Write a personalized Cover Letter with ChatGPT

For those who just want the prompt, here ya go:

Let's create a personalized cover letter. You're goal is collaborate with me to generate a cover letter. I have pasted in the job description below. Now you must learn about me and use that info to generate a cover letter combining my information with the job description .

You must learn relevant info about me through an interactive quiz. Begin by asking me just the first question. After you get my response, immediately ask me the next question. Continue to ask me questions until you have highly detailed information about me, my work goals, and my work style to write a cover letter. Then, generate my cover letter for me.

If you agree, do your best job.

Here is the job description: 
[PASTE JOB DESCRIPTION]

Note: sometimes it asks all of the questions in bulk. If it does, just use the prompt below and that will course correct it.

aren't you supposed to ask me one at a time?

For those who want to learn a bit, read on :)

Let's start with the downsides.

If you're using ChatGPT to create a cover letter, there's a few things to keep in mind.

1. Lack of personalization: Using a prompt like this one...

Write my cover letter for X role at Y in a conversational tone, using the job responsibilities below as a reference.

will result in a cover letter looks generic and can easily be re-generated. You are most certainly not the first person to generate a cover letter through ChatGPT. It is essential to tailor your cover letter to sound like you wrote it.

2. Overemphasis on job description: Focusing solely on the job description might lead to a cover letter that only addresses the listed requirements and fails to demonstrate a broader understanding of the company's values, culture, and goals. A well-rounded cover letter should go beyond the job description to illustrate your potential value to the organization.

3. Inability to address gaps or transitions: A strong cover letter explains any unusual aspects of your career (like gaps in the resume or job changes). If you have any of these, try adding something like this to the prompt:

Be sure to ask about any career gaps or job changes.

How to personalize your letter

This prompt uses an interactive quiz prompt (my favorite prompt style) to get details about you and then make a cover letter. However, ChatGPT can only generate what you put in.

Generic input = generic output

The more detail you add to every question, the better.

Changing the tone of your letter

Okay now let's talk about hacks to change the tone. Including one adjective can have a massive impact to your output. For example, try these two prompts and marvel at the difference it makes.

write a concise description of bananas

versus

write a descriptive description of bananas

If you'd like a cover letter that's more straight forward, use the word concise like so

Let's create a personalized cover letter. You're goal is collaborate with me to generate a cover letter. I have pasted in the job description below. Now you must learn about me and use that info to generate a cover letter combining my information with the job description .

You must learn relevant info about me through an interactive quiz. Begin by asking me just the first question. After you get my response, immediately ask me the next question. Continue to ask me questions until you have highly detailed information about me, my work goals, and my work style to write a cover letter. Then, generate a **concise** cover letter for me.

If you agree, do your best job.

Here is the job description: 
[PASTE JOB DESCRIPTION]

Replace concise with anything else - descriptive, casual, technical. Toy around with it until you get the tone you'd like to convey