cover letter, how detailed?

webistan

Ok so here is a million dollar question? How big should a cover letter be? A full page, half page 2/3?

I have gone through some sites and although I studied businss writing, I want to know what has worked for you. Neither I want to ramble on a cover letter nor do I want to send a very short letter

Do you elaborate on your resume, or do you include your soft skills. I know it's a very subjective question, but let's folks give it a try. How long should cover letter be?

trick000

My cover letter is usually 3 to 4 paragraphs and never more than 1 page. Basically, it should point out why you are qualified for the job. Try not to repeat anything that's already on your resume.

JDMurray

When reading through several hundred resumes at a clip of one every 20-30 seconds, I rarely read any cover letters because the information I need to know is in the resume. Most resumes I see do not have a cover letter and I do not expect them to (headhunters will remove them along with deleting your contact information from your resume). I typically would only use a cover letter on a formal application sent to a prospective employer or a learning institution.

All that being said, a cover letter is used to include additional information that is not found in your resume. Consider putting any important information only in your resume and not in your cover letter. If you are including a cover letter just to be friendly, or to remind a recruiter who you are, keep it very short (e.g., one paragraph, 3-5 sentences). Also plan that any cover letter you do include with your resume may never be read.

Munck

A cover letter is a "teaser" for your CV. When people glance at your cover letter, they should feel a desire to take a look at your CV, because you hopefully wrote something interesting about your personality. I normally drop a line or two about my qualifications, but else I keep it on a personal level. IMO a cover letter should never be more than one page - preferably only using 2/3 or 1/2 of the available space.

keenon

Munck wrote:

A cover letter is a "teaser" for your CV. When people glance at your cover letter, they should feel a desire to take a look at your CV, because you hopefully wrote something interesting about your personality. I normally drop a line or two about my qualifications, but else I keep it on a personal level. IMO a cover letter should never be more than one page - preferably only using 2/3 or 1/2 of the available space.

agreed only a teaser when i'm asked for a cover letter i will make it 2 paragraphs. don't never tell the "meat" of your resume in a cover letter

Judd

jdmurray wrote:

I typically would only use a cover letter on a formal application sent to a prospective employer or a learning institution.

Agreed, considered a more targeted approach. I used a cover letter for my internship and it was refreshing to see it at my interview...however it had been roughly folded back over the clipboard which revealed my resume, if you catch my drift.

Keep in mind some jobs require a cover letter just to see if you can communicate written information.

JDMurray

Judd wrote:

Keep in mind some jobs require a cover letter just to see if you can communicate written information.

I think keatron once mentioned about requiring recent writing samples from applicants. Programmers are routinely asked to submit samples of their code, although there is no way to verify that they actually wrote the code they submit. I only want to see material like that in the second round of interviews anyway.