Writing a Standout Cover Letter

Introduction

For over 15 years, AI tools have been used behind the scenes by HR departments to screen cover letters for certain keywords and phrases. Now, job applicants are leveraging these same tools to craft truly outstanding letters that get their applications noticed. Used correctly, AI can be your secret weapon for cover letter success. Since many teachers feel burned out, the time to start looking around for better paid work may be now.

Created by Bing Image Creator 11 November 2023

Three Key Ingredients for AI-Assisted Cover Letters

1- A Comprehensive CV

A detailed CV including concrete achievements from each past role provides the fodder for your personalized cover letter. Take the time to create a blog, website or otherwise publish your CV online to feed correct context to AI tools.

2- An Accurate Job Description

Work with AI to enhance the standard job posting by extracting the true "must-haves" the organization seeks. This can apply to job, as well as to scholarship applications. This leads to a letter focused on only the most relevant qualifications.

3- Exemplary Cover Letter Models

Including public examples alongside your prompt gives AI context and structure from real-world successful letters. Adjust the tool's response based on comparison to top-scoring samples. Ever since I included the web link to the page in the Guardian, for example, the output improve a lot!

Chatting with AI

Use the above ingredients along with your career goals to engage AI in a conversation about the role. Discuss relevant details, highlight quantifiable achievements, and iterate on the generated response based on samples. Within a few rounds, you'll have a truly standout cover letter tailored exactly to the opportunity and your background.

Here is a prompt I have tested frequently:

Write a high-impact, outstanding cover letter in a professional tone based on the position description and my CV below, pointing out <list a series of achievements or relevant elements from previous roles, separated by comma's>

Include meaningful details of concrete achievements from my CV.

For context, here as some examples of excellent cover letters: https://www.theguardian.com/careers/covering-letter-examples

Here is my CV: https://studentsresultsdralbert.blogspot.com/2023/04/albert-schram-phd-curriculum-vitae.html

Here is the position description: <insert text or a weblink>

A follow up prompt could be:

Include a section on my excellent communication and team work skills.

As always, all output needs to be carefully edited, and personalized so that your own language and voice shines through.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Practicing this technique will boost your letters from adequate to outstanding. The time spent refining with AI now will pay off in future interviews and career opportunities. 

Don't be afraid to leverage every available resource - your dream job may be just one letter away. Get started crafting your cover letters using this impactful method today. Please leave your experiences or comments in the comment section below.

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