How to Use BARD to Generate Customized Cover Letters?

A cover letter shows the first steps of like an introduction to tell an employer that you are the best for the role. BARD is a smart AI model that will save your time and effort writing cover letters that grab your employers’ attention. Through BARD, you do not need to ever worry about writing the same letter twice.

In this article, we will discuss the steps to generate customized cover letters for your resume. Instead of too much usage of the same ‘vanilla’ cover letter for any application purpose, BARD helps you do away with the ‘cut and paste’ idea and generate personalized letters that portray the fact that you are ideal for the particular role you are applying.

How to Use BARD to Generate Customized Cover Letters for Your Resume?

How to Use BARD to Generate Customized Cover Letters for Your Resume

Google Bard (now known as Gemini) is the AI assistant from Google that can help you big time when you’re looking for a job. Imagine you need to write a cover letter to show a company why you’re the perfect fit for a job. That’s where Google Bard steps in to help you shine.

No matter what job you’re aiming for—be it in marketing, helping customers, managing projects, leading a team, or even the backend engineering—Google Bard is the best option.

You can tell your professional story through a well written cover letter to impress your potential employer. But when you’re on a job hunt, applying for 50 jobs per day on LinkedIn and Indeed, it becomes difficult to customise your cover letter according to the specifics of each role and company. BARD can make this process smooth by doing the hardwork for you. It can add and tailor your cover letter according to each job. 

Here’s how you can do it:

Step 1: Setting up the BARD (Gemini) Workspace

This is the BARD or Gemini homepage, which you can access here: https://gemini.google.com/app.

You will have to sign in to your Google account by clicking on the ‘Sign In’ button at the top right corner. Once you enter your email address and password, you can have access to Gemini. 

Click on the ‘Chat with Gemini’ option once you get there, and you should see an chat interface like this:

Now your BARD workspace is ready to generate customized cover letters for your resume.

Step 2: Provide BARD with an Accurate Prompt

Since we are using the free version of Gemini, only images can be uploaded, so you can take a screenshot of your resume or CV. 

We are using an example resume which looks something like this:

You can upload this on the ‘Upload Image’ option which appears on the chatbox.

As your prompt, you will need to enter the job description which is available for most jobs you will apply for on various platforms.

We will use the following job description as an example: 

Job description:

We’re looking for a dynamic Digital Marketing Executive to amplify our revenue through innovative digital strategies. This role demands the use of AI tools and a deep alignment with our core values.

Responsibilities:

• Podcast Promotion: Lead global promotional activities for our podcast using a mix of organic and paid channels, and secure sponsorships that reflect our values.
• Global Brand Expansion: Elevate your brand globally, enhancing the visibility of your courses, coaching, and books through smart use of AI tools.

Then you can instruct BARD to generate customized cover letters for your resume using the job description. You can use the following prompt: 

“Can you generate a customized cover letter according to my resume in the attachment?”

You simply have to submit the prompt now by clicking on the ‘Submit’ arrow on the right and voila! We now have three drafts for customized cover letter which you can use.

You can regenerate more prompts by clicking on the arrow after ‘Draft 3’ above:

Step 3: Making It Your Own

You can customize these prompts according to your comfort as well, for example if you prefer a more conversational tone of writing, you can give it the following prompt after this: 

“Can you write in a more conversational tone?” 

It can then produce a cover letter which sounds like you are directly speaking to the employer. Some employers would like this cover letter better, but the tone of the cover letter is for you to decide. 

The tone you take on can change from one job to another, for example if you are applying for a technical role, but the cover letters are generally read by HR employees, you do not want to bore them with too much technical jargon.

You can also change the length of the cover letter, making it much longer and more detailed, or keeping it short and sweet. Remember that BARD is completely dependent on the information you provide it with, so be as thorough with your professional history as you can. 

If there is a gap on your resume that may require an explanation, you can provide that to BARD to add to your cover letter in an appropriate way. For example, there is a gap from 07/2022 to 03/2023 in the resume we have used in this article. 

You can add this along with the reason for the break in such a way so that the employer does not see this in a bad light. You can also add any personal achievements you may be proud of that are not in your resume but can add value to your personality as an employee, like working as a volunteer.

Step 4: Proofreading 

It is very important to keep in mind that even though BARD is a very powerful tool, it is definitely capable of making mistakes. You should keep the following points in mind while proofreading your cover letter before sending it to the employer: 

• Make sure that the letter is grammatically correct. Grammatically incorrect letters can put a bad impression on the employer as they generally expect the employees to be fluent in English. You can use tools like Grammarly to check whether your letter is correct.
• Verify that whatever BARD has included in the cover letter aligns with your resume. The experience, dates and numbers should match correctly with your resume, or it will become obvious to the employer that you used an AI tool to write your cover letter, or they may think that you are prone to mistakes at work too.
• Your cover letter should not include sentences which AI models use before the actual content, for example, “Of course! Here’s a cover letter….” or “As an AI language model…”. 

We would also recommend using tools like zerogpt to check whether your cover letter sounds a little too much like AI, as that may not put a good impression on your potential employer.

Wrapping Up

Google Bard (now Gemini) is like a magic wand for your job hunt, especially when you’re drowning in applications and need each cover letter to shine. This smart tool does the heavy lifting by customizing each letter based on your resume and the job you’re eyeing, making sure you stand out. Remember, while Bard is super helpful, it’s not perfect.

Always give your cover letter a final check for any mistakes and to ensure it really sounds like you. By following these steps, you’ll not only save time but also create cover letters that grab attention, making your job search a tad bit easier and more successful.

FAQs – How to Use BARD to Generate Customized Cover Letters for Your Resume

Can Google BARD write cover letters? 

Yes, you can use BARD to generate customized cover letters for your resume by providing it with an appropriate and concise prompt.

How do I make my cover letter different from your resume? 

A cover letter usually focuses on the specifics job that you are applying for, while a resume is more general and includes all your skills and experiences. You can use BARD to generate customized cover letters for your resume.

Can I use AI to write my cover letter?

Yes, you can use tools like BARD to generate customized cover letters for your resume.

Do employers read CV or cover letter first? 

It depends from employer to employer, but most employers prefer reading CV first.