domains / documents / cover-letter-generation / cover-letter-generator

cover-letter-generator

Skill card

combined

The two skills share the name but solve different tasks. The first is a job-application cover letter generator focused on resume-to-job-description mapping, tone, hooks, and persuasive structure. The second is an academic journal submission cover letter generator focused on manuscript metadata, journal fit, novelty, declarations, and editor-facing constraints. They overlap only in the broad idea of producing a professional letter, but each contains material steps and constraints the other lacks, so crowning one would hide a real alternative.

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Combined skill

# Cover Letter Generator

Use this skill when the user asks for a cover letter. First determine the letter type from the request and available inputs.

## 1. Determine Letter Type

- If the user provides a resume, job description, or asks for a job application letter, use the Job Application workflow.
- If the user provides a manuscript title, target journal, contributions, or asks for an academic submission letter, use the Academic Journal workflow.
- If the type is ambiguous, ask the user to clarify before drafting.

## 2. Job Application Workflow

Use when the user wants a cover letter for a job application.

### Inputs
- Resume or summary of relevant experience
- Job description or key requirements
- Company name and any known hiring manager name

### Structure
- Length: 250-400 words, 3-4 paragraphs
- Format: Professional business letter style
- Tone: Confident but not arrogant, personalized but professional

### Paragraphs
1. Opening: Hook plus position plus why this company, 2-3 sentences
2. Body 1: Strongest qualification match, 3-4 sentences
3. Body 2: Additional qualifications and gap handling, 3-4 sentences
4. Closing: Call to action plus enthusiasm, 2-3 sentences

### Opening Strategies
Choose one hook type:
- Specific company knowledge
- Mutual connection
- Problem-solver framing
- Impressive achievement
- Industry insight

Avoid openings that start with "I am writing to apply for...", "I am the perfect candidate...", or "I saw your job posting on LinkedIn...".

### Body Frameworks
- Body 1 formula: Their need plus your exact experience plus specific result
- Body 2: Add broader value or proactively address gaps with evidence of ramp-up ability

### Closing
- Express genuine enthusiasm for something specific
- Reference a specific contribution you would make
- Include a clear call to action
- Thank the reader

Avoid closings such as "I look forward to hearing from you", "Please find my resume attached", or "I am available for an interview at your convenience".

## 3. Academic Journal Workflow

Use when the user is preparing an initial manuscript submission to a journal.

### Required Inputs
- Manuscript title
- Target journal
- 2-4 core contributions or innovation points
- Corresponding author name, affiliation, and email

### Strongly Recommended Inputs
- One-sentence journal fit rationale
- Brief methods summary
- Brief key-results summary
- Originality or exclusive-submission statement
- Optional reviewer suggestions
- Optional conflict-of-interest or ethics statement

### Missing-Input Recovery
If any required field is missing, do not output a fake journal-ready letter. State exactly which items are missing and offer to draft a partial shell only if the user explicitly wants one.

### Output Structure
1. Salutation to the editor
2. Submission request with manuscript title and journal name
3. Journal-fit paragraph
4. Novelty or contribution paragraph
5. Methods plus key-results paragraph
6. Relevance, readership, or reproducibility paragraph
7. Required declarations paragraph
8. Optional reviewer or COI paragraph
9. Professional closing with corresponding-author identity

### Formatting Rules
- Professional, restrained tone
- 4-6 short paragraphs
- No hype language such as "groundbreaking", "revolutionary", or "game-changing"
- No claims not grounded in supplied manuscript information
- No bullet lists in the final letter unless the user explicitly requests them

### Drafting Steps
1. Validate inputs; stop if required items are missing
2. Build the journal-fit angle in 1-2 sentences connecting manuscript topic, journal scope, and expected readership
3. Write the contribution core: what is new, why it matters, what prior gap it addresses
4. Add concise methods and results evidence without turning it into a mini-abstract
5. Add declarations: originality, author approval, and journal-specific statements such as ethics, consent, data availability, code availability, COI, or suggested reviewers

### Journal-Specific Declaration Matrix
- Basic engineering or methods journal: include originality, author approval, code or data availability if relevant
- Biomedical or clinical journal: include originality, author approval, ethics or consent if relevant, COI, data availability
- Computational journal: include originality, author approval, reproducibility or code availability if relevant

If a declaration may be required but was not supplied, ask for it rather than inventing it.

### Deterministic Rules
- Keep paragraph order stable
- Mention the journal name in the opening paragraph exactly once unless there is a clear need to repeat it
- Keep reviewer suggestions and COI in the closing section, not the middle of the letter
- If a quantitative result is not supplied, describe the contribution qualitatively instead of guessing numbers

### Quality Checklist
Before returning the letter, verify:
- The journal fit is concrete
- The novelty statement is specific
- The methods and results paragraph is concise
- Declarations are present or explicitly requested
- The final tone sounds like editor-facing academic correspondence

## 4. Error Handling

- If required inputs are missing, state exactly which fields are missing and request only the minimum additional information
- If the task goes outside the documented scope, stop instead of guessing or silently widening the assignment
- If execution fails, report the failure point, summarize what can still be completed safely, and provide a manual fallback
- Do not fabricate files, citations, data, search results, or execution outcomes