The short answer
A closing paragraph does two things: it makes one specific, small request, and it signs off. The request should be for a conversation rather than for the job, because a conversation is an easy thing to say yes to. Two or three sentences is the right length, "Best regards" is safe in every market, and the passive standby "I look forward to hearing from you" asks for nothing at all.
What matters most
- Ask for a conversation, not for the job β a short call is a low-cost yes for a hiring manager.
- Two to three sentences. A closing paragraph the length of the body reads as reluctance to stop.
- "Best regards" is safe everywhere; "Yours sincerely" and "Yours faithfully" follow whether you named a recipient.
- Cut thanks-for-your-time, at-your-earliest-convenience, and any promise to telephone the office.
What the close is for
Everything before the last paragraph has been evidence. The close converts it into a next step. If it does not contain a request, the letter simply stops, and the reader is left to supply the initiative themselves β which, across forty applications, they will not.
The request has to be proportionate. Asking for the job is asking for a decision nobody can make from a letter. Asking for twenty minutes is asking for something a hiring manager grants several times a week without thinking about it.
Thank you very much for taking the time to consider my application. I would be grateful for the opportunity to interview and I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.
I would welcome a short conversation about how I would approach the first ninety days here, particularly the migration you mentioned. I can talk at short notice and I am happy to work around your schedule.
Four closes that do the job
| Type | What it sounds like | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| The conversation request | A short call about how I would approach the first ninety days would be useful, and I can make time this week or next. | Almost every application. The default, and the safest. |
| The specific hook | I would particularly like to talk about the reporting rebuild, which is the closest thing to what I spent last year doing. | When the posting names one problem you are strong on. Gives the reader a reason to pick up the phone rather than a request to. |
| The availability note | I am on four weeks' notice and could start in mid-October, which I understand lines up with your intake. | When timing is a live constraint β seasonal hiring, a stated start date, a project with a deadline in it. |
| The quiet offer | If it would help, I can send the two-page plan I wrote for the equivalent problem at my last employer. | Senior, consulting and creative roles, where a work sample is the persuasive thing. Only offer what you can actually send. |
Sign-offs, and which are safe
This is a smaller decision than the amount written about it suggests, but there is one convention worth knowing because getting it wrong is visible to older and more formal readers.
- Best regards
- Safe in every market, at every level of formality, whether or not you have a name. If you want one answer and no further thought, this is it. "Kind regards" is equally fine.
- Yours sincerely
- Correct when you have addressed a named person. Standard in the UK, Ireland and Commonwealth markets; slightly formal but never wrong in the US.
- Yours faithfully
- Correct when you have not named a recipient β the counterpart to "Dear Sir or Madam". Widely used in the UK, rarely in the US, and increasingly rare everywhere as unnamed greetings fall out of favour.
- Sincerely
- The standard American close. Neutral and unobjectionable. "Sincerely yours" is the more formal variant.
- Avoid
- Cheers, Thanks, Warmly, Respectfully yours, and anything with an exclamation mark. Too casual, too effusive, or too archaic for a first contact with a stranger.
Phrases to cut from the close
- "Thank you for your time and consideration." Thanking someone before they have done anything is pre-emptive, and the phrase appears in so many letters that it has become invisible. If you want to be gracious, one short thanks in the email covering note does it better.
- "At your earliest convenience." Nobody says this out loud. It reads as filler, and it quietly implies you expect to be fitted in.
- "I hope to hear from you." Hope is not a request. Replace with what you actually want to happen.
- "I will call your office on Tuesday to arrange an interview." Presumptuous, and it puts the reader in the position of either taking an unwanted call or feeling rude for avoiding it. A polite follow-up a fortnight later is fine; announcing it in advance is not.
- "I am confident I would be an excellent fit." A claim about a judgement that is not yours to make. The evidence in the letter either supports it or does not.
- "Please do not hesitate to contact me." They were not hesitating.
The postscript question
A PS is a direct-marketing device, and it does draw the eye. That makes it useful once and irritating twice. If you have one genuinely useful fact that did not fit β a portfolio link, a certification finishing next month, the fact that you are in town for two days next week β a single-line PS is fine. If you are using it to append a sixth paragraph of persuasion, the reader will notice what it is, and it will read as a technique rather than a fact.
Length, and a worked close
Two to three sentences. Around 35 to 55 words. If the closing paragraph is as long as the evidence paragraph, the letter is showing reluctance to stop, which is the opposite of the impression the close exists to create.
A complete example, for a hospital operations role: "The consolidation you described is the part of this job I would most like to work on, since it is close to what I spent last year doing at a two-site provider. A short call in the next couple of weeks would be useful, and I can fit around clinical hours. Best regards, Dana Okonkwo." Three sentences, one specific hook, one small ask, one removed obstacle.
If you would rather not assemble the ending by hand, the cover letter builder lays out the sign-off and signature block to match your resume template, and the career letter builders handle the letters that come after this one β thank-you notes, follow-ups and offer acceptances β where the closing conventions are slightly different again.
Questions people actually ask
How do you end a cover letter?
With one specific, small request and a sign-off. Ask for a short conversation rather than for the job, name something particular you would like to discuss, and remove any scheduling obstacle. Then close with Best regards or Sincerely and your typed name.
Is it okay to say I look forward to hearing from you?
It is not wrong, but it asks for nothing and appears in a very large share of letters, so it registers as filler. Replacing it with an explicit request for a short call costs the same number of words and gives the reader something to act on.
Should I use Yours sincerely or Yours faithfully?
Yours sincerely goes with a named recipient and Yours faithfully with an unnamed one. That convention is strongest in the UK and Commonwealth markets. If you would rather not think about it, Best regards is correct in both cases and in every market.
Should I say I will follow up in the closing paragraph?
Announcing a phone call puts the reader in an awkward position and reads as pushy. Following up once by email about ten to fourteen days after applying is perfectly normal, but there is no need to warn anyone in advance that you intend to do it.
Do I need a handwritten signature on a cover letter?
Not for an emailed or uploaded letter. A typed name is standard and expected. A signature image is conventional on formal printed letters and on some public sector applications, but a low-quality scan looks worse than a clean typed name.
