Introduction
Cover letters can be daunting, but with a few simple tips, you can learn how to format a cover letter and create one that will make hiring managers want to read more.
And you’re probably wondering how do I properly format a cover letter so that hiring managers will want to read this?
Well, if you keep reading, we’ll cover all the formatting tips and tricks you need to capture the attention of hiring managers.
But first, let’s answer these questions:
- Does the format of a cover letter even matter?
- Do recruiters and hiring managers even read these cover letters?
To answer the questions above, formatting matters because recruiters and hiring managers read cover letters (from time to time).
There are many reasons why formatting matters, and we’ll break those reasons down in the following sections. But to address the question, recruiters and hiring managers either read or skip over cover letters entirely.
There’s no other reason why hiring managers and recruiters skip over reading cover letters as it comes down to individual preferences. Some recruiters and hiring managers may want to read them to understand better who you are as a person.
Other people (like myself) don’t necessarily have the time to read through long paragraphs of text, so we skip right to the resume to understand what the candidate has achieved.
Either way, whether a hiring manager reads the cover letter or not, the format is still important as you always want to look prepared.
So let’s dive in and discover why cover letter formatting matters.
Why Cover Letter Formatting Matters
Cover letter formatting matters for numerous reasons, such as:
- If employers choose to read the cover letter, it needs to be organized
- Suppose you have to submit the cover letter through an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). In that case, it needs to pass the ATS test, as 98% of Fortune 500 companies use an ATS in their screening process
- If you’re trying to impress an employer while sending them a cover letter directly, they need to be able to scan it within seconds
And many more reasons beyond those. Primarily, cover letter formatting matters as it’ll help you later in the creation process as you’ll have a step-by-step guide that tells you what to fill in and where.
Additionally, with a great format, you can easily customize and make tweaks to it to fit the needs of the job that you’re applying for.
Because you never know who’ll look at it, a kick-ass cover letter format will help you impress employers who are looking at it. Still, you’ll also be able to save time on customization as you’ll have the bones of your cover letter already taken care of.
And as we know, cover letters can take hours to write, so let’s save time throughout the process and invest our time up front creating an acceptable cover letter format.
And to kick things off, let’s quickly review the seven tips you need to follow for cover letter formatting.
7 Tips for Cover Letter Formatting
To start things off, first, we need some guidelines for creating a cover letter.
With these seven tips, you’ll have a set of parameters to follow when creating your cover letter.
And to go over them, these seven tips will affect parts of your cover letter such as:
- The Margin
- Spacing
- Font Size
- Font Style
- Cover Letter Length
- Saving Your Cover Letter File
- Naming your Cover Letter File
Now that you know what to start with, let’s go over each of those tips.
The Margin
For margins, use margins between 1″ and .5″, but if you need to adjust the margin due to spacing constraints, make sure you look at your template in a PDF format so that it doesn’t come out weird.
Cover Letter Spacing
For spacing, you need to break down each section (Header, Intro, Body, Closing, and Signoff) and leave one space in between each part of the cover letter. Additionally, when making the top part of the cover letter, which we will go over in a second, you’ll need 1.15 – 1.5 point line spacing between each of those items
Font Size
For font sizing, use any font size between 10.5 – 12 point font. Anything larger or smaller will mess up the format of your cover letter. Furthermore, if you use a small font, it’ll be harder for the hiring manager to read your cover letter. Too large of a font will give you less room to sell yourself
Font Style
For font style, keep it clean and professional. Fonts that I and many others have used that work are Times New Roman, Georgia, and Arial. But if those don’t work for you just make sure the font you use is easy to read as you need to avoid fancy fonts at all costs!
Cover Letter Length
The cover letter’s length should be one page and, at most, 500 words. It’s not a resume but an introductory letter to let the employer know who you are and why they should hire you. Your cover letter should be short and to the point, not a biography about yourself.
Saving Your Cover Letter File
Saving your cover letter to a proper file format, you’ll want to save it as a PDF or DOCX format as most employers will require your cover letter to be in this format. The main reason is that PDFs and DOCX files can easily pass through the ATS test and cannot be modified by others, so you can be sure that it’s readable and ready to go.
Naming Your Cover Letter File
Lastly, when saving your file, name it something simple such as Your Name – Cover Letter (i.e., Nick Niles – Cover Letter)
If you follow these seven tips, you’ll start from a better place when creating your cover letter, as you will not need to recreate a new one each time you want to send one to a company.
All you’ll need to do is make sure that you customize and tailor the letter to each job that you’re applying for, and you should be covered.
Now that we have the seven tips covered let’s learn how to format a cover letter.
How To Format A Cover Letter
When formatting a cover letter, there are a few things that you need to do to start outlining your content.
And to start shaping up your cover letter while putting the bones in, you can start with this section outline:
- List out contact details
- Add the address of the hiring manager and the date of the application
- Address your cover letter to the right person or department
- Start with an introduction
- Add 2-3 body paragraphs
- Conclusion paragraph with a call to action
- Close with your name and signature at the bottom of the letter
Once you have all of these sections laid out, you can start writing and putting content in your cover letter that will leave an impression.
But before we start writing, how about we see what this looks like when it comes together, starting with the contact details section.
List contact details
First, start by listing your contact information near the top of the cover letter.
In this section, you’ll want to list your full name, phone number, email, and physical address (City, State, and Zip will do).
Once you add this section, it should look like this:
Straightforward and to the point, you don’t need anything more. You just want to make sure the employer sees your name and contact info.
Add the address of the company and date of the Application
Next, you’ll need to find the company’s address, which you can find on the company website or LinkedIn page.
Then you’ll need to date the cover letter on the same date as when you applied for the job.
And what this part of the cover letter looks like is this:
After you’ve added that section, move on to the next part.
Address your cover letter to the right person or department
It may be tricky for you to find the right person to address the cover letter to.
No worries, though; I have several tips to help you find the hiring manager easily.
When trying to find a hiring manager, you’ll need to use one tool: LinkedIn.
Let’s start with an example. Let’s say I’m trying to find a Customer Success Job, and I don’t know who the manager is.
Here’s what I would do:
1. Find the role and read over the Job Description, as you may be able to find a statement like this:
2. If you find a job role that labels the person you report to, look them up on LinkedIn like this:
3. Then since we know this role is based out of the Greater Phoenix Area, we will take this hiring manager:
4. Since he has the exact title we were looking for, we will now address the cover letter to him, as he will most likely be the hiring manager
This step should be pretty easy to follow. But if you cannot find the hiring manager based on more advanced searching, then you can address the cover letter to the hiring department.
So, in this case, I would say, Dear Customer Success Operations Manager or Customer Success Operations Team. This way, it’s still personable.
But never use anything generic such as “To Whom It May Concern,” as that makes you look lazy.
Once you figure out what path to take, you can outline the introduction.
Start with an introduction
When outlining the introduction, the format for this will be straightforward as you need to accomplish several things like:
- Hooking and capturing the hiring manager’s attention
- Introducing who you are
- The position that you’re applying for
- Why you’re applying for said position
- And how you can add value
For the sake of this article, we’re not covering how to write a cover letter but rather just a general outline so that you can write each section seamlessly.
Within this first paragraph, it’ll be imperative that you include each of those bullet points, as it will be enough to capture the hiring manager’s attention and keep them reading.
If you want a sneak peek at what we will be covering soon, take a look at 30 Genius Cover Letter Openers Recruiters Will LOVE, as this breaks down how others have made their opening intros memorable.
Now that you know what to include in the intro, let’s move on to the body paragraphs.
Add Body Paragraphs of Cover Letter
When adding in the body paragraphs, these will differ from the intro as you need to accomplish a few different things within this paragraph.
What you will want to make sure you highlight in your body paragraph is the following:
- Your experience
- Your accomplishments, achievements, and results (Quantifiable Numbers)
- Your skills
- Your qualifications (why you are the one for the job)
In this section, if you include all those bullet points, you’ll show why you’re a fit for the job, what experiences you have that make you a fit for the job, and, lastly, hard skills to back it up.
And suppose you want to take it a step further. In that case, you can even break down specific accomplishments that align with the company’s goals or job responsibilities that you see in the Job Description.
