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Cover Letter Template for your next job 💪🏽

September 27th, 2021

#cover-letter

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Heyyo 👋

This piece is not an article per se. It's a template for a cover letter.

You can watch the video here:

Or if you prefer an article, read further 👇🏾

Why am I sharing this?

I have this cover letter format I've been using for my job applications. It has landed me some interviews, and two of my friends (one a Game Developer, and the other, a Developer Advocate) also testified that they got an interview using it.

Note that this is not the best of templates. It can also turn out to be very long if you're not concise enough.

I hope you find this helpful. And if you do, kindly consider sharing it with your friends and reach out to me on Twitter--@iamdillion--with your testimony.

Here's a twitter thread where I'd be adding people's testimonies as they come in: Cover Letter Tweet

Also, if you have any questions or improvement suggestions, please feel free to reach out to me.

I'll share the template, explain a few points in the template, and an example I've used before.

The Template

Subject

Application for the role of [Job Title]

Body

Dear Hiring Manager,

I'd love to work for [Company Name].

Why [Company Name]? [Here, you state why you want to work for the company. What excited you about the company? What product got your attention? Why this company? You have to do your research obviously, so you can clearly state something about the company that matches your interests]

Here, you're showing the recruiter why you want to work for the company. Your cover letter shouldn't come off as a general email you sent to 50 job application emails. It would be best if you tailored it to the job you're applying for and at least show the recruiter that you've done some research about the company.

Why me? [A little about you--who you are, what you love doing, your strengths and skills concisely (ensure they align with the job's description)]

Here, you're showing why you're fit. Mention the skills that applies to the description because that's what matters here.

Here are some of my achievements below that'll make you consider my application:

  • [Achievement 1 with reference links]
  • [Achievement 2 with reference links]
  • ...
  • [Achievement n with reference links]

In addition to the skills you've mentioned, highlight some achievements here. Recruiters are not just here for your words (of course you can boast as much as you want), they also want to see some of your works/wins.

Am I fit for this? I believe I am. [State that particular, unique, or distinct attribute or skill that you possess that aligns so much with the role]

This part here should be exceedingly catchy. Try your best to clarify that you have what it takes, or you're very willing to do what it takes.

[Optional] Do you think I am fit? If you aren't, you can assess my skills with a task. [Give some examples of tasks that the recruiter could use to evaluate you]

This part may come off like you're desperate, so it's okay if you don't want to add it. I usually add this part to show the recruiters how "confident" I am about the job and how much I'd love to work for the company.

I am looking forward to hearing more about this opportunity.

How do you see it?

via GIPHY

Here's an example

Dear Hiring Manager,

I'd love to work for [redacted].

Why [redacted]? I love working on products that contribute to the growth of other businesses. Looking at the work your team is doing on [product X] and [product Y], your team is solving interesting problems in the tech space. I love the purpose that drives [redacted] and I believe I can contribute my skills to the continued success of the product.

Why me? I'm currently a Software Engineer and Technical writer who loves learning, teaching, and building web tools and applications. I haven't worked as a Developer Advocate but I've been wanting to transition to that role. I realized that I'd want to do more than building. I'd want to also share resources, teach online, and guide developers. I've been doing this as a Content Creator, but I want to explore more areas and reach out to more people as an official Developer Advocate. I don't meet up with the 1-year Developer Advocacy requirement, but without that, I believe you'd still want to consider my application with my achievements below:

Am I fit for this? I believe I am. I'm passionate about community. The major reason I started writing was that I wanted people to learn from me, and I wanted to simplify things for people to understand. And as a constant learner, I love exploring new modern web technologies. I believe these skills will be valuable to the team. I'd love you to take a chance on me. I'm confident about this role.

Do you think I am fit? If you aren't, you can assess my skills with a task. I could share a video, write an article, or build an open-source package leveraging your product.

Looking forward to hearing more about this opportunity.

Conclusion

I'd love to hear what you think--improvements, questions, general feedback, please send them in.

I am rooting for you, famm!


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