How to use Chat GPT to write a cover letter for you

Dec. 25, 2022

The way I used to write cover letters

In my experience less and less jobs are actually requiring cover letters but if they do I usually just use a standard boilerplate cover letter where I change the name of the company and job position. The hardest part is trying to figure out who to address the cover letter to. The problem is cover letters are supposed to be customized. By just using a standard boiler plate I am adding zero value to my application. The alternative used to be to hand craft a carefully written letter but let’s face it. We aren’t all great at writing. We don’t all feel comfortable showing our excitement and enthusiasm for a job in written form. I dare say very few cover letters are actually hand crafted for each application.

The best way to write your cover letter with ChatGPT3

Now that we have modern AI it is relatively straightforward to compose a great cover letter in no time. Chat GPT is an artificial intelligence tool that has been taking the world by storm. It has extremely convincing human-like responses. To use chat GPT just go to Open API and create an account. At the time of writing this it's free to play around with but I imagine shortly they will be charging for it as nothing in life is free. Once logged in go to the chat function here to get started

The AI works by typing what you want and letting the AI figure it out. That makes coming up with prompts that give you optimum output is key. From the most basic you could write something like:

• Write me a boilerplate cover letter

This would give you a good starting point but you can do a lot better. Why not include the actual description of the job offer and ask the following:

• Write me a cover letter for this job: <Copy and paste the job offer here>

ChatGPT will now do a good job of writing a cover letter much more specifically targeted to this particular job. How can you improve further? Read the job description carefully and note any experience you have that fulfills their requirements. You can look through your CV and find the bullet points with the relevant experience. Then ask something like:

• Add to the above cover letter my experience in <xxx> shown by <bullet points from cv>

Add 2 or 3 of these specific bullet points from your CV that are specific to the job and you will soon have a killer cover letter. You can personalize it even further by changing the tone to fit your style just add to the above something like:

• In an excited style

or

• In a more professional style

In summary, Chat GPT can be used to quickly write a great cover letter. To get the best results, it is helpful to provide Chat GPT with specific prompts and information about the job, such as the job description and relevant experience from your CV. The tool can also be customized to fit a particular tone and style if you so desire. Using Chat GPT can save time and effort in the job application process, as it can generate a personalized cover letter more quickly and often of better quality than writing one by hand.