A Cover Letter (CL) is a traditional tool that is used in most companies, both in France and abroad. It is an opportunity to present yourself as an ideal candidate by showcasing your technical skills and expressing your motivation to work for a company.

Things to Remember

• Like a CV, a Cover Letter should not be longer than one page - it should be brief and concise
• Reading CLs is an essential part of most recruiting processes. Tailoring it to the company and position you are applying for is important. It should highlight your technical credentials, skills, past work experience, and accomplishments.
• Write a fresh cover letter for each job. Most hiring managers and recruiters want to see that you’re motivated about the specific position and company. It is okay to reuse a few strong sentences and phrases from one CL to the next, but do not think of sending out a generic cover letter that you find online.

Traditional Cover Letter

Format

It is crucial to state your basic personal information. The contact info could be similar to the one mentioned in your CV like your name, your pronouns (optional), your location (City, State), your email address, your phone number, Your LinkedIn profile, or Github profile link or website (Optional)

Address your cover letter to the hiring manager

Move away from using generic salutations like “ Dear Sir or Madam” or “To Whom It May Concern” and personalize your CL by addressing the recruiter. You can find the information at the end of the job ad or you can also address the team - “Dear “Spotify” Team”

1. Paragraph 1 is an introduction that sets the stage for the CL. Make sure to make it memorable, engaging, and conversational. It should contain:

• The last big step in your professional journey ("After following Le Wagon Bootcamp training..." or "After 3 years in the tourism industry")
• A mention of the type of job or industry you are looking for ("I am looking for my next experience as a web developer")
• The name of the job position and the company you are applying for. Find more information on the company’s about and/or careers page to learn more about the company’s values. You must be able to align with the company’s values, work, product, etc., and explain this is why you want to work here.
• Paragraph 2 is a very condensed summary of why you are best qualified for the job.
  • It should contain 3 qualities you have, that make you a strong contender for the position. These could be soft skills (time management, team management, project management, flexibility) or hard/technical skills (RoR, Figma, etc).
  • You can look for soft skills in the requirement section of the job ad to make sure you highlight your strengths in line with what the company is looking for in its ideal candidate.
  • Some examples
    • Soft skills - taking **initiative and communication skills.  **As the technical lead for a major client, I not only executed all updates on schedule but I also took on the responsibility to train and mentor two new employees to get them up to speed so we could deliver before the project deadline.
    • Hard skills/ Tools/Technologies I developed a strong interest in data while working in this role and have been learning Python and SQL for data handling and visualization as well as predictive modeling for the last 3 months.In my recent projects, I have gained hands-on experience working with datasets in Pandas and NumPy and have been using Git for version
• Paragraph 3 describes your last and most relevant experience in relation to the job.
  • It can be a few lines explaining the purpose of Le Wagon, and what you learnt there.
  • Focus on the part that says something like “your profile” or “what we are looking for” in the job ad. This section of the job advert is showing what the company needs. You can show that you understand their needs by explaining relevant experiences/projects and giving examples to back it up.
  • Describe the projects you worked on during the Bootcamp - what was the project about, why did you choose the project, and what was the problem that you were trying to solve. Pick a project that makes the most sense by understanding the tools and technologies listed in the job ad and provide information accordingly
• Paragraph 4 is the paragraph where you can discuss any other job experience, as long as it is relevant to the job. It can be relevant in terms of industry (tech), position (Manager, Recruiter...), or skills (time-management, React, etc).
• Paragraph 5 is where you shine 🔆
  • it should be 3 lines long, and explain exactly why you are applying to this job and this company.
  • Think outside the box so that they differentiate themselves from the competition. What is their unique selling point? What is something they have that others don’t? How can this help the company with its challenges?
  • You could also consider mentioning a recent round of investment, the gender equality existing within the company, the amazing projects they work for... As long as you show that you have researched the company and you want to be part of it.