The first step in learning how to format a cover letter is to start at the top: the header for a cover letter. Here, we outline everything you need to know about cover letter headers, including:
For more cover letter header examples, review our library of cover letter samples. Search by job title or industry to explore professionally written content and cover letter templates for the role you seek.
What to include in a cover letter header
There are six main components that go in your cover letter header. They are:
- Your full name
- Your home city and state
- Phone number
- Email address
- LinkedIn profile (if you have one)
- Other relevant links, such as a portfolio or social media links (if applicable)
6 Cover Letter Header Examples
Classic 6
Modern 8
Simplify
Contemporary 2
Executive 2
Contemporary 5
How to format your cover letter header
Formatting your cover letter header is simple if you follow the following rules:
Use a larger font for your resume header than for the rest of your cover letter to make it stand out. The body of your letter should use a font size between 10-12 points, so make your cover letter header between 14-20 points, depending on the length of your letter. (Your cover letter should always fit on a single page.)
Feel free to use color for the header of your cover letter, but make sure it’s a color that is easy to read both on paper and on a computer screen. Darker colors often work best since lighter colors, like yellow, can sometimes be too light to read.
Choose an easy-to-read font in your cover letter header. Avoid script or fonts like comic sans, which could be difficult for a recruiter to read and could confuse an applicant tracking system (ATS).
If you want to skip formatting altogether, consider using our Cover Letter Builder, which offers an array of cover letter templates to choose from — all of which are perfectly formatted.
Cover letter header FAQ
No. Letterhead is a printed heading at the top of stationery. It contains the sender’s name and, if the stationary is being used for a company’s correspondence, a logo and address. Cover letter headers, on the other hand, are most often sent digitally and always contain the applicant’s name, location and contact information so that recruiters can contact them for a job interview.
The best way to title your cover letter is to use your name, the job title you seek and the type of file format you have saved the letter in. For example, you might title your cover letter, “anne_dennis_cashier.jpg” or “patricia_kim_accountant.doc.”
The layout of a cover letter contains six basic elements: the header, the salutation or greeting, the introduction paragraph, the body of the letter, the closing paragraph and the signoff. These sections should always appear in the same order on every letter you write. For more information on the layout of a cover letter, visit our How to Write a Cover Letter page.
Heather is the Content Strategy Manager for Resume Now and a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) with more than ten years of experience writing about job search and career topics. She is based in San Francisco.
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