Cover Letter Audit for an Academic or Research Post
Check scholarly letters for fit, plan and evidence.
Added October 15, 2026. Written with AI assistance and checked for clarity and placeholders; not reviewed by a lawyer, accountant, clinician or other professional. How these prompts are made
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[VERIFY] is an editorial flag, not a blank to fill. Wherever the prompt shows [VERIFY], check that item against a reliable source before you use it (what [VERIFY] means).
Audit my application letter for a research or lectureship post. Letter: [COVER_LETTER]. The advertisement and department research profile: [AD_PROFILE]. My research summary and teaching record: [RESEARCH_TEACHING]. Check fit to the department's stated priorities, a clear research agenda with a realistic first three years, evidence of teaching, funding and collaboration, and a tone that is confident without overclaiming. Compare length and structure to the application instructions. Return a table with Criterion, Evidence in letter, Rating (red, amber, green) and Fix, a list of unsupported claims, and a rewritten paragraph on the research plan. Confirm length, format and referee requirements against the advertisement [VERIFY]. Add a check for the tone of the teaching paragraph, which often reads as a list of courses, and for whether collaboration, supervision and public engagement are evidenced. List three questions a search committee might ask about the research plan, so that I can see whether the letter invites the right ones. Then prepare for the stage after the letter. Produce a list of the documents that usually accompany this application, such as a research statement, teaching statement, diversity statement, writing sample and referee details, and map the claims in the letter to the document that supports each. Identify any claim in the letter that the other documents do not support, and any statement that would be hard to defend at interview. Draft answers of about 100 words to the five questions a committee is most likely to ask about the research plan, the first teaching term, funding, collaboration and fit with the department, using only what I provided. Suggest a way to tailor the letter for a teaching-focused post and for a research-focused post without rewriting it, and a checklist for formatting, length and file names. Remind me to confirm all requirements in the advertisement [VERIFY]. Also suggest which sentence of the letter a committee member is most likely to quote in a discussion, and whether that is the sentence I want them to remember.
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