Check a cover letter's length against a recommended maximum.
A cover letter typically lands close to 400 words, so comparing its characters with a 2,500-character ceiling gives a quick pass or trim signal. Shorter is safer because screening is fast. Recruiters skim letters in seconds, so staying tight keeps the strongest points visible instead of burying them in a wall of text.
Cover Letter Length
Compare letter characters against a recommended ceiling
Compare letter characters against a recommended ceiling A cover letter typically lands close to 400 words, so comparing its characters with a 2,500-character ceiling gives a quick pass or trim signal. Shorter is safer because screening is fast.
Recruiters skim letters in seconds, so staying tight keeps the strongest points visible instead of burying them in a wall of text.
This calculator takes 2 inputs: Letter characters, Ideal max chars. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.