We will cover this more in-depth in the How To Make a Cover Letter article, but for now, understand that those points above make up the formatting for your body paragraphs.
Conclude the cover letter with a final paragraph and Call To Action
After finishing the body paragraphs, you must conclude the cover letter with one more section and a call to action (CTA).
In case you don’t know what a CTA is, it’s a term designed to make a person take immediate action.
So, in this case, like scheduling an interview after the hiring manager reads the cover letter.
And within this section, you will want to include the following points:
- Gratitude or thankful statement, thanking the hiring manager for their time if they do read the cover letter
- Relisting your contact info from the top, so they know where to reach you (Phone and Email)
- Call to action that will ask the hiring manager to invite you for an interview
Again, we’re not writing the cover letter but just understanding what goes where. But if you want to see some examples of this, here are 51 Effective CTA Examples that others have used to gain interview opportunities.
Leave your name and signature at the bottom of the cover letter with a closing salutation
Lastly, all you need to do now is leave your name, signature and close to wrap up formatting.
To close out your cover letter, use closing salutations like:
- Sincerely
- Best Regards
- Thank you for your consideration
And other salutations if they fit.
Best Cover Letter Templates To Use
Now that you understand the rules and formatting, you can create the actual document in two ways.
One, you can follow all the steps above, as creating this template is pretty straightforward.
Or two, if the topics above overwhelm you, you can always lean on the cover letter templates that others provide, as it’ll speed up the process for you.
Using templates is incredible because they’re designed by experts that follow all the rules of proper cover letter formatting.
So if you do want to use option two, here are the best cover letter templates that I would use if I had to start over again:
Cover Letter Templates To Use
ResumeGenius Cover Letter Template
Pros:
- Sleek and to the point
- ATS Friendly
- Free Download
Cons:
- You have to fill in the template yourself
- Really basic (which is also a pro)
MyPerfectResume Cover Letter Template
Pros:
- Easy to customize
- ATS Friendly
- Free Download
Cons:
- You have to fill in the template yourself
Greater Profession Cover Letter Template
Pros:
- Simple design that’s easily scannable
- A downloadable template that you can customize directly with Word or Google Docs
- Free download
- ATS Friendly
- Step by step guide that tells you what to fill in and where
Cons:
- You have to fill in the information yourself and make sure it’s formatted correctly
(If you want extra help creating a cover letter instead of creating one yourself, book some time with us through our Services page as we can help you format and write your cover letter).
Which Template Is The Best To Use?
Looking over these templates and many others, what template is the best to use?
To answer that question, no one template is better than others.
As long as you follow the tips and guidelines we set here within this post, any of these templates will do.
The template you want to use as a job seeker is the one you feel is the best, as you want to be confident in all the job docs you send in with your application.
Pick one template and start, as you don’t want to procrastinate on this last step.
Cover Letter Formatting Checklist
Once you have everything cleared up and formatted, do one last thing and check your formatting.
And to better help you with this, here’s a checklist of things you need to look over one last time before moving on:
- Does your cover letter formatting adhere to all the guidelines and tips we outlined in this post?
- Is your Cover Letter ATS Friendly?
- Have you saved and named your cover letter file?
- Does the formatting look great in PDF format?
- Are your format and cover letter template properly checked for spacing, grammatical, and spelling errors?
- Does your cover letter have your name and contact info?
- Does your cover letter address the hiring manager or hiring department?
- Does your format include the address of the employer and their business name?
If you can answer yes to all of these questions, then move on to the next step.
Conclusion
With everything you learned in this post, you now have everything you need to format a cover letter properly.
And to summarize what you’ve learned, here’s what we’ve covered:
- Why Cover Letter Formatting Matters
- 7 Tips for Great Cover Letter Formatting
- How to format your cover letter
- Templates You Should Use
- And the checklist to make sure all the cover letter formatting is in check
Once you have completed everything in this post, continue with the process.
But before you write the cover letter itself, read about the 13 Cover Letter Mistakes to avoid when creating your cover letter.
So what’s holding you back? Move on to the following article to start with the job hunt!