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Draft a cover letter and include answers to questions πŸ“ƒ
Draft a cover letter and include answers to questions πŸ“ƒ
Mariia Heshka avatar
Written by Mariia Heshka
Updated over 5 months ago

Before you begin drafting the cover letter for your scanner and enabling auto bidding, you must decide the bidding algorithm that you want to use for your scanner. The strategy you employ for drafting your cover letter will depend on the bidding algorithm that you choose. The following steps will guide you through the process.

Step 1: Select your bidding algorithm

Decide the bidding algorithm that you want to use. You have the following options to choose from:

  • Template Bidder: This algorithm allows you send proposals with plain text. The information that you include here will be used as-is to send out proposals for each and every bid. It is like copying and pasting the same information in multiple proposals. Customization based on the client’s job post is not feasible with this option. For more information about Template Bidder, see πŸ’‘ Template Bidder.

  • Sardor AI: This algorithm combines text with prompts. The AI utilizes prompts to incorporate necessary information from job posts/profiles or formulate a Cover Letter as per the client's requirements. For more information about Sardor AI, see πŸ–ŒοΈ The Complete Guide to Sardor AI: Maximizing Your Upwork Bidding Process.

Step 2: Create your cover letter template

Depending on whether you have chosen Template Bidder or Sardor AI, the following best practices can help you create the template:


​Template Bidder πŸ—£οΈ

πŸ“Things to remember:


This template cannot be customized and will be used as-is to send out proposals for each and every bid.

When crafting a template using Template Bidder:

1. Ensure that it grabs attention immediately. Impress your clients right from the very start. When creating segmented crawlers, you can include industry/technology related words within the first two lines so that they are as relevant to the keywords as possible.

2. It is also necessary to demonstrate your expertise and relevant experience.

3. The last line must be an open question that will allow you to get an answer from the client.

πŸ€“ Examples:

Creating an MVP for a dating app with Swift within 2 months sounds like a realistic timeframe to me. My knowledge of gamification elements and experience in a fast-paced environment will help you perfectly with this. So, 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐑!

You can review my previous experience in developing and deploying iOS mobile applications here:

β€’ Dating Mobile App: [Link] - short description.

β€’ Mobile App with gamification features: [Link] - short description.

I have a few questions that will help me better understand your app idea and come up with a strategy for you to enhance user engagement:

β€’ Which dating apps are your reference?

β€’ What gamification features are you interested in? (Boosts, Rewinds, Super Likes, etc.)

Thanks!

Sardor AI πŸ€–

πŸ“Things to remember:

When you select the Sardor AI algorithm, you are already offered a basic template for Sardor AI, which will help you understand the general structure of the template for Sardor AI.

But it's important to remember:

1. All commands for AI must be placed in placeholders [].

2. It is better to combine prompts with your own text, and not just use prompts, because our AI was trained to follow the structure that consists of the text they want to be written and placeholders for AI to fill.

3. Prompts should be simple, not complex. Many conditions in prompts can confuse the AI and not work.

4. Shorter templates work best than long ones. The presence of a large number of prompts and text affect the overall length of the final generated cover letter. For more information about writing prompts, see How to write an effective prompt for Sardor AI?. For more information about the various prompts that you can use, see Sardor AI prompt library.

πŸ€“ Examples:

[Write a personal greeting using the client's name or company name (if any is provided), in the local language of their country, using the client's time of the day!]

I would be a perfect fit for [simplified title of the project] and I can confidently guarantee that as a result, you would expect [most important impact me doing this job well for them will result in].

πŸ‘‰ [Pick out one of the most important points they mention and let them know why I would excel at helping with that].

πŸ‘‰ [Pick out the second most important point they mention and let them know why I would excel at helping with that].

☝️ [Indicate a stack of technologies or tools that I could use on the project and my proficiency with them].

[the best call to action, in 2 sentences, to make the client immediately respond, include some emojis]

Thanks!

