💡 How to Write AI Cover Letters (Issue 601)
A good use of AI for your career
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Many of us have mixed feelings about AI. We’ve all seen AI-generated images, posts, comments, and articles and knew how they were created.
Sometimes, the results are laughably bad. Other times, the content is okay, but clearly not the author's work. Hmmm… Bob was never this eloquent before!
However, I have found a great use for AI: cover letters. No one enjoys writing them, but it’s a little game we all play to make the hiring system happy.
While I don't recommend letting AI take over the most creative and valuable parts of your job, I think we’d all agree that writing cover letters isn’t where we need to focus our unique energy.
I recently coached someone through the process of using Claude AI to create a cover letter. They were surprised and happy with the results. Warning: it does require additional editing and tweaking. Don’t send one of these AI-generated cover letters without reviewing the content and tuning it first.
You can also use ChatGPT for this process. One benefit is that it can access links. However, I found that it hallucinated a bit more and provided false information about my background. It’s pretty easy to test both services and see which cover letter you like best!
The 5-step Process
Ironically, Claude does not access the internet. So, you need to write or paste text into the chat box or upload files for it to reference (e.g., a PDF).
Step 1 - Job description in PDF
Export the job description to PDF. Some online listings make this easier than others (e.g., save as PDF). Most make it a pain. You have to print the listing (i.e., use the print dialog to save as PDF) or copy the text of the listing, paste it into your favorite word processor, and save as or export to PDF.
Step 2 - Resume in PDF
Export your resume to PDF, which I hope you already have been doing. You'll need to upload this document to Claude in the next step.
Step 3 - Prompt using the PDFs
Write a detailed prompt for Claude and attach the two PDF documents for reference material. Be specific about the output you want and the tone of language. You can experiment with different prompts and review the generated cover letters to see what you like best.
For example:
Step 4 - Copy generated cover letter
Copy the text of the generated cover letter and paste it into a new document in your preferred word processor. You will need to adjust the formatting to style the doc appropriately.
Claude provides a handy “Copy” button (bottom right corner) to make it easy to copy all of the generated cover letter text.
Step 5 - Review and edit cover letter
Edit and clean up the language in the cover letter. Remove hallucinations, flowery prose, and bland language to ensure it sounds like you and doesn’t include anything that isn’t true about your background or the job.
Save the document, export to PDF, and be ready to share the cover letter with the recruiter or hiring manager.
Try it out and let me know what you think in the comments below!
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I’m Larry Cornett, a Freedom Coach who works with you to optimize your career, business, and life. My mission is to help you become a more "Invincible You" so you can live your life on your terms instead of being controlled by someone else's rules. I live in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with my wife and our Great Dane.
