Do you need to sign a cover letter?
No, you don’t need to sign a cover letter. However, if you’re mailing a hard copy as part of your application, you should sign your cover letter because it’s professional and requires little effort.
Are you:
| Sending an email cover letter? | Type your name at the end. |
| Mailing a physical copy of your cover letter? | Sign it before sending it out. |
| Uploading your cover letter to an email or job portal? | Either 1.) type your name at the end, or 2.) add an electronic signature to it. |
Knowing how to properly end a cover letter with a sign-off and signature won’t improve your chances of getting an interview. But doing it wrong could leave a bad first impression on an employer.
Read on to find out how to correctly sign and close your cover letter.
How to sign a cover letter
You should always place your cover letter signature at the end of your cover letter after your sign-off (for example, “Sincerely,”) in business letter format.
Signing a cover letter sent by email
When signing an email cover letter, you don’t need to provide a handwritten signature. Simply write your full name at the end of the email, using the same professional cover letter font you use for the rest of your cover letter.
The proper format of an email cover letter signature looks like this:
Regards,
[First Name] [Last Name]
[Email Address]
[Phone Number]
Although you should have already provided your contact details in your resume and your cover letter header, you can add them to your email signature to make sure they’re easy to find.
Examples of email cover letter closings
Here are some examples of how to sign off on an email cover letter:
Best Regards,
Hector Lopez
hectorlopez@email.com
(812) 876-6721
Sincerely,
Maria Smith
763 Main Street,
North Oxford, MA 01540
mariasmith@email.com
(812) 745-6721
Regards,
Samuel Liao
samuelliao@email.com
(147) 369-1701
www.linkedin.com/sliao
www.samuelliao.com
How to sign a paper cover letter
Though less common, sometimes you need to mail your cover letter. You should always sign a cover letter sent by mail because it’s more professional, and requires little effort.
Here’s how to sign a printed-out cover letter:
- Leave two to three of lines of blank space between your cover letter sign off and your full name
- Print your cover letter, and sign your name using black ink in that blank space
You don’t need to include your contact information underneath your signature on a printed-out cover letter because most cover letter templates (including the cover letter templates provided by Google) already have space at the top for this information.
Here’s how handwritten signatures should look at the end of a cover letter:
Sincerely,
Gloria Morales
Sincerely,
Ahote Nighthorse
How to sign a cover letter attached to an email or uploaded online
A cover letter attachment is a cover letter either uploaded on a job portal or attached to an email. This is different from an email cover letter, which is written in the body of an email.
Wondering how you should sign a cover letter sent as an attachment? You can either:
- Type your name.
- Attach a scan of your signed cover letter.
- Electronically sign your cover letter using Adobe Sign, or other software like:
