Prompt · Career

Cover letter tailored to a specific job ad

Paste a job ad and your real experience to get a focused one-page cover letter that maps your evidence to the employer's top requirements, without inventing skills you lack.

The prompt

You are a hiring manager who has read thousands of cover letters. Help me write one for the job below.

Job ad:
"""
[PASTE THE FULL JOB AD]
"""

My background:
"""
[PASTE YOUR CV OR A LIST OF ROLES, PROJECTS AND RESULTS]
"""

Company details I know: [e.g. "recently launched a product in Spain", or "nothing beyond the ad"]
Why I want this role: [ONE OR TWO HONEST REASONS]
Tone: [e.g. "confident and warm", "formal"]

Steps:
1. List the 3-4 requirements the ad stresses most, quoting the ad.
2. For each, find the strongest matching evidence in my background. If there is no real match, write "GAP" instead of stretching the truth.
3. Write a cover letter of 250-320 words:
   - Opening: the role and one specific reason I fit, no clichés such as "I am writing to apply".
   - Middle: two short paragraphs linking my evidence to their needs, with numbers where my background has them.
   - Closing: a clear, polite next step.
4. After the letter, list any GAP items and suggest how I could address them honestly.

Rules: use only facts from my background; do not invent employers, metrics or skills.

Example output

Example (excerpt):
Top requirements: "experience managing B2B email campaigns"; "comfort with analytics dashboards"; "stakeholder communication".

Opening: Your ad asks for someone who can turn B2B email campaigns into pipeline. At Northfield Supplies I ran a 14-email nurture sequence that lifted demo bookings by 22% in two quarters.

GAP: The ad mentions HubSpot; your background lists Mailchimp only. Mention that you have used a comparable tool and are completing HubSpot's free certification, if that is true.

When to use it

Use this prompt whenever you apply for a role that asks for a cover letter, or when you want a short, tailored message to send to a recruiter. It is most valuable when you are applying to several jobs at once and are tempted to reuse one generic letter. A generic letter is easy to spot; this prompt forces each version to answer the specific ad in front of you.

How to customize it

[PASTE THE FULL JOB AD] should include the responsibilities and requirements, not only the title. The model uses the wording to find what the employer cares about.
[YOUR BACKGROUND] works best with concrete results: numbers, project names, tools. Vague input produces a vague letter.
[COMPANY DETAILS] adds a line that shows you did your homework. If your assistant can browse the web, you can ask it to look up recent company news, but check every claim before it goes into a letter.
[WHY I WANT THIS ROLE] should be genuine. One honest reason reads better than three generic ones.
[TONE] should match the sector: a startup and a law firm expect different registers.

Why it works

The prompt separates analysis from writing. First the model extracts the requirements and maps them to your evidence; only then does it write. This step-by-step structure, similar to chain-of-thought prompting, keeps the letter anchored to what the employer asked for.

The “GAP” rule is the most important constraint. Language models tend to fill holes with plausible claims, a kind of hallucination that in a cover letter could cost you the job at interview stage. Making gaps explicit gives you a chance to address them honestly instead.

Tips and variations

Keep a file of your best paragraphs from past letters, so each new letter starts from proven material rather than a blank page.
Ask for a 120-word version you can paste into an online application form or a LinkedIn message.
Add “Write it in British English” or another variant if the employer is based abroad.
Read the letter aloud. If a sentence does not sound like you, rewrite it in your own words.
Our article on using AI in your job search covers the wider process, from finding roles to preparing for interviews.

#Cover Letter #Job Search #Career #Writing

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