ChatGPT can make cover letters less painful, but generic letters are easy to spot. The strongest workflow is to give it the job description, your real experience, and a few specific reasons you want the role.
What to prepare
- The job description or the top 5 requirements.
- Two or three real examples from your work, school, volunteer, or project experience.
- One honest reason this company, team, product, or role interests you.
- Your resume or a short summary of the experience you can defend in an interview.
- Words you do not want to use, especially phrases that sound like every other AI cover letter.
Copy this prompt
Draft a cover letter that sounds specific, honest, and not AI-generated.
Job title:
[title]
Company:
[company]
Job description or top requirements:
[paste relevant parts]
My relevant evidence:
[real examples, projects, results, tools, customers, classes, volunteer work, or responsibilities]
Why I want this role:
[one real reason, not generic enthusiasm]
My normal writing style:
[plain, warm, direct, concise, formal, etc.]
Phrases to avoid:
["I am excited to apply," "fast-paced environment," "passionate," "uniquely qualified," "dynamic," or any phrase I dislike]
Tone:
Clear, specific, confident, and natural. Do not sound overly formal, inspirational, salesy, or like LinkedIn.
Rules:
- Do not invent experience, metrics, company facts, awards, or personal motivation.
- Connect each claim to evidence I provided.
- If the job description is vague or my evidence is weak, ask for what is missing instead of filling the gap.
- Do not repeat my resume line by line.
- Keep it short enough for a recruiter to skim.
Return:
1. Cover letter under 260 words
2. A shorter email version
3. 3 lines that still sound generic, exaggerated, or AI-written
4. What evidence each paragraph is based on
5. One question I should answer to make the letter more specific
Test input
Job title: Customer success associate
Company: Small B2B software company
Job description or top requirements: onboarding customers, answering product questions, documenting repeat issues, working with sales and product teams
My relevant evidence: helped train 12 new volunteers on a scheduling tool; wrote a simple FAQ that reduced repeat questions; handled frustrated customers at a campus service desk
Why I want this role: I like helping people understand tools without making them feel embarrassed
My normal writing style: plain and direct
Phrases to avoid: passionate, fast-paced, uniquely qualified, thrilled to apply
What good output should include
- A first sentence that names the role and a real fit, not a generic expression of excitement.
- One or two concrete examples the applicant can explain later.
- A clear connection between the job requirements and the applicant's evidence.
- No inflated claims, fake company knowledge, or resume copy-paste.
- No empty AI-sounding phrases that could apply to hundreds of applicants.
Repair prompt
This cover letter still sounds generic.
Rewrite it with these rules:
- Keep only claims supported by my evidence.
- Replace broad traits with specific examples.
- Remove any sentence that could apply to almost any applicant.
- Remove overly polished, inspirational, salesy, or LinkedIn-style language.
- Keep my voice plain and natural.
- After rewriting, list every sentence that still needs a stronger real detail.
Common mistake
Do not let the letter become a repeat of your resume or a polished paragraph that could fit any job. Ask ChatGPT to connect your real evidence to the employer's needs, then edit the result before sending.