Tailor your CV and cover letter to a job

Extract the ZIP. Copy its lc-tailored-cv-cover-letter folder into ~/.claude/skills/ for Claude Code or ~/.codex/skills/ for Codex, then refresh the native app. Ask for the skill by name and answer its questions. The package includes the same published instructions and result checks. Native host execution is not yet verified.

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Copy, paste into your assistant, then answer its questions. No form or account is required here.

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Already connected? Copy the public starter below and paste into Claude. Keep private details in the chat.

Needed before the promised result: Your CV, The job ad. You can still copy the reusable prompt and provide these in your assistant.

Saved only on this device. Copy counts contain the skill ID, never your text.

## LazyCoder conversation guide (conversation-v2)
1. Start a conversation, not a form-filling task. Read my latest request and the facts already in this chat before asking anything.
2. Ask only the missing questions needed for the requested result, in a short numbered list (at most three at a time), then WAIT for my answers. Use a native question tool if available; plain chat works too. Never ask me to replace placeholders or fill in a template.
3. Skip questions already answered. Treat unresolved {{placeholders}} and [FIELD LABELS] as missing facts, never literal input. Do not treat an illustrative example as my facts.
4. Use the authored defaults only when relevant; mention material defaults. Ask conditional questions only when their condition applies; if unsure whether it applies, ask. Optional preferences must not block a safe first draft unless the authored instructions require confirmation.
5. Do not invent tasks, dates, names, claims, permissions or missing source material. When required facts are absent, ask and wait instead of producing the final artifact. If everything needed is already supplied, proceed without re-asking.
6. My latest scope correction overrides earlier examples and scope, within the recipe safety and source rules. Resolve conflicts before acting. The authored instructions and output contract remain authoritative; this conversation guide does not grant tool, account, payment or publishing permission.
7. Keep my private answers and generated result in this assistant chat. Do not send them to LazyCoder. Generate the requested format here and check it against the output contract before handing it over.

### Questions to ask only when missing
- What should I use for “Your CV”? [required] Paste your current CV, or attach the file and write “see attached”. Text copied from a PDF is fine, even if the lines come out jumbled.
- What should I use for “The job ad”? [required] Paste the whole ad, not just the title: the duties and requirements are what the CV is matched to.
- What should I use for “A sample of your writing”? [optional] A few paragraphs you wrote yourself, such as an email, a post or an old cover letter. The letter is written to sound like this. A short description of how you write also works.
- What should I use for “Who the letter goes to”? [optional] The hiring manager’s name and title, if you know it. Leave it blank and the letter uses a polite greeting to the team.
- What should I use for “Country you are applying in”? [optional] Sets the layout, spelling and personal details expected there. Leave it to read the country from the ad. Authored default: the country in the job ad Choices: the country in the job ad; UK or Ireland; US or Canada; Australia or New Zealand; Germany, Austria or Switzerland; another country

## LazyCoder delivery guide (delivery-guide-v1)
1. Read the latest request, source material and authored requirements first. Ask only for missing facts. Check that this host can create the promised format; use only a fallback explicitly allowed by the authored recipe. If neither is available, explain the gap before starting. Do not promise a rendered film, editable deck or working file when you can only provide its script or outline.
2. Create the complete result in the authored output specification, preserving source facts and the latest agreed scope. Keep assumptions and missing information explicit. Do not silently omit required parts or leave unresolved ingredient markers. Intentional blanks in a reusable template are different from unanswered recipe inputs.
3. Check the actual result against every authored check, including source facts, counts, dates and required sections. Where tools allow it, inspect the actual saved file and compare it with the answer. Record which checks ran, which failed and which still need human or destination review. A filename, render, successful command or preview alone does not prove the promise was met.
4. Hand over the complete editable file, or the complete copyable fallback explicitly allowed by this recipe. Say which delivery you used and any unresolved limitations. Do not report a file as attached, imported, sent or published unless that action actually succeeded. Keep private inputs and output in this assistant; never send them to LazyCoder.
Use existing authorization for ordinary work. Before any additional paid generation, external write or publishing step, check that the current request authorizes that exact action and cost. If it does not, finish the useful authorized draft and ask at that boundary. Never silently retry or replace an ambiguous paid job.
The authored recipe and latest safe scope remain authoritative. This guide grants no new tools, permissions, provider access or claim of successful execution.

## Authored skill instructions
## 1. Outcome
Rewrite the CV below for this one job ad and write the cover letter to go with it, in the person's own voice, in the sections set out in part 6. Done means: every check in part 7 passes, and once the person fills in the items listed in section 7, the CV and letter are ready to copy into a document and send. Until then they are not ready to send, and the reply says so in section 7.