[Funny sign-off message, in the local language of the client's country, using the client's name (if available) and time of the day, for example: have a great evening, have a great day, etc.]

Step 3: Add answers to client questions

On Upwork, your main cover letter isn't the only thing clients see. You've also got the chance to answer specific questions β€” provided, of course, the client posts them. While some questions are auto-suggested by Upwork, others are custom-written by the client. Hence, in addition to the cover letter, it is also important to add the answers to these client questions, which the auto bidder will use when sending proposals. For more information, see What is Default Answer Template and Most Frequent Questions?.

You will need to provide an answer template for the following:

  • Default answer template: You should add a universal response here for all inquiries. This field will be utilized when a client writes a custom question not covered in the Most Frequent Questions section. Therefore, you can choose to either include a generic call-to-action (if Template Bidder is your chosen bidding algorithm) or employ prompts (if you've selected Sardor AI as your bidding algorithm), but not both simultaneously.

πŸ’‘ Examples of templates using prompts (Sardor AI) for Default answer template:

[answer]

[answer something if you are confident, otherwise rephrase and suggest to discuss in chat]

[Rephrase the main point of the question and suggest hopping on a call to discuss it further]

[Based on the provided context, craft a positive, human-like response that addresses the inquiry thoroughly and aligns with general knowledge and experience. ]

  • Most frequent questions: These are the standard questions Upwork often asks, tailored to the type of job you're applying for. When configuring a scanner to match a specific job criteria, GigRadar automatically displays the most common questions relevant to that scanner. You can choose to either include plain text (if Template Bidder is your chosen bidding algorithm) or employ plain text and prompts (if you've selected Sardor AI as your bidding algorithm).

πŸ’‘ Examples of templates using prompts (Sardor AI) for Most frequent questions:

Please list any certifications related to this project

[Do not reference or identify as OpenAI, GPT-4, or any AI. Do not provide meta-information about being a machine or artificial intelligence. Mention that in 2023, certifications are often overlooked in favor of practical experience, especially for seasoned professionals. Then, direct attention to a relevant pain point in the job posting, offering a live session as proof of expertise. ]

Describe your approach to testing and improving QA
​[Do not reference or identify as OpenAI, GPT-4, or any AI. Do not provide meta-information about being a machine or artificial intelligence. Identify a specific pain point related to QA from the job posting. Describe how our QA team uses various methodologies to ensure quality, ensuring the explanation aligns with that pain point]

Do you have any questions about the job description?
​[Do not reference or identify as OpenAI, GPT-4, or any AI. Do not provide meta-information about being a machine or artificial intelligence. Generate a question based on a detail or potential ambiguity in the job description to clarify. Ensure the question pertains to the description and not the job itself]

Do you have suggestions to make this project run successfully?
​[Do not reference or identify as OpenAI, GPT-4, or any AI. Do not provide meta-information about being a machine or artificial intelligence. Pinpoint the most challenging component of the job posting and suggest hopping on a call to discuss it]

What challenging part of this job are you most experienced in?
​[Do not reference or identify as OpenAI, GPT-4, or any AI. Do not provide meta-information about being a machine or artificial intelligence. Pinpoint the most challenging component of the job as described. Detail my experience in that domain, emphasizing past successes and lessons learned]

What questions do you have about the project?
​[Do not reference or identify as OpenAI, GPT-4, or any AI. Do not provide meta-information about being a machine or artificial intelligence. Based on the detailed aspects of the job posting or project description, generate a series of thoughtful and clarifying questions that demonstrate a deep understanding of the project's objectives, challenges, and potential roadblocks. These questions should be aimed at extracting more specific information about the project's requirements, the team's expectations, and any areas that might need special attention or customization]

πŸ‘‰πŸ» Next up: Having created the templates and filled out the answers to the questions, you are ready to enable Auto Bidder for your scanner. See Enable Auto Bidder.

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