Cover letters have long been an important element for the job application process. As a background, a cover letter is a one-page letter (about 250-400 words) that you submit as part of your job application with your resume (or CV). The cover letter is used to introduce you, the job applicant, and briefly summarize your professional background and why you are applying for the job (and why they should pick you!).

Okay. That sounds simple and useful. But why do so many career coaches talk about cover letters so much? What's the catch?

Here's the catch for job seekers: recruiters and hiring managers love a good cover letter (it can really help make your case for why you are the best candidate for the job) but nobody likes to write that cover letter (nobody)!

What if you could get a cover letter writing assistant?

That's where artificial intelligence (AI) and ChatGPT come to the rescue. You can provide ChatGPT your resume and the job description for your dream job and request a cover letter. It's actually that simple! If you want further revisions, all you need to do is ask, because the AI application functions to understand your intent and can follow your command threads.

Although the process is simple there are a few nuances that I can walk you through so that you get the best output.

I like to use the banana bread analogy to help you conceptualize how AI can help: imagine giving a robot some bananas, eggs, flour, and all the other ingredients required to make banana bread. Then you tell the robot that you are requesting banana bread batter. It immediately knows how to blend all the ingredients together, in the right order, to produce a beautiful banana bread batter. You take the batter and add any other finishing touches that make it your special banana bread, place it in the oven, bake it, and enjoy that banana bread. For free (in most cases). That's what ChatGPT can do for you.

This article will show you how to use ChatGPT to write your cover letter step-by-step so that you can land the job interview.

Here's an article on the cover letter formula.

Getting started

To get started you will need to have the following available:

• your ChatGPT login
• your current resume
  
• the complete job posting

If you need more help getting started with your ChatGPT login, check out this article.

Step 1: Provide the ingredients

You can ask ChatGPT to write the entire cover letter, including the address and your salutation, or just ask for the body of the cover letter. Here the basics you will collect before you write your prompt query.

• Your contact details (keep it general, no need for specific personal data)
• The job title (e.g., Diabetes Educator) and company name
• Your relevant skills, experiences, and qualifications
• Your resume

Note: Avoid sharing personal sensitive information with the AI.

Step 2: Provide job details to AI (AI is how ChatGPT refers to itself)

Let the AI know about the position and what the job entails. You can include the job description and qualifications.

Example with simple job details: "I'm applying for a Diabetes Educator position at Healthy Life Clinic. The job involves educating patients on diabetes management, creating meal plans, and collaborating with healthcare providers."

Example with comprehensive job details: "The job description for the Diabetes Educator is as follows:

Job summary: Addresses the nutritional issues that arise from medical conditions, including surgical support, weight concerns, dietary guidelines for food allergies and intolerances, and lifestyle change support related to nutrition and diet. Exercises sound judgment, and developed clinical skills to provide input to and implement the patient's plan of care based on the diagnosis in a timely manner. Gains confidence and cooperation from the patient, their family/support group, and other healthcare providers through competent patient assessment, attentive monitoring and care, and effective communication. Adheres to all local/state/federal regulations, codes, policies and procedures to ensure privacy and safety while delivering optimal patient care.

Job Skills and knowledge:

1. Knowledge of various nutritional principles, procedures, views, and equipment used in the treatment of patients with varying medical conditions.
2. Capable of performing routine nutritional therapy as well as a basic understanding of human anatomy, physiology, pathology, and medical terminology.
3. Possess written and verbal communications skills to explain sensitive information clearly and professionally to diverse audiences, including non-medical people.
4. Well-developed time management and organizational skills, including the ability to prioritize assignments and work within standardized operating procedures and scientific methods to achieve objectives and meet deadline.
5. General knowledge of computer applications, such as Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel and Outlook), electronic health records (EHR).
6. Interpret a variety of data and instructions, furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.
7. Prioritize assignments and work within standardized policies, procedures, and scientific methods to achieve objectives and meet deadlines.
8. Work independently, as well as be part of the team, including accomplishing multiple tasks in an environment with interruptions.
9. Identify, evaluate and resolve standard problems by selecting appropriate solutions from established options.
   
10. Build collaborative relationships with peers and other healthcare providers to achieve departmental and corporate objectives.
11. Treat patients ranging in age from neonate to geriatric.

Step 3: Highlight your relevant skills

Share with the AI the qualifications, experiences, and skills you have that make you a strong candidate for this role.

Example: "I'm a registered dietitian with 7 years of experience. I specialize in nutritional therapy for diabetic patients and have worked closely with healthcare providers to manage patients' health. I'm also certified in diabetes education."

You can also just copy and paste your resume into the prompt. If your current work experience doesn't align with the job then just including your qualifications can help bridge that gap.

Step 4: Request a draft cover letter

Ask the AI to create a draft cover letter based on the information provided.

Example: "Could you help me write a cover letter for this Diabetes Educator position based on the skills and experiences I've shared?"

Step 5: Review and personalize

Review the draft provided by the AI. Ensure all the information is accurate and reflects you well. Ask the AI to make revisions if needed. I always go back and insert my own language or wording. I double check that the information is relevant and will be well received by the recruiter.

Example of real life conversation with ChatGPT

Here's a real life example from a conversation with ChatGPT.

To start, I like to prime big projects with a starter prompt. I flat-out share what I'm about to request! That way I can learn if I'm missing anything relevant in my question so that I get the best first-pass response.

So in this example I asked, "Can you write the body of a cover letter if I provide you with the following information about my qualifying skills, the job description, and my resume?"

Then I provided the entire job posting and a resume. Here's what it provided:

I might make a few changes, such as in the final paragraph, replacing the phrase, "I am confident" with "I believe", in addition to a few more changes. Again, it's so much easier to edit my cover letter than create from scratch!

Summary

Can you believe just how helpful this writing robot is! It does take additional tweaking but it is so much easier to edit that to create from scratch. All you need to do is provide the ingredients for your perfect banana bread ... I mean cover letter!

I hope you get a chance to spend some time crafting cover letters. And then share all your success with us! I can't wait to see where you go.

About the Author

Stacey Dunn-Emke, MS, RDN, is the Founder Owner of NutritionJobs and an established dietetic career expert. She helps steer dietetic and nutrition professionals to a successful job search process with the top-ranked dietetic job board platform, NutritionJobs.com. Stacey is the author of The Dietetic Resume Guide and numerous dietetic career action-ables. She gives the tools to create a modern standout dietetic resume to land that job interview, help with job interview prep, and with creating Compelling LinkedIn profiles. Stacey has interviewed and hired many dietitians. Since running NutritionJobs in 2000, she has reviewed thousands of dietetic resumes. She works closely with dietetic hiring managers and recruiters to know the standout elements on a resume that land a job interview. Stacey speaks on successful compensation negotiation at professional conferences and frequently consults with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics at FNCE and co-created the webinar series, Dietetic Career Hack: The Complete Networking and Resume Guide and Dietetic Career Hack Part II: Interviewing Tips and Tricks. Her previous dietitian jobs have been in clinical, nutrition support, and research. She loves AI!