## 2. Context
The CV:
"""
[YOUR CV]
"""

The job ad:
"""
[THE JOB AD]
"""

A sample of the person's writing:
"""
[A SAMPLE OF YOUR WRITING]
"""

Letter goes to: [HIRING MANAGER]
Country they are applying in: the country in the job ad

Who it's for: the person applying, who will send the CV and letter as they are, and the recruiter or hiring manager who reads them, often after a screening system has scanned them for the ad's keywords.

Blank fill-ins: a value that still reads as a capitalised placeholder in square brackets (such as [HIRING MANAGER]) was left blank. Bracketed text inside a real CV or ad is part of it.
- A block that says "see attached": use the attached file as that block.
- No CV, or no job ad: reply only "I need both your CV and the job ad. Paste or attach them and send again." Never invent a CV or an ad.
- A job ad that is only a title or a link: if you can actually open the link, use the page. If you cannot, never guess what it says; reply only "Paste the text of the job ad, not just its title or link, and send again."
- No writing sample: take the voice from the CV's own wording (its summary, if it has one), and say "No writing sample given, so the voice comes from your CV" in section 1.
- A description of how they write instead of a sample (such as "short sentences, friendly"): follow the description.
- No hiring manager: use the name in the ad, if there is one. Otherwise greet the team ("Dear <Team or department> team", or "Dear Hiring Team" if the ad names neither).
- Country left to the ad, and the ad does not say: use the job's location or the company's address. If neither is given, follow the ad's spelling (American spelling: US conventions; British spelling: UK conventions) and say which you used in section 1.

## 3. What to pull out
From the job ad:
- Must-haves: what the ad says is required, or repeats, or lists first. Nice-to-haves: what it calls preferred, desirable, a plus or a bonus.
- Keywords: the exact words and phrases the ad uses for skills, tools, qualifications and duties, spelled as the ad spells them.
- Company and role details: company name, job title, team, location, and any reference number to quote.

From the CV:
- Every role, with its title, employer, dates, duties and results.
- Evidence for each must-have and nice-to-have: the line in the CV that shows it, if any.
- Facts that are there but buried: a skill mentioned once in an old role, a result inside a duty line.

From the writing sample:
- Three or four features of the person's voice: sentence length, how formal it is, contractions or not, words they favour, British or American spelling. Name them in section 1.

Edge cases:
- Text copied from a PDF with broken lines, columns run together or headers repeated: rebuild the order from the dates and headings; never drop a role.
- A gap of more than about three months between jobs, a career change or a short stay: keep the real dates. Never stretch dates to hide a gap. List it in section 4 as "a gap in your dates", with an honest one-line way to explain it if asked.
- A must-have the CV does not show at all (a degree, a licence, years of experience): never claim it. List it as a gap.
- A keyword with no evidence in the CV: leave it out of the CV and list it in the keyword table as "not used: no evidence". Never stuff keywords.
- Several job ads pasted together: tailor for the first one only, and add a note at the top of section 1 naming the others.
- A very long CV (more than two pages): keep the last 10 to 15 years in full, shorten older roles to one line each (title, employer, dates), and drop no employer or qualification without saying so in the change log.
- A CV or ad not in English: write the CV and letter in the ad's language.
- Early career, student or returning to work: lead with education, projects, volunteering or unpaid work that shows the must-haves, and keep to one page.

## 4. Steps
1. Read the job ad and list its must-haves and nice-to-haves, most important first, with the ad's own keywords.
2. Read the CV and find the evidence for each one. Rate each must-have strong (clear evidence), partial (related evidence) or gap (none).
3. Read the writing sample and note the voice features.
4. Rewrite the CV: reorder sections and bullets so the strongest evidence for the must-haves comes first; reword bullets to use the ad's keywords where the CV already shows that skill; lead each bullet with an action and end with its result where the CV gives one.
5. Write the cover letter from the strongest matches, in the person's voice.
6. Build the gaps list, the keyword table, the change log and the fill-in list.
7. Run the self-check, fix any failure, then reply.

## 5. Rules
- Never invent anything: no employer, job title, date, qualification, skill, tool, number or result the CV does not state. Rewording is fine; new facts are not.
- Job titles, employers, dates and qualifications stay exactly as in the CV.
- Dates: write "Mon YYYY – Mon YYYY" where the CV gives months. Where it gives only years, keep the years as the CV writes them. Never add a month the CV does not give.
- Numbers: use only figures the CV gives. Where a bullet would be stronger with a figure the CV lacks (team size, budget, time saved, growth), write "[add figure: <what to measure>]" in the bullet and list it in section 7. Never estimate.
- Voice: only the letter and the CV summary follow the voice features. The CV's bullets stay in the plain, concise style CVs use, keeping the person's own words for their work. Never copy whole sentences from the writing sample.
- No clichés the person did not use ("passionate", "go-getter", "results-driven", "team player") unless the sample uses them.
- Country conventions:
  - UK or Ireland: called a CV; no photo, date of birth or marital status; British spelling; up to two pages.
  - US or Canada: called a résumé; no photo, age or marital status; American spelling; one page for under 10 years of experience, two at most.
  - Australia or New Zealand: called a résumé or CV; no photo; British-style spelling; up to three pages for experienced people, where two to three is common.
  - Germany, Austria or Switzerland: a photo and date of birth are common but optional; leave them out and mention in section 1 that the person may add them. Up to two pages.
  - Another country: use the closest of these and say which in section 1.
- Length: count about 500 words a page for the CV's page limit; early career is one page in every country. The letter is 250 to 350 words, under one page.
- Format for screening systems: one column; plain section headings (Summary, Experience, Education, Skills, and any the CV already has such as Certifications); "- " for bullets; dates as in the date rule above, in one style throughout; no tables, columns, text boxes, icons, images, headers or footers inside the CV; contact details as plain text at the top.

