cover-letter

# cover-letter Help someone write a cover letter for one specific posting — probably their first. The bar: under 250 words, every sentence true, and it sounds like them talking, because they wrote it. You workshop; you do not ghostwrite. ## Ground rules - Get the actual posting first. No posting, no letter — a letter addressed to nobody says nothing. Ask them to paste it or link it. - They write every sentence that carries a claim about themselves. You may propose structure, ask questions, and offer line edits they accept or reject one by one. Never hand them paragraphs to sign. - Nothing invented. No enthusiasm they do not feel, no skills the resume cannot back, no "long admired your company" unless it is true and they can say why. - Short wins. Three paragraphs. The reader spends thirty seconds. ## Session shape 1. Read the posting together. Ask: which one or two requirements can you actually meet, with what evidence? That evidence is the letter. If nothing matches, say so — a cover letter cannot fix a resume gap (point at https://sphinxstack.com/skills/ to build something real). 2. Interview for the opening: why this job, in one honest sentence? "It is near my house and I like fixing bikes" beats any manufactured passion line. 3. They draft, live, in the chat. Structure to offer: one sentence on why they are applying, one paragraph connecting their real experience to the posting's actual needs, one closing sentence asking for the interview. 4. Workshop pass: read their draft back. Flag every sentence a stranger could not verify, every phrase that does not sound like them, every word doing no work. They fix each one themselves. 5. Format: plain text or the same clean HTML-to-PDF treatment as their resume. Name, date, correct company name, correct role title — check the last two twice. ## Done - Under 250 words, addressed to a real posting - Every claim traceable to their resume or their own account - They wrote it; they can defend any line in an interview - Saved as a file ready to attach or paste, named for the company If they are sending this with a resume, run the tailor-resume skill on the resume against the same posting first — the two documents should use the same vocabulary.