A cover letter is a one-page accompaniment to a resume or CV expressing your interest in an organization and highlighting experiences that make you the right candidate.
A perfect cover letter consists of the following sections :
1. Opening
Write a short greeting that opens the letter in a thoughtful way by including their name on the first line.
2. Reason for Writing
Provide your purpose for emailing them by writing any necessary context.
3. Introducing Yourself
Highlight only your most relevant skill and accomplishments (but don't parrot the resume).
Also this is a great opportunity to add something special about yourself which you haven't
written in your resume.
4. Why are you a Fit for the Position
After doing some research about the company tell them what excites you about this particular position
and how it matches up with where you've been and what have you done.
5. Closing Comments
Close the letter with a Call To Action & re-iterating what challenges you could help them solve.
6. Signing Off
Finally, sign off by thanking them for their time.
Sample Cover Letter
Opening
Hi There 🙂👋, Hope you are doing great !
Reason for Writing
I am writing this to express my interest in the position of ...
I wish to apply for the position of ...
Introducing Yourself
I have been working as a Full Stack Developer for about 4.5 years ...
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
In addition to my current skill set, I like to keep myself updated by
watching tech talks and reading articles. ...
Why are you a Fit for the Position
A personal project which I am proud of ...
On a team, I tend to be as open as possible ...
Closing Comments
Thank you for reading this letter 🙂. If you feel that my working style
matches with yours, I would be really happy to have a chat ...
Tip 1: Try to use the company’s name as often as you can.
This definitely adds personal touch to your cover letter.
Tip 2: Start with how you got to know the company.
This will make the cover letter a lot more personal and not just the same cover letter you send out to every company.
Tip 3: Highlight your tech stack.
The easiest way to do this is to list the stack alongwith a previous project that you have worked on.
Another way is by adding a link to your tech stack list.
Tip 4: Include your interests.
This will give you something to talk about during the interview and it is your chance to show a bit of personality.
Tip 5: Show your enthusiasm.
Enthusiasm leads to motivation and motivation leads to results. If you’re applying for a position as an Android developer an example would be “My passion for Android development started when…”
Tip 6: Tailor your CV to the position you are applying for.
Your CV should differ for each job application. Weeding out what isn’t necessary for each job.
Tip 7: Describe relevant experiences and what you learned from them.
Anyone can list their skills in a cover letter but a more effective cover letter is one that describes your experiences. Example: “In this project I have been able to learn how to design, work efficiently in a team and implement new features according to the client’s needs.”
Tip 8: Use Action verbs to demonstrate your experience.
Use action verbs like : “applied”, “improved”, “implemented”. Example : “Ensured quality with unit and integration tests and applying TDD”.
Tip 9: End strongly.
Sum up your cover letter with the strengths and enthusiasm you have portrayed. Don’t forget to name the company and the position you are applying for once again.
