A fourth-year graduate student asks—

How long does my cover letter need to be?

In general, a cover letter should be less than a page. Mostly, employers are only spending a minute or so reading your cover letter, no matter how long it is. I generally aim for about 2/3 of a page, but there’s a few considerations for writing a longer one. If the employer has asked you to answer a specific question, for example, I would add that on top of your main 2/3 of a page. Also, if you need to include a brief research proposal, that could easily justify going up to a couple pages (like in most applications for faculty positions). You may also need to use additional space if you need to make a case for yourself as a very untraditional candidate; if you are missing an essential qualification for the role, but have a strong plan for how to overcome that, you should include that plan to demonstrate that you are aware of what they need. 

-David Blancha, Assistant Director, Career Development Team for Researchers