cover-letter

Overview

Create polished, personalized cover letters tailored to specific job postings, companies, and roles. Analyze the job description, match the candidate's experience to requirements, and produce a compelling narrative that highlights relevant qualifications while demonstrating genuine interest in the role.

Instructions

When a user asks you to write or improve a cover letter, follow these steps:

Step 1: Collect inputs

Gather the following information from the user:

• Job posting: The full job description text or URL
• Resume/CV: The candidate's resume or key experience details
• Company name: The target company
• Hiring manager (optional): Name and title if known
• Specific points (optional): Anything the user wants to emphasize or avoid
• Tone preference (optional): Formal, conversational, enthusiastic, etc.

Step 2: Analyze the job description

Extract from the job posting:

• Key requirements: Must-have skills and qualifications
• Preferred qualifications: Nice-to-have skills
• Company values: Mission, culture, and values mentioned
• Role responsibilities: Core duties and expectations
• Keywords: Technical terms, tools, and frameworks mentioned

Step 3: Map candidate strengths to requirements

Create a mapping between the candidate's experience and job requirements:

Requirement: "5+ years Python experience"
  -> Match: "7 years building Python microservices at Acme Corp"

Requirement: "Experience with distributed systems"
  -> Match: "Designed event-driven architecture processing 2M events/day"

Requirement: "Team leadership"
  -> Match: "Mentored 4 junior engineers, led cross-functional projects"

Identify the 3-4 strongest matches to feature in the letter.

Step 4: Write the cover letter

Structure the letter with these sections:

Header:

• Candidate name and contact info
• Date
• Hiring manager name and company address (if known)

Opening paragraph (2-3 sentences):

• State the specific role you are applying for
• Include a compelling hook: a relevant achievement, shared connection, or genuine enthusiasm for the company
• Mention how you found the role

Body paragraph 1 (3-4 sentences):

• Highlight your most relevant experience matching the top requirement
• Use a specific accomplishment with quantifiable results
• Connect this directly to what the role needs

Body paragraph 2 (3-4 sentences):

• Address 1-2 additional key requirements
• Demonstrate knowledge of the company's products, mission, or recent news
• Show how your skills solve their specific challenges

Closing paragraph (2-3 sentences):

• Reaffirm enthusiasm for the role and company
• Include a clear call to action (interview request)
• Thank the reader for their time

Sign-off:

• "Sincerely," or "Best regards,"
• Full name

Step 5: Save the output

Save the cover letter in the user's preferred format:

# As a text file
cat > cover_letter.txt << 'EOF'
[cover letter content]
EOF

# As a markdown file for further formatting
cat > cover_letter.md << 'EOF'
[cover letter content with markdown formatting]
EOF

Examples

Example 1: Software engineer applying to a startup

User request: "Write a cover letter for this senior backend engineer role at Stripe. Here's the job posting and my resume."

Output structure:

Dear Hiring Team at Stripe,

[Opening: Mention the specific role, reference Stripe's payment
infrastructure mission, and lead with a relevant achievement]

[Body 1: Highlight experience building high-throughput APIs that
aligns with Stripe's scale requirements, include metrics]

[Body 2: Connect distributed systems experience to Stripe's
technical challenges, mention familiarity with their developer
tools and API design philosophy]

[Closing: Express enthusiasm for Stripe's mission to increase
the GDP of the internet, request an interview]

Best regards,
[Name]

Example 2: Career changer entering a new field

User request: "I'm transitioning from teaching to UX design. Help me write a cover letter that addresses the career change."

Approach:

1. Identify transferable skills: communication, curriculum design, user empathy, presenting complex information clearly
2. Reframe teaching experience as UX-relevant: "Designing lesson plans for diverse learners parallels designing user experiences for diverse audiences"
3. Highlight any UX-specific training, bootcamps, or portfolio projects
4. Address the transition directly and positively in the opening

Example 3: Refreshing an existing cover letter for a new role

User request: "I have a cover letter I used for a PM role at Google. Adapt it for a similar role at Microsoft."

Steps:

1. Read the existing cover letter
2. Replace all Google-specific references with Microsoft equivalents
3. Research Microsoft's current priorities and products
4. Adjust the company-knowledge paragraph to reference Microsoft-specific initiatives
5. Update the opening hook to reflect Microsoft's mission
6. Save as a new file preserving the original

Guidelines

• Keep the letter to one page (300-400 words). Hiring managers spend 30 seconds on average reading cover letters.
• Never use generic phrases like "I am writing to apply for..." as an opener. Start with something specific and engaging.
• Every sentence should either demonstrate a qualification or show knowledge of the company. Remove filler.
• Use the same keywords from the job description naturally in the letter to pass ATS screening.
• Include at least one quantifiable achievement (percentage, dollar amount, user count, time saved).
• Do not repeat the resume verbatim. The cover letter should complement the resume by adding context and narrative.
• Match the tone to the company culture: formal for finance/law, conversational for startups, balanced for tech.
• If the hiring manager's name is unknown, use "Dear Hiring Team at [Company]" rather than "To Whom It May Concern."
• Proofread for spelling of the company name, hiring manager name, and role title. Getting these wrong is an immediate rejection.
• Always save the output file and confirm the path to the user.