How to End a Cover Letter (a Close That Isn't a Template)

You have written the whole cover letter. The opening landed, the middle paragraph proves you can do the job, and then you hit the last three lines and freeze. Most people reach for the same escape hatch: "I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for your time and consideration." It feels safe. It is also the exact ending the reader has seen on nearly every other letter in the pile, so it does no work at all.

That is the trap of the closing. It is the last thing the reader sees and the easiest place to sound like everyone else, which quietly undoes the effort you put into writing a cover letter that actually gets read. The good news is that the fix is small. The closing has one job, and once you know what it is, the last paragraph writes itself.

The takeaways

• The closing has one job: give the reader a concrete next step, welded to this role, that no other applicant could have copied.
• The "confident call to action" everyone recommends ("I look forward to discussing how I can contribute to your team") is the tell a recruiter skims past, because it fits every job on earth.
• The sign-off is the easy part: "Sincerely" or "Kind regards" and you are done. The sentence above it is where people waste the ending.

How do you end a cover letter?

Close in three short moves. Restate, in one line, the single thing you bring that this role needs. Offer a concrete next step: a call, a work sample, an available start date. Thank the reader once, plainly. Then sign off. Keep the whole closing to three or four sentences, under about 75 words, so it reads as confident rather than padded.

The order matters because it ends the letter on momentum instead of a sigh. A closing that restates your fit and then hands the reader an obvious next action leaves them with a reason to reply. A closing that just says "thanks for reading" leaves them with nothing to do, so they do nothing.

What is a good call to action to end a cover letter?

A good call to action names a specific next step and stays out of the reader's chair. "I would be glad to walk you through the onboarding process I redesigned at my last job, on a call whenever suits you," works because it offers something only this letter could. It points at a concrete piece of value and lets the reader picture the conversation.

Some guides tell you to promise a follow-up call: "I will call your office on Tuesday to discuss next steps." I would skip that. In most markets it reads as presumptuous, and if the posting says no calls, it reads as someone who did not finish reading the posting. Make the offer, then leave the timing to them. The confident version proposes; it does not book itself into their calendar.

Three patterns that hold up:

1. Offer a sample. "Happy to share the campaign deck I mentioned if it is useful for your decision."
2. Point at the shared problem. "I would welcome the chance to talk through how I would approach the backlog you described in the posting."
3. Name availability. "I can start within two weeks and am glad to arrange a call at your convenience."

Which sign-off should you use to end a cover letter?

Keep it plain and get out. "Sincerely," "Kind regards," and "Best regards" are all safe across industries and both sides of the Atlantic. British applicants using a named salutation traditionally close with "Yours sincerely," and "Yours faithfully" when the letter opened with "Dear Sir or Madam." Any of these is fine, and none of them will ever cost you an interview.

What can cost you is reaching for personality here. "Cheers," "Warmly," "Talk soon," and anything with an exclamation mark read as too casual for a document a stranger is using to judge your professionalism. The sign-off is the one place in the letter where boring is correct.

What should you never write in a cover letter closing?

Four endings feel safe and quietly cost you the reply:

• "I look forward to hearing from you." Passive, and it fits any application ever sent. It puts the next move entirely on them and offers nothing in return.
• "I am confident I would be a great fit." An empty claim. The paragraphs above should have shown the fit; asserting it at the end reads as hoping the reader did not notice you had not.
• "Thank you for your time and consideration." Three fine words, but on their own they end the letter on a shrug. Pair a thank-you with a next step, or it is just filler.
• "Please give me a chance / I really need this role." Understandable, and still a mistake. Desperation shifts the risk onto the reader, and readers move away from risk.

The thread through all four: they spend the last sentence on the applicant's feelings, in words that fit any job. A closing that works spends it on this job, and on what happens next.

This is the slow part, and it is where JobScalr drafts the whole letter, closing included, tailored to the specific posting rather than a reusable template. It runs a company-research step so the letter can reference something real about the employer, and the close it writes offers a concrete method built from your own inputs instead of a pre-claimed promise. The draft is yours to review, and the final wording stays in your hands.

One honest limit: no ending rescues a generic letter. If the opening line and the proof paragraph are interchangeable with every other application, a sharp closing just delivers the same forgettable letter with a tidier bow. Fix the body first, then the close.

Common questions about ending a cover letter

How long should the closing paragraph of a cover letter be?

Three to four sentences, roughly 50 to 75 words. Long enough to restate your fit, offer a next step, and thank the reader; short enough that it does not restart the letter. If your closing runs past four sentences, you are usually adding a new argument that belongs in the body, not the ending.

Should you say you will follow up in a cover letter?

Usually no. Promising to call on a specific day reads as presumptuous, and it backfires if the posting asks applicants not to call. Offer to provide more information or to talk whenever suits them, and leave the scheduling to the person who controls the process. An open offer beats a fixed appointment you invited yourself to.

How do you end a cover letter with no experience?

Close on a concrete next step and one relevant thing you can point to, not on an apology. Offer a small work sample, a project, or your availability, and skip lines like "despite my lack of experience." The ending is not where you concede the gap; it is where you give the reader a reason to take the next step anyway.

Is "Sincerely" still a good way to end a cover letter?

Yes. "Sincerely" remains a safe, professional sign-off in 2026, as do "Kind regards" and "Best regards." The sign-off is not where letters are won or lost, so a classic one is the right call. Save your effort for the sentence above it, which is the part the reader actually weighs.