You can Google thousands of templates and cover letter formats. The key thing to remember is that your cover letter format needs to be easy to read and pass the ‘scan test’.
What is the scan test?
Scanning is important because some employers use what’s called an applicant tracking computer programme. This system looks for ‘keywords’ when selecting a C.V. to put in front of a human. These keywords can normally be found by carefully reading the job advert and job description.
Fonts and Cover Letter Formats
Once the computer has done its thing, your cover letter also needs to be easily scanned by a human. This is why choosing a font that is easy to read, such as Times New Roman, Tahoma or Verdana is important. It’s also why leaving out the fancy borders or graphic flourishes is also mandatory (unless you are applying to be a graphic designer at a company that loves flourishes).
How do you save and name your cover letter?
How you save your cover letter is also worth considering. My recommendation is to save your document as a PDF and give it the following name Year_Month_Company_Role_Your Name_Cover Letter. If your document gets saved in a massive recruitment system it will be easy to search for and the recruiter can make sure that they’re looking at the most up to date document.
When it comes to recruitment consultants, you can easily forget that you applied for another role five years ago and you don’t want the historic application been tagged to the current role you are applying for.
Summary: The ideal cover letter format?
The key takeaway from all this is to make sure your cover letter format easy to read so it can be scanned by both computers and humans. And, don’t forget to use the file naming and saving format above so your current cover letter is easy to search for.