Should my cover letter be a PDF?

Discover the advantages of formatting your cover letter as a PDF. Learn how PDF tools can make creating your cover letters more seamless.

If you’ve ever wondered what format a cover letter should be in, then this article is for you. With the help of a few answers here and some cutting-edge tools (especially a cover letter template), you’ll be on your way to creating a cover letter PDF that can help you stand out to prospective employers.

What format should a cover letter be in?

As with any professional tool, there are advantages and disadvantages to your options for formatting and sending your cover letters. Notably, sending your cover letter as a PDF has some widely accepted pros over using the Word document format:

• PDFs are thought to look more professional
• PDFs won’t present font or formatting issues
• PDFs can work with any operating system (unlike Word documents)

Still wondering if you should send your cover letter as a PDF or Word file? Try checking in with your potential employer to see if they have a preference.

Craft your cover letter with ease.

If you’ve already created the perfect cover letter using Word, you can convert it to a PDF. Simply need to add a page or two to your cover letter? The right PDF tools can do that for you.

One cover-letter best practice is to modify a tried-and-true template for each new job application — a PDF tool can help you do that too. No matter how you choose to craft your ideal cover letter, remember that — above all — you’ll need to take note and abide by your potential employer’s instructions and format your files to their preferences.

Explore your PDF possibilities.

Ready to land the job of your dreams? Your cover letter is the perfect place to start. Discover what more you can with Adobe Acrobat and Acrobat online services to convert, share, and send PDFs.