How to write a cover letter using ChatGPT

And automate the process — no code

It is difficult looking for work. It can be a full-time job sending out applications, looking for leads, networking, and filling out those “job experience” sections of the application portal where you repeat everything that is already on your resume. There are some simple tricks to automate the process, though, and in this article, I’d like to focus on the cover letter portion.

The first trick is to use ChatGPT. If your education and experience are at organizations and universities that existed before 2021, ChatGPT will be able to make some pretty well-reasoned guesses as to what you did there.

To be effective, a cover letter should also be tailored to each job listing. You’ll need to have good content, and the cover letter should be addressed to the correct person in the organization, complete with the correct address, name, title, job title, etc. Once I had already developed the main copy for the cover letter, I found that these aspects of the cover letter were where I made the most mistakes when on my job search.

These instructions will help you automate the boring stuff using a mail merge and automate the content using ChatGPT.

How to write a cover letter using ChatGPT

You’ll follow these steps:

1. Set up your cover letter.
2. List your skills in a separate document.
3. Set up your excel spreadsheet.
4. Set up a mail merge.
5. Enter information into the spreadsheet.
6. Run the mail merge on one entry at a time.
7. Insert your skills.
8. Save as a PDF and send with your resume and other documents.

What you need:

• Microsoft Excel or an equivalent spreadsheet software that can pipe into a mail merge. (I used Microsoft Access, but that can be a little less accessible for some.)
• Microsoft Word or an equivalent processor that can support mail merging.
• A (free) ChatGPT account.

Step 1: Set up your cover letter

Write your contact information: Name, location, email, phone, LinkedIn.

Write a solid introduction using ChatGPT. You could just use the following text:

“[Company] is a leading provider of [company’s specialty area]. I am a [your brand] with [x] years of experience progressing from [first relevant job activities] to [most recent relevant job activities]. I am excited to apply to the [job title] position, and I hope you will appreciate my expertise. Some of my relevant skills include: [leave this blank for now. We will return to it later.]”

But where is the fun in that? Use ChatGPT to spice up the introduction. Start a new chat. List your positions, organizations, education, and how many years of experience you have. Then ask ChatGPT to write four sentences explaining why you are a good fit for the kind of position you are applying for.

An example would look like this:

“I have the following experience: Data Analyst at Google (2 years); Data Analyst at Big Y Foods, Inc (1 year); Analyst at Deloitte (1 year); Research and Evaluation Specialist at the Human Development and Research Center (6 months). In four sentences, explain from my perspective to a hiring manager why I am a strong fit for Data Analyst positions.”

You may need to regenerate the response a couple of times if you have too many positions for ChatGPT to process quickly. Add “Some of my relevant experiences include:” at the end of the paragraph.

Write a solid conclusion using ChatGPT. If you do not have a solid conclusion to your cover letter, you could of course use the following language:

“Thank you for the opportunity to apply for the [job title] position. I appreciate your time and consideration in reading this cover letter. If you would like to discuss my qualifications in greater detail, please contact me by phone at [your phone number] or by email at [your email address]. I look forward to hearing from you soon.”

But again, where is the pizzaz? Let’s razzle dazzle them with some excellent questions posed to ChatGPT. Try this question:

“Write three sentences reiterating my passion for data analytics as a conclusion for a cover letter.”

You may still need to add something about your contact information and thanking the hiring manager for their time and consideration in reading your application. They like that sort of thing.

Step 2: List your skills in a separate document using ChatGPT

In a separate document, write all the skills you have with supporting experiences that demonstrate that skill. Each skill should be bolded, and the experience should include at most three sentences outlining one time that you demonstrated that skill. For example:

• Disseminating scientific lessons, tools, and best practices regarding research on victimology, advocacy, and health literacy. I developed fact sheets and tip sheets in multiple positions, especially as an Analyst at Community Science and a Research and Evaluation Specialist at the National Center for Victims of Crime. I provided research findings, designed fact sheets and tip sheets, wrote copy, and disseminated tools.

The important part is bold and the elaboration on the skill is in normal text. This draws the eye to your specific skills and makes your cover letter more readable.

But. You don’t need to write all these on your own. You guessed it: you have ChatGPT on your side. First, generate a list of skills you should have for the kind of position you’re applying for. Try this prompt for data analyst jobs:

“Write a list of skills a data analyst should have.”

Then, use this follow-up prompt:

“Here is my resume:
[Paste your resume in an easy-to-read format]
How do my experiences apply to each of the skills above? Write from my perspective, and explain how the experiences associated with each skill relate to a data analyst position.”

This document will be important later, because you will be copying and pasting your skills from this document into your automated cover letter. You may find that bullets work best, grammatically, if you use the phrase “Some of my relevant skills include:” at the end of your introduction, as I suggested above. Depending on your word processor, bullets should copy well from this document to your cover letter.

Tip: Don’t get rid of the old chat. Keep using the one you’re using for future questions. Some organizations ask you to write your cover letter in a different format. ChatGPT can help with that if you keep your data in this chat.

Another Tip: Consider separating your other chats from this one. Your questions on other topics could contaminate your job search chat, making ChatGPT a little less effective.

