About the author

Darren Cronian, the author of this guide, has spent nine years securing remote jobs and building a successful freelancing business. His goal is to help people find remote work. Read more >
Last Updated: 13 May 2024

In the last couple of years, we have seen an explosion of remote job opportunities due to a shift towards working from home, either fully remote or hybrid.

This means competition has never been more challenging, so creating a stand-out cover letter is vital. Standing out is more important than how long a cover letter should be, but this question is frequently asked.

So, how long should a cover letter be for a remote job?

How long should a cover letter be for a remote job?
Catch Attention Quickly

You need to know that companies will potentially receive hundreds of applications. Your cover letter must catch their attention quickly, within seconds of them reading the first sentence.

Your Cover Letter Should Be One Page

Based on my years of experience, the cover letter needs to be only one page long. A well-written cover letter must contain three to four concise paragraphs and no more than 250 to 300 words.

Your cover letter paragraphs should take no more than half a page.

Get Creative with Your Writing

It is undoubtedly a challenge to catch the reader’s attention and tell them why they need to hire you in 250-300 words, but it’s doable with some creative writing. You might be asking, why so short? Think about the primary purpose of a cover letter: it introduces you to the company.

It makes them interested in you as a candidate. Given the time factor and competition for remote jobs, it has to be to the point.

We will cover more advice about creating a cover letter in the future, but remember to make sure you sell yourself. Use bullet points to your advantage. They will emphasize your most vital selling points and help you save space.

  • Why do you want to apply for this role?
  • Why do you want to work for this company?
  • Why are you the best person for this role?
Essential Tool For Cover Letter Writing

A tool we recommend here at the Remote Hive is Grammarly. It’s a text editor, spelling, and grammar checker. Make sure you adjust the goals of the content before you start to write, and as you type, the app will proofread your content.

These are the recommended goals for a cover letter.

  • Audience: Knowledgeable
  • Formality: Neutral
  • Domain: Creative
  • Intent: Convince

Of course, you can make changes based on your writing style, but this is a good start to seeing the results. It’s free, but the Pro version is highly recommended because it gives you the full suite of tools and complete proofreading.

Hopefully, we have answered how long a cover letter should take for a remote job and offered advice on how to get more interviews.

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