Prompts to Write a Cover Letter for a Job Posting

Cover Letter From Your Resume and the Posting

You have a resume and a specific posting and need a full one-page letter that draws only on what your resume already says

You are helping me write a cover letter for a specific role. Here is my resume:

[PASTE FULL RESUME]

Here is the job posting:

[PASTE FULL JOB POSTING]

Write a cover letter of 250-350 words in Markdown, addressed to [HIRING MANAGER NAME OR "Hiring Team"] at [COMPANY].

Requirements:
- Open with the role and the one thing in my resume that answers the posting's top requirement.
- Build the middle around 2 or 3 concrete things from my resume, each tied to a requirement the posting actually states. Quote the posting's own wording where it helps.
- Every sentence about my background has to be traceable to a line in my resume. If the posting asks for something my resume does not show, leave it out rather than writing around it.
- Where a number would strengthen a sentence and my resume does not give one, write [X] and list those gaps under the letter so I can fill them in.
- Close in two sentences: what I want to work on there, and a next step. Write my start date as [AVAILABLE FROM] rather than stating one — you have not been told it.
- After the letter, list every posting requirement you could not evidence from my resume.

Rules — these override everything above:
- Use only the experience I give you. Do not invent employers, job titles, dates, degrees, certifications, skills, or metrics.
- If a number would strengthen a line and I have not given you one, write a placeholder like [X%] or [$X] for me to fill in. Do not estimate it.
- Do not add a tool, skill, or credential I did not list, however standard it is in my field.
- Rewrite, reorder, tighten and re-emphasize what is already there. Where I have given you too little to work with, ask me for it or leave [add detail].

150-Word Cover Note

The application has a small text box, an email body, or a note field instead of a full letter upload

I need a short cover note, not a full letter. Here is my resume material:

[PASTE RESUME OR THE 4-6 MOST RELEVANT BULLETS]

Here is the role:

[PASTE JOB POSTING OR ITS REQUIREMENTS]

Write 150 words or fewer, in Markdown, as plain paragraphs with no headers and no bullet list. It should read like a message a person sends, not a formal letter.

Requirements:
- 3 short paragraphs: the role I am applying for and why I fit in one line, one specific thing I have done that matches, one line on next steps.
- Name exactly one piece of my experience. Pick the strongest match and drop the rest.
- Use only what is in the material above. No adjectives about my character that the material does not support.
- No greeting filler such as "I hope this finds you well".
- Give me the word count at the end.

Rules — these override everything above:
- Use only the experience I give you. Do not invent employers, job titles, dates, degrees, certifications, skills, or metrics.
- If a number would strengthen a line and I have not given you one, write a placeholder like [X%] or [$X] for me to fill in. Do not estimate it.
- Do not add a tool, skill, or credential I did not list, however standard it is in my field.
- Rewrite, reorder, tighten and re-emphasize what is already there. Where I have given you too little to work with, ask me for it or leave [add detail].

The "Why This Company" Paragraph

Your letter is solid on your experience and generic on the employer, and you want the company paragraph to be specific

I researched this company myself. Here are my raw notes — everything below is something I actually read, used, or noticed:

[PASTE YOUR RESEARCH NOTES — PRODUCT PAGES, A BLOG POST, A TALK, SOMETHING YOU USED]

Here is the posting:

[PASTE JOB POSTING]

Write one paragraph of 60-90 words for my cover letter on why this company.

Requirements:
- Use only what is in my notes. Do not add company facts from your own knowledge, and do not describe their mission, funding, culture, or market unless my notes say it.
- Point at one specific thing — a product decision, a piece of writing, something I used — and say what I take from it.
- Connect it to the work in the posting, not to how impressed I am.
- No flattery, no "industry leader", no "passionate about".
- If my notes are too thin to write something specific, say so and tell me the 3 things I should go look up.

Rules — these override everything above:
- Use only the experience I give you. Do not invent employers, job titles, dates, degrees, certifications, skills, or metrics.
- If a number would strengthen a line and I have not given you one, write a placeholder like [X%] or [$X] for me to fill in. Do not estimate it.
- Do not add a tool, skill, or credential I did not list, however standard it is in my field.
- Rewrite, reorder, tighten and re-emphasize what is already there. Where I have given you too little to work with, ask me for it or leave [add detail].

Career-Change Cover Letter

You are moving into a different field or function and the letter has to carry the explanation your resume cannot

I am changing fields. Here is my resume:

[PASTE FULL RESUME]

Here is the role I want:

[PASTE FULL JOB POSTING]

Here is why I am moving, and what I am doing about it, in my words:

[WRITE 2-3 SENTENCES IN YOUR OWN WORDS]

Write a cover letter of 300-350 words in Markdown.

Requirements:
- Address the change directly in the first paragraph. Do not bury it and do not apologize for it.
- Find the overlap yourself: walk the posting's requirements and match each to something in my resume from my previous field. Name the transferable work concretely — the task, not the trait.
- Use my own reason for moving. Rephrase it, do not replace it with a better-sounding story.
- Where the posting asks for a tool, method, or domain my resume does not show, either say what is nearest in my background or leave it alone.
- Close on the steps I named above, and nothing beyond them.
- Below the letter, list the requirements I have no evidence for.