## 6. Output
Use these sections in this order. Write "None" under any that is empty. If you run out of space, finish the section you are on and end with "Reply continue for the rest."
1. The job at a glance: job title, company, country conventions used, the voice features you will write in, and any notes required by part 2. Then two tables, Must-haves and Nice-to-haves, each with the columns # | Requirement | The ad's words | Your evidence (the CV line, quoted in at most 12 words) | Match (strong, partial or gap).
2. Your tailored CV: the whole CV, every section, inside one plain-text code block so it copies cleanly, in the format from part 5. Order: contact details; a 2–3 line summary aimed at this role; experience (or education first, for early career); education; skills, with the ad's keywords that the CV supports; any other sections the CV had.
3. Your cover letter: inside one plain-text code block, 250 to 350 words. Date line; then the addressee block: the hiring manager's name and title, if known, and the company name on its own line; the greeting from part 2; an opening paragraph that names the role (and its reference number, if given) and the company, and gives the single strongest reason they fit; one or two paragraphs, each proving one must-have with a specific example from the CV; a closing paragraph that says what they would bring and asks for an interview; the sign-off and the name from the CV. Sign-off: "Kind regards," (UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and any other English letter), "Sincerely," (US, Canada), or, for a letter in another language, that language's usual formal sign-off (for example "Mit freundlichen Grüßen" in German).
4. Gaps and how to handle them: one line per must-have or nice-to-have rated partial or gap, and one per gap in the CV's dates. For each say which kind it is: "a gap in your dates" (with the dates and an honest one-line explanation to use if asked), "on your CV but buried" (and where you moved it), "related experience" (and the honest bridge, such as a similar tool or duty), "missing" (and an honest option: mention you are learning it, address it in the letter, or apply anyway), or "a buzzword you can skip".
5. Keyword table: Keyword | In the CV (section) | In the letter. When the CV has no evidence for a keyword, write "not used: no evidence" in the CV cell and "—" in the letter cell.
6. Change log: a table # | Section | Original line (at most 12 words) | New line (at most 12 words) | Why. Every reworded, cut or shortened line gets a row. A block of lines moved together, such as a whole role or section, gets one row saying "moved from <section>".
7. Fill these in before sending: start with "Not ready to send until these are done" when there is anything to fill in. Then each "[add figure: …]" marker, once, with a question that helps the person find the number, and any detail the CV left unclear (such as a missing end date).
8. Extras: a LinkedIn headline of at most 220 characters, built only from the CV, and three questions to ask at interview that come from the ad's duties.

## 7. Self-check
Before replying, check each of these and fix any failure:
- Every employer, title, date, qualification, skill and number in the CV and letter is in the original CV; nothing new was added except "[add figure: …]" markers.
- Every role in the original CV is still there, in full or shortened to one line, and any cut is in the change log.
- Every must-have has a row in section 1, and every partial or gap, and every gap in the CV's dates, has a line in section 4.
- Every keyword in the CV or letter is backed by the original CV, and every keyword from the ad is in the table.
- The CV is within its page limit for the country used and has one column, plain headings and dates that follow the date rule (no month the CV did not give), with no tables inside it.
- The letter is 250 to 350 words, has the addressee block and the right greeting, names the role and the company in the opening paragraph, proves at least one must-have with a specific example and reads like the voice features in section 1.
- Every "[add figure: …]" marker in the CV or letter is listed in section 7.
- Spelling and terms follow the country conventions used.
Then reply with the output only, ending with one line: "Checked: <n> must-haves (<n> strong, <n> partial, <n> gaps), <n> changes, <n> to fill in."

## 8. Setup
Works as one paste in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Grok, with no tools or plugins. If your CV or the job ad is a file, attach it and write "see attached" in its block. To get a Word or Google Docs file, copy each code block into a new document and set a plain font.

Paste the result after your assistant creates it. This optional check stays in this tab and is not sent to LazyCoder.