My Software Cover Letter
A Software cover letter for a job I ended up landing
My software cover letters almost always follow a similar pattern. I start with a friendly opener, mentioning the role and covering my pertinent personal qualities.
Keep in mind: I tailor every section of my cover letters to the role. The company mentioned they wanted someone who was comfortable working on new projects as well as joining established ones, so I bring it up. Even if I don’t have experience with a requirement, I will at least show interest in it.
Hello Company.
My name is Trevor and I am interested in the Junior Software Designer position advertised on your web site. I am curious, passionate, driven, and a fast learner, who will put in the extra hours to accomplish what I seek to achieve. I can work on an existing project or build one up from scratch, and am not above learning from those around me with more experience.
I then proceed to explain how, from a technical standpoint how I am qualified, and I make sure to address the skills that I either lack or am not proficient in by mentioning similar technologies I have used or how I will become proficient. This role listed on-call as a job responsibility, so I also acknowledge it and throw in a bit of humour at the end.
I have a background in Java, as it was one of the main focuses during my three years in College. I have done some scripting in the past with bash, and while it has been a while, I am confident I would quickly be able to bring myself back up to a more than satisfactory level. As for SQL, it is one of my most preferred languages to work with. During my seven-week internship at the end of my program, as it is something I am interested in, my main focus was mainly on refactoring and improving previously written back-end and database code at the company I was doing my stage. I have used Ubuntu, fedora, and a little bit of Kali, and feel quite comfortable in a Unix based environment. I consider myself a highly flexible person that understands that software projects can have specs change fast, and in networking quick response is sometimes a must and at all hours of the day. Hackers aren’t always respectful of our supper times.
I then talk very briefly about my interests and hobbies. It isn’t necessary, but I believe a company wants to hire someone with more personality than “I live for code.”
Outside of work I enjoy reading articles on new technologies, reading for pleasure, practicing a musical instrument, improving upon my cooking skills, and practicing programming skills and other computer science related skills.
What do I know about the company? Here I will do a bit of research if I haven’t heard of the company and tell them why I like what they are doing and why I want to be a part of it.
I have heard of COMPANY before as it is one of the major networking companies, and network security is an interest of mine I look to delve further into in the future. I would love to be part of the COMPANY team.
Very formal finish. I am thanking the company for taking the time to consider me, and expressing that I am available to have a discussion as soon as possible.
Thank you for your consideration, and feel free to contact me at any time through email or phone below at your earliest convenience:
myemail@gmail.com
555–555–5555
Best regards,
Trevor Doe
That is the essence of my cover letter. It should be concise, not too long nor too wordy. The goal of a good cover letter is to convince your potential future employer of three things:
- You are professional and interested in the role and company
- You are an excellent fit for the role and company
- You are a friendly human they would want to work with
Final note: I would highly recommend you read any cover letters you write, to friends and family for feedback, and keep one that you are pleased with as a template for future letters.
If you want to ask me any questions or just connect and talk about code, or anything comp-sci related, why not join the Discord Server that I admin
