Hands up if you love writing cover letters!

If you’re sitting there with your hand firmly down, you’re not alone. Of all the factors in the job hunting process, cover letters are perhaps the worst — and the most controversial. For every recruiter who says that cover letters are unnecessary, there’s another who won’t consider candidates without one.

Manually crafting a cover letter for every single application is exhausting and time-consuming, but what’s the alternative?

Believe it or not, the answer may be ChatGPT.

(P. S. For a done-for-you cover letter that's more accurate than ChatGPT, check out the free AI cover letter generator tool. Unlike ChatGPT, it's been custom-built with the help of recruiters and writes incredibly effective and personalized cover letters)

Can ChatGPT really help you write an effective cover letter?

Yes — with the right input and customization. In other words, don’t simply expect to ask ChatGPT to write a cover letter and send it off as is.

But it can help speed up the process. By filling in ChatGPT with the appropriate information, you can automate a lot of the less-fun parts of writing a cover letter — leaving you more time to focus on the bits of the process that matter.

Here’s how to get started.

How to use ChatGPT to write a cover letter

1. A good cover letter starts in the same place as your resume — with your accomplishments. Locate the most recent version of your resume, or, if you prefer, a simple text list of your achievements and qualifications.
2. Find the job description. You can copy and paste this from the job posting (and it’s always a good idea to have a copy saved so you can reference it throughout the application process).
3. Write down some details about the company. You can copy these from the job posting or company website.
4. Create an account at the ChatGPT website (or sign in if you already have one).
5. Choose which version of ChatGPT you want to use. GPT-3.5 is the currently available free version, while GPT-4 is much better at writing but requires a subscription.
6. Write a prompt. We’ll go into more details about prompts later, but essentially, you should ask ChatGPT to create a cover letter based on your resume, tailored to the company and job description.
7. Edit your cover letter. You can use ChatGPT for this step or do it manually.

A two-step guide to writing an effective ChatGPT prompt

The most important part of getting good results from ChatGPT is writing an effective prompt. Here’s how to do just that.

Step One: Give ChatGPT a command

The first step to using ChatGPT to write a cover letter — or anything else — is to give it a command. This is how you tell it what you want to do.

Here’s the command we used — you can copy and paste this or tweak it to your liking:

Write a cover letter based on the RESUME, tailored to the JOB DESCRIPTION and COMPANY. Identify ways in which I specifically meet the requirements, have experience with the responsibilities, and will fit the company culture.

TIPS:

• Use quotation marks at the start and end of the command to tell ChatGPT that everything inside them is your request
• Use ALL CAPS for variables that you’ll fill in later (that’s the next step!)

Step Two: Fill in the variables

Now we need to define everything we put in capital letters. Add a line break (you’ll want to do this every time) and then type:

--RESUME--

After this header, copy in your resume or a plain text version of your accomplishments and qualifications. There’s no need to reformat your resume, even if this section looks strange — ChatGPT will still be able to read it.

Add another line break, and then type:

--JOB DESCRIPTION--

Then copy the job description from the job ad. Add one more line break and type:--COMPANY--Add the information you gathered about the company — you can usually get this straight from the company’s website.

TIPS:

• Typing RESUME, COMPANY, and JOB DESCRIPTION in capital letters tells ChatGPT that these should be linked to the variables in your command
• Putting “--” at the start and end of these variables helps distinguish them from other headers in your resume
• Don’t use quotation marks around “--RESUME--” “--JOB DESCRIPTION--” or “--COMPANY--"

That’s it — just two steps! Now let’s take a look at the results.

Example of a cover letter written with ChatGPT

Here’s the full prompt we used with ChatGPT:

And here’s the resulting cover letter that ChatGPT wrote:

So, how did ChatGPT do? Like most AI-assisted writing, it’s technically sound, but it’s missing something important — personality. A good cover letter should show the hiring manager who you are, not just what you’ve done.

If you want to generate a cover letter with real personality, try out an alternative to ChatGPT that's tailor-made to produce effective cover letters with personality: the AI cover letter generator.

That doesn’t mean this cover letter is bad — it just needs some editing.

How to edit a ChatGPT cover letter

You can keep using ChatGPT to edit your cover letter, or you can do it manually. The best approach? A bit of both!

Editing your cover letter with ChatGPT

If you want to see how far you can go with ChatGPT, try giving it some follow up commands. Try telling it:

“Rewrite the cover letter, highlighting [my commitment to sustainability, my experience with building LLMs].”

“Rewrite the cover letter in a [friendlier, less formal] tone.”

“Rewrite the cover letter, but avoid overly complex sentences or industry jargon. Instead, write as if you were talking to the hiring manager in person.”

“Rewrite the cover letter to be less than [100] words.”

Remember that ChatGPT is still learning — the more specific commands you give it, the better your results will be.

Editing your cover letter manually

Ideally, you’ll go over the cover letter on your own to (at least) inject a bit of personality, as well as to check it for accuracy. Think of the ChatGPT version as a first draft — all the ideas are there, but it still needs a bit of polish.

Here’s how to make your ChatGPT-generated cover letter sound a bit more human:

• Add a couple of anecdotes from your life.
• Be more specific about your key experiences.
• Talk about why this job or company appeals to you in particular or what got you started in your career.
• Showcase your personal values — for example, you might want to express your commitment to sustainable business practices or your passion for mentoring junior colleagues.
• Rewrite the cover letter in your own natural voice.
• Copy and paste the cover letter into a word processor like Microsoft Word or Google Docs and proofread for any spelling or grammatical mistakes.
• Make sure everything in the cover letter is accurate and reflects what you want to say.

Potential drawbacks of using ChatGPT to write a cover letter

Using ChatGPT to write your cover letter isn’t necessarily a bad thing (unless you’re only copying and pasting the AI-written version and doing no editing of your own). That said, it does have some potential downsides.

ChatGPT cover letters are generic

ChatGPT is an AI model trained on a huge data set. That means that a lot of what it puts out tends to sound the same — which is a big problem if you’re trying to stand out in a sea of applicants. At best, it could make your cover letter forgettable; at worst, it could stand out as being obviously written by AI, which is a turn-off for most recruiters.

How to fix it: Include as many details as you can about the role, the company’s culture, and your own experiences. Even adding one or two personal anecdotes can go a long way toward giving your cover letter a more unique voice.

ChatGPT can’t convey emotional intelligence

AI like ChatGPT also lacks the ability to convey emotions effectively, making it more difficult to build a rapport with anyone reading your cover letter. This is particularly true if you’re applying for a role or industry that values creativity (like writing, design, or marketing), or for smaller companies and start-ups that encourage personal connections.

How to fix it: Don’t be afraid to tear apart and rebuild the cover letter that ChatGPT generates; or, just use a stronger alternative to ChatGPT (like this AI cover letter generator). Try structuring your cover letter to tell a story about who you are and where you’re going next in your career — and why that makes you the perfect person for the job.

ChatGPT may not keep your data safe

OpenAI (the company behind ChatGPT) doesn’t permanently store conversations, but it does retain any data you enter for 30 days. Your conversations can also be used to improve the AI model and may be reviewed by human trainers — so if there’s something you don’t want anyone else to see, don’t type it into ChatGPT!

How to fix it: Limit your personal information as well as anything private or confidential — you can always manually add in any sensitive information later. Or use alternatives to ChatGPT that keep your data provide.