled (the employer already has someone in mind). There are times when you might apply to something randomly and be hired, but up to 85% of jobs are offered to people with a pre-existing connection to the hiring organization. 

To increase your network, schedule informational interviews with people at the companies where you want to work. These individuals can alert you to future job openings, and perhaps even allow you to mention their names in your cover letter, which will make your application stand out in the stack of résumés.

2) You don’t manage your time efficiently or know how to spend your energy.

Whether you’re balancing a job search while holding another job or if searching for work is your full-time focus, this is challenging! I can’t tell you how many times this scenario rings true for my clients: You sit down in front of your computer thinking, “Okay here we go, job search time!” and then three hours and 30 open browser tabs later you are left questioning what you’ve accomplished. Maybe you started with clicking a link for an open position, which led you to look up the company on LinkedIn, which led you to click on an employee profile to learn more, which brought you to another company page, which…. you get the point. The remedy for this related to mistake #3…

3) You don’t set goals.

I’m a big advocate for goal setting in both personal and professional matters (you might have guessed by the name Aspire!). The job search process is enough of an overwhelming black hole on its own, and failing to concretize what you want to accomplish only exacerbates that sensation. Life happens, so even if you plan to send three informational interview requests in one week and you only get to two, it’s still a step forward. Be proactive in planning what deliverables you want to achieve and you’ll be more likely to get there!

4) You don’t hold yourself accountable.

But Aileen, you just said life happens!?! Yes, it does. There’s a difference, however, between when something major comes up or you misjudge how long a task will take versus just making excuses. Create structure and show up for yourself in the same way you’d show up for others because if you don’t prioritize your success why will anyone else?

5) You don’t customize or perfect your application materials.

This may sound dramatic but I’d rather see someone apply to 0 jobs (and focus on networking) than submit 30 applications that aren’t tailored for the employer/role specifically… that’s how strongly I believe in the power of thoughtfully reframing your experience every time. You may be wondering how to know what language will resonate with the employer—the answers lie in the job description, the company website, and in what you hear from people who work there.  It may not be realistic to speak with someone before every application, but do these three things:

• Pick apart the post and look for themes

• Comb through the website extensively to find additional terminology

• Read a few LinkedIn profiles of people working there (bonus points if they’ve had the job you’re applying for!). Use all of this information to customize your cover letter and résumé for that particular employer.

6) You submit materials with errors or typos.

Perhaps you recycled some language from one cover letter to another and forgot to change the company name, or maybe you said fiancé instead of finance and spellcheck didn’t warn you. No one submits typos on purpose, and no one thinks it’ll ever be them, so to keep that the case, here are some pointers:

Print out what you’ve written and read it aloud in advance - this will help with words that spellcheck doesn’t catch!

Have someone else (a mentor, friend, or me!) take a peek for you since you know what you’re trying to say and your brain may skip over the details.

 

7) You don’t prepare for interviews properly.

This usually happens more by accident than because of a lack of effort. Maybe you thought you were going to have a casual conversation and then all of a sudden you’re getting grilled. Maybe you planned for a certain line of questioning and then what you’re presented with is completely different.

Whatever the case may be, there is nothing worse than that sinking feeling in your gut when you feel the conversation slipping away from you. I have another post completely dedicated to interviewing tips, but my abbreviated tips to prevent the conversation from slipping away from you are:

1. Research, research, and then research some more.

2. Remember that there is a reason you’re being interviewed. Study all of the materials you submitted and be able to explain them in greater detail.

3. Prepare questions for your interviewers in advance that are thoughtful and showcase all of the research you’ve done.

8) You don’t know what you want.

Whoa. What?! Yep, this one’s the doozy. To clarify, it isn’t a mistake not to know what you want, but it makes your job search much more difficult. There are a variety of reasons why you may be uncertain of your next step, but if you’re not convinced that you genuinely want to work somewhere, it will show in your application materials and in how you come across in your interviews.

Check in with yourself.

If you’re reading a job description and you feel that it would be difficult to write a cover letter for the position, you’re either not excited or not qualified (or both). If you assess what you want and apply for roles that align with your goals, you’ll be more energized and excited about the opportunity and that passion will shine in your writing and in your interview.

Hopefully being aware of these common job-seeking mistakes, and how to avoid them, will help you see more progress in your job search. If you need that extra pair of eyes on your applications, help creating and being held accountable to goals, or guidance towards figuring out what you really want to do, request your free career consultation with me today!

My content and this photo were originally shared on SharpHeels.com: Job Seeking Missteps