Who this is for
Only if you're on the job path and want a short note to go with your application. Not applying to a job? Skip this lesson — you're done with the core track.
Draft from your facts, like a message
About 10 min
This uses the same steps as The Message You Still Send: your rough words in, then check every line against your paper, then make it sound like you. Use the fact list you already wrote for FA-4.
- New chat. Ask for a short, plain cover note, 4 to 6 short lines.
- Give it only your facts: the job, and one or two lines about what you actually did.
- Tell it not to add skills, numbers, or praise you didn't write.
You type:
Help me write a short, plain cover note for a job. 4 to 6 short lines. Use only my facts below. Do not add skills, numbers, or praise I did not write. --- Job: stock clerk at [Store] My facts: counted stock and filled shelf orders at [Old Store] 2019 to 2022. reliable, can work weekends. ---
A good short answer looks like:
Hello,
I'm applying for the stock clerk job at [Store].
From 2019 to 2022 I counted stock and filled shelf orders at [Old Store].
I'm reliable and can work weekends.
Thank you for considering me, [Your name]
Yours will read differently. That's normal. Check it has the same parts: the job, one or two real facts, nothing added.
Check it, then get it out
About 5 min
Go line by line against your facts, the same way you did in FA-3. Delete anything that grew. Copy the clean note into Notes, replace stand-ins with real names there — never in the chat — and attach or paste it wherever the real application asks for it.
Try this
Read the finished note out loud once. If a line doesn't sound like you, change it before it goes anywhere.
You should have: a short note with your real job, your real facts, and your own name at the bottom — typed in by you.
Don't let it add a skill or number you didn't give it, even a small one like "3 years" if you said "a few years." Small additions are still additions.
Success check
- The note uses only the facts I gave it
- No skills, numbers, or praise were added
- I read it aloud and it sounds like something I'd say
Stop line
If the note starts sounding like a résumé-writing service — buzzwords, "results-driven," made-up metrics — stop and write it yourself from your facts.
Brake line: New chat and ask again with the same short fact list · or close it and write four lines by hand.
A short cover note is easy to second-guess. A person can tell you in two minutes if it sounds like you.