Recruiters have read ten thousand of these
There is a particular flavour of cover letter that has become instantly recognisable. It opens with a sentence about being thrilled to apply. It calls the company a leader in its space. It says the writer is passionate about excellence and eager to leverage their skills. It says almost nothing that only you could have written.
Recruiters spot it in the first line, and the reason is not that AI wrote it. It is that nothing in it is specific. A letter that could be sent to any employer tells the reader you sent it to any employer.
The fix is not to stop using AI. The fix is to stop asking AI to make things up, and start asking it to arrange things you already have.
In plain English
- Cover letter:
- The short note that goes with your CV, usually three or four paragraphs, explaining why you and why this job.
- Boilerplate:
- Stock filler phrasing that appears in thousands of letters and carries no real information.
- Hiring manager:
- The person who will actually manage the role, as opposed to the recruiter who screens applications.
Give the AI raw material, not a blank page
An AI asked to write a cover letter with nothing to go on will fill the space with generic praise, because generic praise is all it has. Give it your actual stories and it has something real to shape.
Before you open a chat window, spend ten minutes writing rough notes. Not polished sentences. Notes.
- A time you fixed something that was going wrong, and roughly what changed afterwards
- A time you learned something quickly because you had to
- The bit of your last job you were genuinely good at, and one moment that shows it
- Why this particular role interests you, in your own plain words
Messy is fine. Half-sentences are fine. This is compost, not a bouquet.
I am applying for the role below. Here are three rough, unpolished stories from my actual work history. Turn them into a cover letter of about 250 words.
Rules:
- Use only the facts in my notes. Invent nothing.
- No opening line about being thrilled or excited to apply.
- Do not call the company a leader, innovative, or dynamic.
- Plain sentences. No phrase I would not say out loud to a colleague.
- One paragraph on why this role specifically, based on the advert.
THE ROLE:
[paste the advert]
MY STORIES:
[paste your rough notes]
Cut the flattery
Compliments to the company are the easiest thing to write and the least valuable thing to read. The hiring manager knows their company is well regarded, and they did not open your letter to be reassured about it.
Replace flattery with attention. Instead of praising their reputation, mention the specific thing in the job advert that made you want to apply, and connect it to something you have done. That paragraph is the whole reason a cover letter exists.
โ Weak prompt
Prompt
Write me a cover letter for a customer service team leader job at a retail company.
Output
I am writing to express my enthusiasm for the Customer Service Team Leader position. As a passionate professional with a proven track record of excellence, I am confident that my dynamic skill set makes me an ideal candidate to leverage growth at your innovative organisation.
Could be sent to any employer on earth. It contains no fact about the writer and no fact about the company.
โ Good prompt
Prompt
Write 250 words for the team leader role below. Use only these facts: I led a team of 6 through a till system changeover, wrote the crib sheet the team still uses, and complaints dropped noticeably in the following months. The advert stresses coaching new starters. No flattery, no word excited, plain sentences.
Output
I led a team of six through a till system changeover last year. The training we were given was thin, so I wrote a one-page crib sheet for the counter staff, and it is still in use. Complaints dropped over the following months. Your advert puts coaching new starters first, and that is the part of the job I would take most seriously.
Specific, checkable, and clearly written by someone who read the advert. The company is not complimented once and does not need to be.
Checkpoint
A cover letter works when it contains facts only you could supply, which means feeding the AI your real stories rather than asking it to invent enthusiasm.
Keep your own voice
Whatever comes back, read it aloud. If a sentence makes you wince, it will make a stranger wince. Long words you would never use, tidy rhythmic phrases, and anything that sounds like a press release all need to go.
Here is a cover letter draft and, below it, two paragraphs of my own writing from a message I sent a colleague. Rewrite the letter so it sounds like the second sample: same sentence length, same level of formality, same plainness. Keep every fact identical. Flag any sentence you think still sounds like stock filler.
DRAFT:
[paste]
HOW I ACTUALLY WRITE:
[paste something you wrote yourself]
Giving the AI a sample of your own writing is the single most effective trick in this lesson, and almost nobody does it.
The final pass
Act as a hiring manager who reads 60 applications a week. Read this cover letter and answer honestly:
- Which sentences would you skim past, and why?
- Which single detail here would make you keep reading?
- Is there anything that sounds like it was written to impress rather than to inform?
Be blunt. Do not rewrite it, just tell me what is weak.
[paste your letter]
Send fewer letters, and write each one properly. Twenty tailored applications beat two hundred blasted ones, and mass-sending generated letters is both ineffective and a good way to get your name remembered for the wrong reason.
๐ Quiz
Question 1 of 4Why do generated cover letters get spotted so easily?