A different cover letter for every job, in minutes
Paste the job ad, keep your own voice, and send a letter that answers this role instead of any role.
Why everyone ends up sending the same letter
Here's the arithmetic that breaks most job searches. A real cover letter, the kind that names the role and points at two things you have actually done, takes about half an hour to write. Apply to ten jobs in a week and that is five hours on letters alone, on top of the CV tweaks. So people write one decent letter in January and paste it into everything until March.
The reused letter is easy to spot. It praises the company in words that would fit any company, it never quotes the job ad, and the middle paragraph lists strengths nobody asked about. Recruiters skim the first two lines, usually on a phone. If those two lines could sit under a different job title without changing a word, the letter has already done its damage.
HRLens reads the job ad and your CV together, then drafts a letter that borrows the employer's own language for the work and pulls the evidence from your experience rather than from a template. You edit the tone, cut anything that does not sound like you, and send. The half hour turns into a couple of minutes, which is what makes one letter per role realistic.
Structure
The three paragraphs that do the work
One: why this job
Name the role and one concrete reason it is this company. Two sentences. Never open with "I am writing to apply".
Two: the proof
Take the two requirements they lead with and match each to something you shipped, sold or fixed. Numbers beat adjectives.
Three: the ask
Say what you want next, add your availability or notice period, and stop. Brevity reads as confidence.
What to lift straight from the job ad
The exact job title
Use their wording, not your version of it. "Growth Marketer" and "Marketing Manager" are not the same opening line.
The first two requirements
Whatever sits at the top of the list is what they screen on. Answer those and let the nice-to-haves go.
The tools by name
If the ad says HubSpot, Figma or SQL and you have used them, write them down. "Relevant tools" proves nothing.
The team and the context
"First hire in a new team" or "scaling to 200 stores" tells you which of your stories to tell.
Their own vocabulary
Some companies say clients, others say customers. Matching their word makes the letter sound like it came from inside.
One letter for everything, or one per role
| What changes | Same letter everywhere | Written by hand per role | Drafted with HRLens |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time per application | Two minutes | About thirty minutes | A couple of minutes |
| Names the role and company | Only if you remember to swap it | Yes | Yes, taken from the ad |
| Picks up the ad's keywords | No | When you have the patience | Yes, matched against your CV |
| Evidence chosen | The same three examples every time | Chosen for the role | Chosen for the role, pulled from your CV |
| Sounds like you | Yes, and it shows it was written once | Yes | Yes, once you have edited the draft |
| What tends to happen | You apply widely and blend in | You run out of evenings by Thursday | You keep the standard and the volume |
Write the letter this job actually needs
Paste the job ad, add your CV, and get a draft you would be happy to send. Edit it, then apply.
Cover letter questions, answered
Do cover letters still matter?
Not for every application. Plenty of large employers screen on the CV alone and treat the letter as optional. But when a role draws hundreds of applicants, when you are switching industries, or when there is a gap or a relocation to explain, the letter is the only place to make that case in your own words. If the field is there, fill it.
How long should a cover letter be?
Three short paragraphs, roughly 250 to 350 words, on one page. A recruiter reads it in under a minute, often on a phone between interviews. Anything longer gets skimmed down to the first line and the signature. If you cannot make your case in three paragraphs, the problem is the argument, not the word count.
Can I send the same cover letter to different jobs?
You can, and most people do, which is exactly why a tailored one stands out. Reuse the skeleton: your structure, your two strongest examples, your closing line. Rewrite the opening and the requirement matching for each role. That is about ten minutes by hand, or a couple of minutes when a tool drafts it from the ad.
Do applicant tracking systems read cover letters?
It depends on the system. Many store the letter and let the recruiter open it, some index the text so it surfaces in keyword searches, and a few ignore it entirely. You cannot tell which one you are facing, so write for the human and keep the formatting plain: no tables, no columns, no text boxes, PDF unless the ad asks for something else.
How do I open a letter without sounding generic?
Drop "I am writing to apply for the position of". Open with the role title and one concrete reason it is this company: a product you use, a market they have just entered, a problem in the ad you have solved before. One sentence of context, one sentence of relevance, then go straight to your proof.