Step 3: Set up your spreadsheet.

On the top row, create the following headers for your columns:

• Job ID
• Date – This will be in the upper left corner of your cover letter. You will write in the date on which you plan to send the cover letter.
• Org – Personalize your cover letter by adding the organization name where appropriate.
• Org Article 1 – I found that some organizations need “The” before their names. If you use this column, you will need to write logic in your cover letter to remove spaces when the “The” column is not being used.
• Org Article 2 – Sometimes your cover letter includes the organization in the middle of a sentence. In this case, write “the” with a lower-case “t” in this column, if appropriate.
• Address 1 – Show you did your research by including the organization address.
• Address 2
• City
• State or Province (if applicable)
• Zip Code or Postal Code
• Position – Remember to enter the position you are applying for.
• My title – Some cover letters (mine included) include a brand underneath the applicant’s name. If you do this, it will look like this:

Sean Gerety
Data analyst

        For example.

• Topic – Write the company’s specialty area here and show you know what the company is all about in a quick two or three words.
• First sentences – This is a great opportunity to include more ChatGPT. Ask ChatGPT something like this: “From my perspective, write two sentences to a hiring manager at the research team for the American Psychiatric Association about why I would make a good data analyst for their team.”
• Hiring Manager full name – When you can write your cover letter to a specific person, do so. This column will be piped in above the organization’s address.
• Hiring Manager title (Mr./Ms./Mx./Dr.) – “Dear Dr. Xavier” will require you to indicate “Dr.” as the hiring manager’s title.
• Hiring Manager Surname – “Dear Dr. Xavier” will require you to indicate “Xavier” as the hiring manager’s surname.
• Hiring Manager Position – Pipe the hiring manager’s position below the hiring manager’s full name in the address section.

You may add more or skip some, depending on the wording of your cover letter.

Step 4: Set up a mail merge

If you’re using MS Word, go to the Mailings tab on the ribbon. Click on “Select Recipients,” then “Use an Existing List,” and navigate to your spreadsheet. Click “open” when you have found it and selected it.

Now you can merge in your fields. When you’re finished, your cover letter may look something like this:

<<Date>>

Sean Gerety
<<My title>>
Boston, MA
555.555.5555
sean.gerety@example.com
linkedin.com/in/thatsme

<<Hiring Manager Full Name>>
<<Hiring Manager Position>>
<<Org>>
<<Address 1>>
<<Address 2>>
<<City>>, <<State or Province>> <<Zip Code or Postal Code>>

Dear <<Hiring Manager Title>> <<Hiring Manager Surname>>,

<<Org Article 1>> <<Org>> is a leading provider of <<Topic>>. I am a stellar data analyst with 5 years of experience progressing from working with crime victimization statistics to working on leadership programs as an evaluator. I am excited to apply to the <<Position>> position, and I hope you will appreciate my expertise. Some of my relevant skills include:

Thank you for the opportunity to apply for the <<Position>> position at <<Org Article 2>> <<Org>>. I appreciate your time and consideration in reading this cover letter. If you would like to discuss my qualifications in greater detail, please contact me by phone at 555.555.5555 or by email at sean.gerety@example.com. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Sean Gerety

Step 5: Enter information into the spreadsheet

For each position you need to write a cover letter for, enter the appropriate information into your spreadsheet. Copy and paste any ChatGPT-inspired copy as well!

Step 6: Run the mail merge one entry at a time

Click on “Preview Results” and navigate to the document you want to send. Do not change anything on this document yet.

Click on “Finish & Merge” on the mailings tab of the ribbon in MS Word, and the drop-down menu will allow you to select “Edit Individual Documents,” which you should select. Then select “Current Record.” Otherwise, you will open a list of documents instead of just the one you want – annoying.

Do not change anything on this document yet. First, save it as a meaningful name in your job search folder.

Then, you can edit any unforeseen issues with this iteration of the cover letter. This is the stage where I realized that if I did not need an address, I would need to delete the hiring manager’s full name and position as well. (There is a way around this with “Rules,” but that is beyond the scope of this post.)

Step 7: Insert your skills

Copy three relevant skills from your skill list document, and paste them in between your introduction and conclusion paragraphs. If you wrote “Some of my relevant skills include:” make sure you have formatted your skills as bullet points for readability and grammar.

Step 8: Save as a PDF

Save your cover letter as a PDF and you are good to send your cover letter, resume, and other necessary documents.

Conclusion

Cover letter writing is difficult, but you can make the process easier by automating it. This process is helpful not only because it is quicker, but also because it’s more fun. You don’t just enter all the gritty details like the organization’s name, the position name, etc. Doing that is a recipe for exhaustion and typos. Instead, you use ChatGPT for inspiration to sparkle up your cover letter. You don’t have to do it every time, that’s what your mail merge is for. But between automating the boring part and using ChatGPT for the fun part, you have time in your day to do whatever else you would want to be doing. (I’ll be re-watching all of Star Wars: Andor, but you can be wrong and do something else.)

So, do it this way! Follow the steps above and you will find your job search to be far less painful.