A good cover letter is short, specific and true. It says which role you are applying for, gives two or three real examples of work you have done that match what the job asks for, says why you want this job at this organisation, and asks for a conversation. Most fit comfortably on less than one page. It should sound like a capable person talking plainly, not like a brochure.
AI can make writing a cover letter much faster, but only if you give it the facts. Left to itself it writes the same letter everyone else's AI writes, full of "passionate", "dynamic" and "I am excited to apply". This guide gives you the structure, a short example, exactly what to hand the AI, and how to edit the draft so it sounds like you.
The structure of a cover letter
- Opening: the role and a reason. Name the job. In the same short paragraph, give the one thing that makes you a fit, or a real reason you are drawn to the work.
- Middle: two or three matches. Take the most important things the job advert asks for. For each, give one real example of when you did it, with what happened. One paragraph each, or one paragraph for two.
- Why them. One or two sentences on why this organisation or team, based on something specific you know about them. Not flattery.
- Close. Say you would like to talk, and thank them. No pleading, no summary of everything above.
Aim for three to five short paragraphs. If a sentence would fit in any cover letter for any job, it can usually go.
What makes a cover letter read as AI
- Stock openers. "I am writing to express my keen interest in", "As a passionate and results-driven professional".
- Adjectives instead of evidence. "Detail-oriented", "strong communicator", "dynamic team player". Show it with an example instead.
- Repeating the CV. The letter should pick out and explain, not list.
- Invented or inflated results. A number you cannot back up in an interview is a problem, not a strength.
- The same rhythm everywhere. Three items in every list, every paragraph the same length, a neat summary at the end.
- Praise for the company that could be about anyone. "Your innovative approach and commitment to excellence".
A short example
Here is the kind of letter to aim for. The applicant is invented for this example.
Dear Ms Rahman,
I'd like to apply for the Customer Support Lead role. For the past three years I've run support for a small online shop selling bike parts, first on my own and then with two part-time colleagues I trained.
Your advert asks for someone who can build a team's habits, not just answer tickets. When I started, our replies lived in one person's inbox. I set up a shared help desk, wrote the saved replies we still use, and started a weekly half-hour where we read the hardest conversations together. The advert also mentions handling complaints: I took every escalated complaint myself for two years, and learned that most angry customers mainly want to know exactly what happens next.
I've used your app to plan rides for a long time, and your help pages are the reason I first thought of support as something that can be done well. I'd like to work on that from the inside.
I'd be glad to talk about the role. Thank you for reading.
Best wishes, Ali Hassan
Notice what it does not do: no claim of a percentage improvement, no "passionate", no list of adjectives. Every line is something the applicant could talk about for five minutes in an interview.
How to write a cover letter with AI, step by step
- Paste the job advert. Ask the AI to list the three or four things it asks for most. This is the useful part of the AI's work: reading closely.
- Write your own raw notes against each one. For each requirement, jot down a real example: what the situation was, what you did, what happened. Rough is fine. Numbers only if you know them.
- Add a real reason for wanting the job. Something you know about the organisation, or what draws you to the work.
- Give it your CV too, if you like. But tell it the notes are the source, and it must not add anything that is not in them.
- Say how you want to sound. Plain, warm, confident, no adjectives about yourself.
- Ask for one version, under 350 words.
- Read it aloud. Rewrite anything you would not say out loud in an interview.
A prompt you can adapt:
"Help me write a cover letter for [role] at [organisation]. Here is the job advert: [paste]. Here are my notes, and they are the only facts you may use: [my examples, one per requirement]. Why I want this job: [real reason]. Don't add any achievement, number, skill or tool that isn't in my notes. No 'passionate', 'results-driven', 'dynamic' or 'I am writing to express'. Plain and confident, three to five short paragraphs, under 350 words. Only give me the letter."
Doing it with Hemmingway
Hemmingway was built to write the way a person writes rather than the way a machine does. Its model, Hemmingway-1, gives you the letter itself, one version, with no note about the tone at the end, and it keeps to the facts you give it. You can attach your CV and the job advert as files, and save the finished letter as a PDF.
In our own tests, it came first of the models we compared on CommunicationBench, our benchmark of everyday writing, texting and emails, and first on Human-Likeness, our own measure of how much a reply sounds like a person. Those are our benchmarks, not public ones. What Hemmingway is.
Open the web app, paste the advert and your notes, and ask for the letter.
Try HemmingwayDownload the app
Common questions
Can employers tell if a cover letter was written by AI?
A reader often notices the signs: stock openers, lists of adjectives, praise that could fit any company, and a smooth sameness with nothing specific in it. A letter built from your real examples and edited into your own words reads like you, however you drafted it. The specifics are what matter.
Is it okay to use AI to write a cover letter?
Yes. Using AI to help draft and tidy a letter is common. Give it your real examples and the letter comes out specific, with things you can talk about in an interview.
How long should a cover letter be?
Usually three to five short paragraphs, well under one page. Enough for two or three real examples and a clear reason for applying. If the employer asks for a length, follow that.
What should I not put in a cover letter?
Leave out anything untrue or inflated, a repeat of your whole CV, generic adjectives about yourself, and complaints about a current or past employer. Salary is usually better discussed later unless the advert asks for it.
How do I make an AI cover letter sound like me?
Give it your own rough notes rather than asking it to write from your CV alone, tell it how you want to sound, and ban the stock phrases. Then read the draft aloud and rewrite any sentence you would not say in an interview.