Write a cover letter for a job

A cover letter is the one place you explain why this job, in your own words. Job Umbrella drafts it from the resume you already tailored for the role, so the letter and the resume tell the same story. You then edit it and export it.

1. Tailor the resume first

The letter is built from the most recent resume you tailored for that job. Without one, the AI falls back to your profile, and the letter comes out more general. See Create and customize your resume.

2. Generate the letter

1. Open the job on your Board or in Applications.
2. Click Generate cover letter.
3. The AI writes the draft from your tailored resume plus the company, the role, and the job description saved on that job.

If no tailored resume exists yet, Job Umbrella says so and lets you choose. Go back and customize a resume first, or generate the letter anyway.

3. Edit it

Open the draft from Cover letters and change anything. The AI knows the posting. It does not know that you met the hiring manager at a conference, or why you want to leave your current job. Those lines are yours, and they are usually the ones that get read.

4. Export it

Download the letter as .docx or .pdf. Use .docx when a portal asks you to upload a document, and .pdf when you attach it to an email.

Interview sheet

When the interview is booked, the same job page can write you an interview sheet. Click Write interview sheet. The AI reads the posting and the resume you tailored for it (or your profile), and writes the questions this posting is likely to ask. Under each question is what you can say, and the lines from your own resume it used. It never adds a skill or a number your resume does not have.

The sheet comes in three types. Job Umbrella suggests one from the posting, and you can pick another from the list before you click.

• Practical is for hourly, shift or entry work. Job Umbrella suggests it when the posting states an hourly rate under 50 an hour, shifts, or the work itself (warehouse, kitchen, retail, driving, cleaning, care). You get what they will ask, what to bring, what to say about availability and any gap, and how to follow up.
• Behavioral is for most professional roles, and the default when the posting says nothing either way. You get questions tied to the posting’s requirements, and three to five stories in situation, action, result form from your own resume.
• Senior is for lead, principal, director and above. Job Umbrella also suggests it when the posting states a pay of 120,000 or more, or asks for eight or more years of experience. The questions are about scope and outcomes, and you also get the questions you should ask them.

One sheet per job. Write it again replaces it, and Delete sheet removes it. Each sheet uses 1 AI run.

Good to know

• Each letter stays attached to its job, so you can reopen it months later and see what you sent.
• The AI never invents an employer, a title, a skill, or a number. It only reshapes what your resume and profile already say.
• Each generated letter uses 1 AI run from your daily allowance.
• Write one letter for each job. A letter that could go to any company reads like one that did.