Prompts · Work
A cover letter that doesn't sound like everyone else's
Paste the ad and your background. Get a short letter that points at real things you've done.
Fill in the blanks
Already filled with an exampleYour prompt
Updates as you typeHere's a job ad: Operations Coordinator, mid-size logistics firm. You'll own scheduling for a 40-strong driver pool, keep our routing software up to date, and be the first point of contact when something goes wrong on the road. We're looking for someone calm, organised and comfortable saying no. Experience with TMS software preferred. Here's what I've actually done: Four years running the front desk and rotas at a busy vets, 18 staff, I built the on-call rota everyone still uses. Before that two years in a call centre doing complaints. No logistics software but I taught myself the vets' booking system and trained everyone else on it. Why I want it: I'm good at the bit where everything is on fire and someone has to stay calm, and I want to do that somewhere with more scope than a vets. It's also ten minutes from my house. Write me a cover letter. Under 250 words, four short paragraphs, no bullet points. Rules: - Every claim has to point at something specific from what I told you. If you can't back a sentence with something I said, cut the sentence. - Use my words for what I do. Don't feed the ad's phrases back at them. - No "I am excited to apply", no "I believe I would be a great fit", no listing adjectives about myself. - Open with the thing about me that's most relevant to this job, not with the job title. Then, separately from the letter, give me two lists: 1. What the ad asks for that I can't evidence from what I've told you. Don't write around these gaps in the letter, just tell me they're there. 2. Anything in my background that I've undersold and should have led with.
What you get: A short letter with no filler, plus a straight list of the gaps in your application.
Both chat buttons copy the prompt first, then open the chat. If it doesn't arrive filled in, paste it.
Every sentence has to point at something
That rule is what stops the generic letter. Without it you get "I am a highly motivated professional with a passion for operations", which is true of everyone and evidence of nothing.
The gap list is worth as much as the letter. Better to know before the interview which requirement you can't back up.
Try one of these next
Explain a decision to people who weren't in the room
One page that leads with the answer, admits the trade-off, and survives the obvious question.
WorkGive someone feedback without wrecking the relationship
What to say, in what order, and what to do when they get defensive.
WorkPrepare for a hard conversation with your manager
What you're asking for, what they'll push back with, and what you're willing to trade.
Work