6 Cover Letter Format Tips

When you are in the position of starting to look for a new job, or even switch gears completely and look for a new career path, you will want to make sure that your cover letter format is laid out in such a way that will attract the attention of the hiring manager at the companies you are applying to.

Now this may sound easy enough, as many people will resort to one of two methods for getting your letter together:

Utilize a template online OR Repurpose their resume into a cover letter

These two methods are not recommended formats, as many companies have advanced technologies that will combat templates and keyword phrases, and simply restating your resume shows that you have no creativity or writing skills.

Here are 6 effective cover letter format tips to keep in mind:

1. Keep it short and to the point. Since you only have a few short moments to impress the hiring manager, you will want to shine rather quickly. You do not want to drone on about all of your accomplishments and write a two page cover letter. One page should be the maximum. If you have more than one page for your cover letter, there is a high probability that it will be overlooked.

2. Increase the spacing between paragraphs and bullet points. Basically put, you will want to make sure your page is not filled from top to bottom with text. Make sure that there is white space on your letter. It just makes it easier to scan or read.

3. Limit your paragraphs. This may seem difficult to fit in all of your information, but you will want to keep the maximum amount of paragraphs to 3. Similar to when you read an article on a website, the longer and more paragraphs the content has, makes it seem like a difficult read.

4. Use bullet points to segment the content. Since we are working on a 3 paragraph maximum length for your letter, the content can be further broken down by bullet points. Similar to this article, where I used a numbering system from 1 to 6, it allows the reader to glance down and get the outline of what you are trying to say.

5. At the beginning of your paragraphs, use bold face font. This is a trick that many marketers are familiar with. If you highlight the first few words of each paragraph with compelling text, the reader will want to read more. And this is a good thing!

6. Give your printed letter the eye test. Since most people end up writing their letters on a computer, and sending them in digitally, it might be a good idea to actually print it out, look at the font size as well as the content and see how easy it is to read. Since the company will be actually printing out the document and reading it by hand, it makes sense for you to do the same.

These are just a few great tips that you want to remember for your cover letter format.

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