ChatGPT is a fantastic tool for crafting your cover letters or writing your Statements of Purpose. Using artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT each time is a must. Wondering why? The continuation of this, the reasons behind it, and how you can employ ChatGPT for this purpose will be covered in the rest of this article.
Even if you were the best cover letter writer in the world, you should still use ChatGPT for this purpose. This might sound overly confident. However, thanks to artificial intelligence tools, we can delegate repetitive tasks to them and focus our energy on what truly matters. In other words, we need to work smarter, not harder, now. AI tools are indeed one of the most valuable resources that benefit us in this regard.
Why is ChatGPT a great tool for writing cover letters?
Now, let’s discuss point by point why ChatGPT is an amazing tool and why it’s great for writing cover letters.
1. ChatGPT is great at writing
Being a language model, ChatGPT excels in generating text-based output, editing texts, and altering its style, tone, and manner.
Also read: How to paraphrase or modify ChatGPT response?
You can request ChatGPT to produce a text written in a professional language or to transform an existing text into a more professional tone. It can accomplish this request within seconds. Since cover letters and statements of purpose require a formal language, we can initially utilize ChatGPT for this purpose.
Also read: How to automatize content writing thanks to ChatGPT?
2. Cover Letters should be personalized
The most crucial aspect of Cover Letters is their personalization. When applying for a job, scholarship, or any opportunity, you’re expected to explain why you want to apply, why you prefer that place, and why you’re a suitable fit for the role.
However, if you’re in a new job search process or applying for multiple opportunities, a single application for a single company might not suffice. You might need to apply to various companies, platforms, or organizations. In such cases, creating distinct, personalized cover letters for each platform, company, or even specific roles within a company becomes important.
Also read: How to use ChatGPT as your personal trainer?
The more personalized expressions you can include related to that position or the event you’re applying for, the greater your compatibility will be, and your likelihood of acceptance will increase.
Writing multiple different cover letters for numerous companies manually can be quite exhausting and time-consuming. If you use ChatGPT, you can create these within seconds.
3. ChatGPT can generate cover letter drafts
ChatGPT is highly proficient in providing you with sample cover letters. It’s important to note that while ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence tool, it cannot generate information about you without your input. This means that if you introduce yourself to ChatGPT and provide detailed information about the cover letter or statement of purpose you wish to create, it can generate it accordingly.
Learn more: How to use ChatGPT in the most efficent way?
You can share details like the specific role you’re applying for, its responsibilities, the company you’re applying to, your self-introduction, your CV, and your past experiences. By conveying such information, ChatGPT can prepare a customized cover letter for you within seconds.
Also read: How to use ChatGPT to write your CV?
Moreover, the most remarkable feature of ChatGPT isn’t just its initial output. You don’t have to settle for the first cover letter it generates. You can review it and request further improvements, treating it like an assistant. By providing feedback, you can guide ChatGPT to personalize and refine the content based on your preferences, essentially making it work like an extension of your team.
How do I use ChatGPT to write a cover letter?
Now, let me explain how I use ChatGPT to write cover letters.
Gathering information and deliver it to ChatGPT
First and foremost, I require detailed information about the specific application that requires the cover letter. I am already familiar with myself, so I need to convey this information to ChatGPT. I share the role or position I’m applying for and provide specific details about myself.
To enable ChatGPT to prepare the cover letter in the desired style, I explain how I want the letter to be written. For instance, I request a professional tone, emphasize certain points, and ensure that it aligns with the role I’m applying for. I communicate these instructions to ChatGPT to generate the cover letter according to my preferences.
Request additional feedbacks if necessary
After receiving the initial draft from ChatGPT, I never settle for the first draft provided. I read through the draft and consider any missing points. If I identify any gaps, I immediately communicate them to ChatGPT.
I express what aspects need to be addressed, which points are not sufficiently covered, or where there is an overemphasis. I request adjustments in these areas, essentially guiding ChatGPT to make revisions based on my feedback and preferences.
Pro Tip: Here’s a hint that I can provide you with. When providing feedback and instructions to ChatGPT, typing out these details on the keyboard can sometimes be tiring and time-consuming. Instead, if you’re using the mobile application, I recommend utilizing WhisperAI, which converts your voice into text, essentially translating your spoken words into written text. WhisperAI is developed by OpenAI and is integrated into the mobile version of ChatGPT by default. Similarly, for desktop devices, I suggest enabling the voice typing feature through various Chrome extensions. This way, you can conveniently give feedback and instructions using voice commands.
