Write a short cover letter in your own voice
Turn one true story and a short sample of your own writing into a three-paragraph cover letter that sounds like you, not like a template.
You will have: A cover letter of three short paragraphs, under about 250 words, built only from your own facts and written the way you normally write, plus a list showing where each fact came from.
Before you start
- Your tailored resume from Episode 4 and your stories from Episode 2. Take out your phone number, email, home address, ID numbers and date of birth first; put [PHONE] or [CITY] in their place
- A short sample of your own writing, 100 to 200 words: an email or message you wrote yourself. Remove other people's names and anything private or confidential from your job
- The job post, and one true story from your notes that fits its most important need
- One or two sentences, in your own words, on why you want this job. Also check whether the post asks for a cover letter and whether the employer has rules about using AI in applications
Make it yours
Change the example (operations job search (fictional)) to your own. Your answers are saved in this browser and used in every episode.
Other series keywords (1)
Your prompt
Paste into: A normal AI chat (ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini). Use a new chat. If you can, turn off the setting that lets your chats train the model (look in the app's settings for privacy or data controls) or use a temporary chat.Help me write a short cover letter for a Operations Coordinator job at a mid-sized logistics company in United States. My background: 4 years as a retail assistant manager, moving into office operations.
1. A short sample of my own writing, so you can match how I sound:
[PASTE A SHORT SAMPLE OF YOUR OWN WRITING]
2. The job post:
[PASTE THE JOB POST]
3. My resume (personal details removed):
[PASTE YOUR RESUME]
4. One true story that fits this job, and why I want this job, in my own words:
[PASTE YOUR STORY AND YOUR REASON]
Write the letter in exactly three short paragraphs, under 250 words in total:
- Paragraph 1: the job I am applying for and one specific, true reason I want it.
- Paragraph 2: one story from my notes that matches the most important need in the job post. Say what I did and what changed.
- Paragraph 3: a short, simple close that offers to talk.
Rules:
- Use only facts I gave you. Do not invent numbers, employers, dates, job titles, skills, tools or qualifications.
- If a number is missing, write [?] in its place. Keep every estimate marked as an estimate ("about", "roughly").
- If something important is missing, such as the company name or the reader's name, ask me instead of guessing. Until I answer, use [COMPANY] or "Dear Hiring Manager".
- Match my writing sample: my sentence length, how formal I am, the words I normally use. Do not make me sound grander than I am.
- No cliches or filler, for example "I am writing to express my interest", "passionate", "dynamic", "fast-paced", "team player", "perfect fit".
- Plain text only. No markdown and no bullet points inside the letter.
After the letter, give me:
A) The word count.
B) A short list of every fact in the letter and where it came from in what I gave you.
C) Up to three questions for me.Review the prompt, then copy it. Never paste real passwords or API keys into a chat.
How to check it worked
- Every fact in the letter appears in your resume or your notes. Delete any number, tool or title you did not give the AI
- Read it out loud. Change any word you would never say. If it does not sound like you, it is not finished
- The company name and job title are copied exactly from the job post
- It has three short paragraphs and stays under about 250 words
- No [?] is left: replace each one with a true number marked "about" if it is an estimate, or remove the number
- You could tell the story in paragraph 2 in more detail if an interviewer asked about it
Sample result
Example: operations job search (fictional)Fictional example: Maya Torres applying for Operations Coordinator at Northline Logistics (a made-up company). Your letter will use your own story and your own voice.
If something goes wrong
- The letter sounds stiff, grand or like a template.
- Reply: "Rewrite it with shorter sentences, like my writing sample. Remove any word I did not use in my notes." Then change the last few words by hand.
- The AI added a number, a skill or a result you never gave it.
- Delete it. Then reply: "Remove anything that is not in what I gave you, and list what you removed."
- The application says a cover letter is optional, or there is nowhere to attach one.
- If it is asked for, send one. If it is optional, a short letter helps most when you are changing careers or have something your resume cannot say. If the form has no place for it, skip it and spend the time on your next application.
Good to know: surveys disagree on how many employers read cover letters, so they matter more to some than to others. Write one when it is asked for, when the move is a stretch (like a career change), or when you have something the resume cannot say. Keep it short. When anyone can make a polished letter with AI, what stands out is a specific, true detail only you could write.
More in Write it
This is part of the series From no replies to interviews: a 10-step AI job search. See all 10 episodes, the tools used and answers to common questions on the series page.