# Tailoring and cover letters

> Get a copy of your resume rewritten for one job posting, and a cover letter written for it, without inventing experience.

For each job you track, Hiresweep can write a copy of your resume rewritten for that posting and a cover letter to go with it. Both work from what your resume already says. Neither invents experience you don't have.

Both live on the **Ready** step of an application. See [Tracking job applications](https://docs.hiresweep.com/guides/tracking-job-applications).

## Tailor your resume

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the application">
    Open the job from **Applications** and make sure the **Resume** menu shows the resume you want to start from.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Select Tailor">
    Select **Tailor** in the page header or on the **Ready** step. Hiresweep shows **Rewriting a copy for this
    posting**. It takes about a minute.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Check the result">
    The **Tailored** card shows how the match changed, for example **62 → 81**, when the job had a score before.
    Select **Open resume** to read and edit the copy in the builder.
  </Step>
</Steps>

You can also select **Tailor** on a reviewed job in the applications list. It runs in the background, and a message with **Open** appears when it is done.

The tailored copy is a separate resume. Your original is never changed.

### What tailoring won't do

Tailoring rewrites and reorders what is already in your resume to answer the posting. Any edit that would add a skill, a figure or an experience your resume doesn't support is dropped. Open **N edits left out: not in your resume** on the card to see what was held back.

If you really have that experience, add it to your original resume and tailor again.

### Choose what to send

On the **Applied** step, the **Sending** menu picks which version goes out: **Tailored** or **Original**. After the application is sent, it shows **Applied with** and the resume that was used.

## Write a cover letter

The **Cover letter** card on the **Ready** step writes a letter for this posting from the resume the application will send, so it uses the tailored copy when that is what goes out.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Pick a tone">
    Choose **Neutral**, **Warm**, **Formal** or **Concise**.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Generate">
    Select **Generate**. The letter is about 250 words (about 150 with **Concise**) and appears in the card.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Edit and save">
    Edit the text in place and select **Save**, or **Discard changes** to go back to the saved version.
  </Step>
</Steps>

- **Regenerate** writes a new letter and replaces the current one, after asking.
- **Copy** copies the letter to your clipboard.
- **Download** saves it as **Text (.txt)** or **Word (.docx)**.

When you apply through Hiresweep and the form has a cover letter text box, the saved letter is pasted into it.

<Note>
  This is a letter for one job. To add a cover letter page to a resume itself, see [Adding a cover letter
  section](https://docs.hiresweep.com/guides/adding-a-cover-letter).
</Note>

## What it costs

| Action                          | Cost        |
| ------------------------------- | ----------- |
| **Tailor**                      | 1 AI action |
| **Generate** or **Regenerate**  | 1 AI action |
| Editing, saving, copying, downloading | Free  |

See [Plans and usage](https://docs.hiresweep.com/guides/plans-and-usage).