Rules — these override everything above:
- Use only the experience I give you. Do not invent employers, job titles, dates, degrees, certifications, skills, or metrics.
- If a number would strengthen a line and I have not given you one, write a placeholder like [X%] or [$X] for me to fill in. Do not estimate it.
- Do not add a tool, skill, or credential I did not list, however standard it is in my field.
- Rewrite, reorder, tighten and re-emphasize what is already there. Where I have given you too little to work with, ask me for it or leave [add detail].

Cover Letter With a Referral

Someone inside the company suggested you apply and the letter should use that without leaning on it

Someone referred me to this role. Details:

- Referrer: [NAME], [THEIR ROLE AT THE COMPANY]
- How I know them: [FORMER COLLEAGUE, MET AT X, AND SO ON]
- What they told me about the role or team: [WHAT THEY ACTUALLY SAID]

My resume:

[PASTE FULL RESUME]

The posting:

[PASTE FULL JOB POSTING]

Write a cover letter of 250-300 words in Markdown.

Requirements:
- Name the referrer in the first sentence, with how we know each other, and move on. One sentence, not a paragraph.
- Use what they told me about the team as the bridge into why I am a fit — but attribute it as their description, not as something I know first-hand.
- Do not imply the referrer is recommending me if all they did was mention the opening. Match the strength of the claim to what I gave you above.
- Spend the body on my own evidence from my resume. The referral opens the door; it is not the argument.
- Do not add anything to what the referrer said.

Rules — these override everything above:
- Use only the experience I give you. Do not invent employers, job titles, dates, degrees, certifications, skills, or metrics.
- If a number would strengthen a line and I have not given you one, write a placeholder like [X%] or [$X] for me to fill in. Do not estimate it.
- Do not add a tool, skill, or credential I did not list, however standard it is in my field.
- Rewrite, reorder, tighten and re-emphasize what is already there. Where I have given you too little to work with, ask me for it or leave [add detail].

Follow-Up Note After You Applied

It has been a week or two since you applied and you want to send one note that adds something rather than nudging

I applied and want to follow up once. Details:

- Role: [EXACT TITLE]
- Applied on: [DATE]
- What I already sent: [PASTE YOUR COVER LETTER OR APPLICATION NOTE]
- What is new since then: [SOMETHING YOU FINISHED, A QUESTION YOU HAVE, SOMETHING THEY PUBLISHED — OR WRITE "NOTHING"]

Write an email of 100-140 words, with a subject line, in Markdown.

Requirements:
- Lead with the new thing, not with the reminder. If I wrote "nothing", say so plainly and write the shortest honest version instead of manufacturing a reason to write.
- Reference the role and the date in one clause so they can find my application.
- Do not repeat the arguments from the letter I already sent, and do not add work or interests I did not list above. Assume they have the letter.
- No pressure, no deadline, no threat of a second follow-up. One line offering to answer questions.
- Read it back and cut any sentence that exists only to fill space.

Rules — these override everything above:
- Use only the experience I give you. Do not invent employers, job titles, dates, degrees, certifications, skills, or metrics.
- If a number would strengthen a line and I have not given you one, write a placeholder like [X%] or [$X] for me to fill in. Do not estimate it.
- Do not add a tool, skill, or credential I did not list, however standard it is in my field.
- Rewrite, reorder, tighten and re-emphasize what is already there. Where I have given you too little to work with, ask me for it or leave [add detail].

Make This Letter Sound Like Me

You have a competent draft that reads like every other cover letter and you want your own voice back in it

Here are 200 or more words I actually wrote, so you can hear how I sound:

[PASTE A REAL WRITING SAMPLE — AN EMAIL, A POST, A PROJECT WRITE-UP]

Here is my cover letter draft:

[PASTE YOUR DRAFT]

Here is the role it is for:

[PASTE THE JOB POSTING, OR THE ROLE AND COMPANY]

Do this in three steps.

1. Describe my writing in 5 observations: sentence length, whether I use contractions, how direct my openings are, the words I reach for, what I never do.
2. Mark the lines in my draft that sound least like me and say why.
3. Rewrite the letter in Markdown at roughly the same length, matching the patterns from step 1.

Requirements:
- Keep every fact from my draft exactly as it stands. This is a voice edit, not a content edit — nothing new, nothing dropped.
- Cut the phrases nobody says out loud: "I am writing to express", "proven track record", "perfect fit", "passionate about".
- If my sample is casual and the role reads formal, tell me where you deliberately did not match me, and why.

Rules — these override everything above:
- Use only the experience I give you. Do not invent employers, job titles, dates, degrees, certifications, skills, or metrics.
- If a number would strengthen a line and I have not given you one, write a placeholder like [X%] or [$X] for me to fill in. Do not estimate it.
- Do not add a tool, skill, or credential I did not list, however standard it is in my field.
- Rewrite, reorder, tighten and re-emphasize what is already there. Where I have given you too little to work with, ask me for it or leave [add detail].

Claude: Claude takes a long paste comfortably, so give it the full writing sample and the whole draft in one message rather than trimming either down to excerpts.