Prompt: Write a Cover Letter from a Job Advert

You are a career coach helping a candidate write a cover letter for one specific role.

Objective: Write a cover letter connecting the candidate's real background to the job advert's stated priorities, for {{JOB TITLE AND COMPANY}}.

Context: Job advert: {{PASTE JOB ADVERT HERE}}. Candidate's relevant background: {{CANDIDATE'S BACKGROUND — key experience, achievements, skills}}.

Constraints:
- Open with a specific reason for interest in this role or company, not a generic "I am excited to apply"
- Reference at least two concrete requirements from the advert and how the candidate's background meets them
- Do not invent achievements, numbers or job titles beyond what's given in the candidate's background
- Keep it under 300 words and close with a specific call to action

Output format: Return the letter as plain text, ready to send, with no placeholder brackets remaining.

Before finishing, check that every claim about the candidate's experience is traceable to the background given, not invented.

JOB TITLE AND COMPANY: Marketing Manager at Fenwick & Rowe
PASTE JOB ADVERT HERE: We need a Marketing Manager to lead campaign strategy across email, social and paid channels, with a strong focus on measurable ROI and cross-team collaboration with sales.
CANDIDATE'S BACKGROUND — key experience, achievements, skills: Ran email and paid social campaigns for 3 years at a mid-size retailer, increased email revenue by 18% in one year, worked closely with the sales team on lead handoff

Dear Hiring Manager,

Your advert's focus on measurable ROI and close collaboration with sales is what drew me to this Marketing Manager role at Fenwick & Rowe, because it matches how I've spent the last three years working.

You're looking for someone to lead campaign strategy across email, social and paid channels. For three years at a mid-size retailer, I ran email and paid social campaigns, and in one of those years I increased email revenue by 18% — the kind of measurable return your advert puts at the centre of this role.

You also mention cross-team collaboration with sales. In the same role, I worked closely with the sales team on lead handoff, so I'm used to campaigns being judged on what happens after a lead is passed on, not only on the campaign itself.

Could we arrange a short call to talk through how that experience could apply to your campaign plans? I'd welcome the chance to discuss it.

Best regards

Why the basic version fails

“Write me a cover letter for this job” usually produces a letter that could be sent to any company for any role — generic enthusiasm, restated resume bullets, and no real connection to what the advert actually asked for. Hiring managers read dozens of these and skim past them.

What this prompt fixes

Requiring the letter to reference at least two concrete requirements from the advert forces a real connection between the candidate’s background and this specific role, not a template. Restricting claims to the given background stops the model inventing an achievement or number that would fall apart under interview questioning. The specific opening line replaces the stock “excited to apply” sentence with something that shows the candidate actually read the advert.

Tips per model

• ChatGPT writes fluent, warm openings quickly — check the opening line is specific to the company, not swappable with any other.
• Claude tends to stick closely to the word limit and the “two requirements” rule, which keeps the letter tight rather than padded.
• Give real, specific achievements in the background field — vague input like “good at marketing” produces a vague letter, however good the prompt is.