Learn more: How to use voice typing feature in ChatGPT?
Personalize it more
Up to this point, ChatGPT initially provided us with a draft text. We gave it feedback, and based on that feedback, it generated a second draft text for us.
I want to emphasize once again that the most crucial aspect of cover letters and statements of purpose is their personalization. The more personally and convincingly you can express why they should accept you for that position, the more successful you’ll be.
Therefore, even in the second round of feedback, after reviewing the text I received, if I identify areas that can be further personalized, I communicate this to ChatGPT. I ask it to incorporate these points and express them in a way that adds more personalization to the content.
In the end, I continue this process until I am satisfied with the cover letter, iterating and refining as needed. Leveraging ChatGPT’s ability to generate text within seconds and its capability to easily alter the style of the text, I can obtain my final cover letter in a very short span of time.
Sample prompts for cover letters or statements of purpose
Remember, if you provide very general statements to ChatGPT and fail to articulate your intentions clearly, it will respond with a standard cover letter using generic phrases. The level of personalization you receive from ChatGPT depends on the specificity of information you provide.
Therefore, it’s crucial to include detailed information in the prompts you provide to ChatGPT. That allows it to better understand you and your preferences. If we don’t convey a specific aspect or expression we want to include about ourselves in the cover letter, we can’t expect ChatGPT to write about it.
Below are some sample texts you can use to instruct ChatGPT in order to generate high-quality and personalized cover letters or statement of purpose letters:
I want to write a cover letter as I will be applying for a job now. I am a JavaScript developer and have been working as a software developer at a bank for about 11 years. The languages I mostly use are JavaScript, .NET, Java, and Python. I will be applying for a software developer position at one of the major airlines in the United States. You can find detailed information about the description of this position, what its role is, and what it does below. What I'm asking from you is to write a cover letter for me. A cover letter that states how much I want to get this position, that I want to apply for it, and that I want to work in this position. Therefore, what I want from you is to prepare a professionally written cover letter that specifies how much I want to work in this position, how compatible this position has been with my professional goals so far, and how my interest in this company has been piqued due to it being a major airline company and a corporate entity. The cover letter should be about one page long. The more personalized it is, the better for me. As I mentioned, I am a software developer and graduated from the computer engineering department. The corporate nature of this position, the company's corporate structure, and the fact that I can improve myself in the tasks of the role are all positive features for me. That's why I want to apply. Could you please prepare a cover letter accordingly?Below, you’ll find an example initial prompt for a Statement of Purpose that could be used in a graduate school application, showcasing how ChatGPT can be employed.
I would like you to help me draft a Statement of Purpose for the Chemistry Department's Master's Program at the University of Michigan. I graduated from the same university's Chemistry Department last year and now want to enhance my chances of getting accepted into this Master's program by writing a cover letter. Here's what I'd like you to include in the Statement of Purpose:
I graduated from the University of Michigan's Chemistry Department last year. I want to pursue a Master's program in the Chemistry Department to work in this field, improve myself, and eventually contribute to this field by working in laboratories or academia. I am passionate about conducting research in this area and enjoy studying it. I love keeping up with academic studies, following publications, journals, and aspire to be a contributor to this field. One of my career goals is to complete a Master's program – it's the first step in my journey. Then, I plan to become a Ph.D. student. Therefore, getting admitted to the Master's program is my initial goal.
Considering this information, could you please write a cover letter for me in a professional and academic tone? I will later communicate any missing points to you.Conclusion
In conclusion, due to the easy and free accessibility of ChatGPT, it can swiftly generate written content with the desired features, tone, and sentence structures, making it a valuable tool for creating personalized cover letters for various programs within a short timeframe.
Here are a few key points to keep in mind. ChatGPT doesn’t have knowledge of anything we haven’t explicitly told it. It can’t know anything personal about us. Therefore, to personalize the cover letter effectively, we should guide ChatGPT in the right direction by providing prompts that emphasize the level of personalization we desire.
Secondly, we’re not obligated to settle for its initial response. After receiving the initial response, we can give feedback, engage in a dialogue as if communicating with a human, and point out any missing elements or request revisions. Through multiple iterations, we can work with ChatGPT to craft a much-improved cover letter.