I’ve been unemployed for almost a year now, following the layoffs at my previous company. I was shocked and angry because I loved my job, my colleagues, and the products I was helping to shape.
I started working when I was thirteen, so from early on, my job became a significant part of my identity. I was very proud of the career I was building for myself: starting by serving tables at a wine shop and then helping companies shape products through content, research, and design. I have nothing against serving tables—I enjoyed it and found interacting with customers both fun and enriching. However, it no longer fit into the future I had envisioned for myself.
Like many others, being unemployed took a toll on my mental health. Yes, I finished my novel and reached out to an editor, who encouraged me to write another one. Yes, I improved my German from barely pronouncing complex words to having in-depth conversations with my German therapist, even though he doesn’t always understand what I’m saying. Yes, I completed a few online courses on AI prompting, digital marketing, despite the decreasing confidence I started to feel in my professional field. I’ve also considered pursuing another master’s degree, although I already have six years of academic education under my belt.
But what I really miss is working with a team of professionals to brainstorm and solve problems while creating amazing products. That was the stage of my life I was at, and I wanted to move forward, not backward. I kept reminding myself of what my friends, family, and therapist advised: focus on what you can control, get back on your feet, and use your skills to find a new job. They shared many other helpful tips, but this one was particularly effective in keeping me sane.
So, I started working on multiple fronts: revamping my website, updating my CVs, networking, writing cover letters—the usual things. I have to say, I’ve always enjoyed revamping websites and CVs, but drafting cover letters used to be, and still is, an absolute nightmare. I’m not sure recruiters even read them, but they still require them, which paradoxically just adds to the process’s effort on both sides. But I guess it shows one’s commitment to joining the company and enthusiasm before moving on to the first call, which is way more time-consuming than scanning a cover letter. I just think it would be nice to receive an acknowledgment like “Wow, your cover letter touched me, but we are moving on with other candidates because they studied some AI stuff at Oxford” or maybe a badge to add on LinkedIn: “Best cover letter, even though he didn’t get the job.” I’ve poured a lot of energy into writing what I thought were great cover letters, only to receive no callbacks. What a waste of neurons!
This frustration led me to explore AI tools—I know, I know, I can’t hear about this topic anymore either, but here we are—for drafting cover letters. The initial results were terrible, so I went back to writing them myself. However, I realized that prompts require attention and effort to be effective—I actually knew this, but I was too lazy to draft them properly. Now that I’ve gotten better at it, I find it quite exciting. Plus, I’ve started receiving more callbacks—though I still haven’t landed a job yet.
So, all this to say that I want to share the prompt I use for writing my cover letters. I tweak it slightly depending on the tone I assume the company uses in its communications. If this prompt doesn’t work for you and you have a great one that does, please share it in the comments. You’ll be saving not only my brainpower but potentially that of many others who might read this post.
Here’s the prompt:
Prompt: Please use the information below to draft a cover letter that is engaging, concise, and free of jargon, while directly addressing the key requirements outlined in the job description. Incorporate highlights from my CV to showcase relevant experience and emphasize what makes the company stand out to me. Ensure the letter is compelling and encourages the reader to learn more. Please bold the main keywords.
Job Description: [paste your job description]
My CV Highlights: [paste your CV]
What I like about the company: [write a short sentence]This whole post goes without saying that once the machine has churned out our nice text, we should also re-read it, add our personal touch, and then use Grammarly, or some other tool, to quickly proofread it—even though I have to admit I don’t always do this…
