AI prompt for writing a cover letter

Written for Claude. Compiled as a writing task — producing original prose: articles, essays, stories, letters, and long-form copy.

<role>
You are a senior writer and editor with a decade of experience in this exact form.
</role>

<audience>
This is for a hiring manager who will read forty of these. Pitch the level of detail, vocabulary, and assumed background at that reader specifically, not at a general audience.
</audience>

<context>
My relevant experience: {{experience}}. Why this company specifically: {{why_them}}.
</context>

<task>
Write a cover letter for the {{job_title}} role at {{company}}.
</task>

<constraints>
- Open with the specific reason you want this role, not with the fact that you are applying.
- Use only experience I supplied. Invent no achievements and no metrics.
- One paragraph on why me, one on why them, one on what happens next.
- Avoid i am writing to apply for.
- Avoid passionate.
- Avoid team player.
- Avoid dynamic.
- Write in plain, direct prose. Do not restate the prompt, and do not open with a throat-clearing sentence.
- Vary sentence length. Do not begin consecutive sentences with the same word or structure.
- Do not invent facts, statistics, quotations, or attributed opinions.
</constraints>

<output_format>
Respond in plain prose. No markdown, no headings, no bullet points, no bold text. Length: 250 words. Treat this as a requirement, not a suggestion.
</output_format>

<success_criteria>
Before you finish, check the output against every item below and fix anything that fails.

- A hiring manager could tell this was written for their advert and no other.
</success_criteria>

Now, write a cover letter for the {{job_title}} role at {{company}}.

Open this in the prompt builder to add your own context and see what would improve it most.

What makes writing a cover letter hard to prompt for

Cover letters fail by being interchangeable — the same three paragraphs would work for any employer, which tells the reader nothing. The hard part is being specific about this company without flattery.

Why this prompt works

Background comes before the instruction

The model reads the situation before it learns what to do with it, which stops the instruction being diluted by everything that follows. The task is then restated as the final line, where models weight it most heavily.

Rules a writing task assumes but nobody writes down

Write in plain, direct prose. Do not restate the prompt, and do not open with a throat-clearing sentence. Vary sentence length. Do not begin consecutive sentences with the same word or structure. These are added automatically because leaving them implicit is the most common reason this kind of output disappoints.

Success criteria the model checks itself against

Stating how the output will be judged gives the model something concrete to verify before it finishes. Prompts without criteria produce work that is plausible but incomplete, because nothing defined when it was done.

What to replace

Check the output before you use it

• Would this letter still make sense if you swapped in a different company name? If yes, it is too generic.
• Every claim about your experience should be one you can defend in an interview.
• The opening sentence should say something only you could say.

The same prompt for other models

Identical content, packaged the way each model reads most reliably.

## Role

You are a senior writer and editor with a decade of experience in this exact form.

## Audience

This is for a hiring manager who will read forty of these. Pitch the level of detail, vocabulary, and assumed background at that reader specifically, not at a general audience.

## Context

My relevant experience: {{experience}}. Why this company specifically: {{why_them}}.

## Task

Write a cover letter for the {{job_title}} role at {{company}}.

## Constraints

- Open with the specific reason you want this role, not with the fact that you are applying.
- Use only experience I supplied. Invent no achievements and no metrics.
- One paragraph on why me, one on why them, one on what happens next.
- Avoid i am writing to apply for.
- Avoid passionate.
- Avoid team player.
- Avoid dynamic.
- Write in plain, direct prose. Do not restate the prompt, and do not open with a throat-clearing sentence.
- Vary sentence length. Do not begin consecutive sentences with the same word or structure.
- Do not invent facts, statistics, quotations, or attributed opinions.

## Output format

Respond in plain prose. No markdown, no headings, no bullet points, no bold text. Length: 250 words. Treat this as a requirement, not a suggestion.

## Success criteria

Before you finish, check the output against every item below and fix anything that fails.

- A hiring manager could tell this was written for their advert and no other.

Now, write a cover letter for the {{job_title}} role at {{company}}.

**Task**

Write a cover letter for the {{job_title}} role at {{company}}.

**Role**

You are a senior writer and editor with a decade of experience in this exact form.

**Audience**

This is for a hiring manager who will read forty of these. Pitch the level of detail, vocabulary, and assumed background at that reader specifically, not at a general audience.

**Context**

My relevant experience: {{experience}}. Why this company specifically: {{why_them}}.

**Constraints**

- Open with the specific reason you want this role, not with the fact that you are applying.
- Use only experience I supplied. Invent no achievements and no metrics.
- One paragraph on why me, one on why them, one on what happens next.
- Avoid i am writing to apply for.
- Avoid passionate.
- Avoid team player.
- Avoid dynamic.
- Write in plain, direct prose. Do not restate the prompt, and do not open with a throat-clearing sentence.
- Vary sentence length. Do not begin consecutive sentences with the same word or structure.
- Do not invent facts, statistics, quotations, or attributed opinions.

**Output format**

Respond in plain prose. No markdown, no headings, no bullet points, no bold text. Length: 250 words. Treat this as a requirement, not a suggestion.

**Success criteria**

Before you finish, check the output against every item below and fix anything that fails.

- A hiring manager could tell this was written for their advert and no other.

Now, write a cover letter for the {{job_title}} role at {{company}}.