How a job seeker trained ChatGPT to write 20 cover letters: 'The more I use it, the better it actually gets'

• AI chatbot ChatGPT has the potential to shake up the world of work.
• One job seeker, Yary Rivera, told Insider that she's used ChatGPT to write 20 cover letters for jobs.

Yary Rivera, 28, is on the job hunt. And she's enlisted ChatGPT as her helper.

Rivera, a user experience and user interface — or UX/UI — designer, said she's been using the AI chatbot to help write her cover letters as she navigates the search process. She began using it about a month ago, after she saw a LinkedIn connection posting about ChatGPT.

"Of course, the curiosity got the best of me," she said. "I noticed that it's an AI program and it has example prompts. I started reading through them and I'm like, huh, that means I can use this somehow, some way to my advantage."

That advantage came when she saw another LinkedIn post about using the chatbot to write cover letters. In her field, portfolios showcase the work you've done and your capabilities. Cover letters are a "bit redundant," she said.

"So I thought, if jobs are going to require me to put in a cover letter that might not even get read, why don't I make this easier for me and for the company and just start using ChatGPT?" she said.

So that's what Rivera has been doing. She estimates that she's used ChatGPT to help write about 20 cover letters. So far, she said, she's gotten one interview.

She's one of the many workers starting to feel the potential impact that the chatbot will have on the world of work, and how it operates. ChatGPT could replace some jobs; it can make doing others easier. And yes, now some applicants are using it to help snag those jobs in the first place — including Rivera.

"I think it's great, and I don't believe it's something that will take over human jobs," Rivera said. "I think it's simply a supplemental tool that can help you really with anything."

How Rivera trained ChatGPT to write the best cover letters possible

At first, the cover letters ChatGPT was spitting out weren't quite right. So Rivera had to learn the art of the prompt.

"You have to be very, very specific on what you're looking for," she said. She will look over the keywords in the job description, give them to ChatGPT, add her own information, and then tack on any other descriptors from the posting. Then, she prompts the chatbot to write a cover letter.

"There's usually only a few lines that I have to edit and the more I use it, the better it actually gets," she said. "I thought that was really interesting to see — that I don't have to do too much editing anymore."

She feels like the chatbot is finally starting to give her the best response possible for an AI tool, something she thinks is "pretty amazing." The more she tells it, she said, the better it gets at giving her answers.

While it might not be for everyone — she understands the importance of a supplemental cover letter for someone transitioning into a new field, or a writing-heavy role — for people in her field, she's a fan.

She thinks that the chatbot will eventually prompt some reconsideration of how the job application process works. People in her field are already leaning away from cover letters, and overworked recruiters might catch on that the cover letters coming in on top of portfolios and resumes are written by AI anyway. She thinks it could even be used for feedback on an interview process; just feed it a transcript and ask for its thoughts.

"Obviously the program is not perfect, it might not give you an accurate answer all the time, but from my experience it's been pretty damn good," she said.