My Andela Cover Letter
This month, April 2018, represents my 3rd year of living in Nigeria while working for Andela. Every year, around this time, I go back to the very beginning of my journey with the company and reflect on how it all began: with a job post, a resume and cover letter. I no longer have a copy of the job description, and my resume has since evolved, but in this post, I’ll be sharing that cover letter.
I have long believed that one of the most important things that you can do to increase the likelihood of getting an interview (and ultimately a job) is to personally connect with the hiring team via a personalized cover letter. While resumes highlight what you’ve done, cover letters can tell a better story about why a hiring manager should pay attention to you, and how you’d be able to apply your past experiences to the company’s future.
Background
When I landed in Lagos on April 1, 2015, I was already a full-time Andela employee and had briefly spent some time working remotely from California and Texas. I had spent a total of 1 month in Nigeria before this move — including 1 week to visit this company that I had decided to uproot my life for — but still believed strongly that this was the right move.
Part of my confidence in the move was because before I joined full-time, I had spent a couple of months volunteering as a remote Technical Project Manager for the company.
I had applied for this role but opted to volunteer pro-bono to better understand the company, learn what it was about, and ultimately decide whether I would be willing to relocate from the west coast of North America to the west coast of Africa.
Cover Letter
It was an exciting opportunity that I couldn’t stop thinking about, and so I wanted to make sure that Andela was just as intrigued by me as I was by them. And because I had spent some time on the other side of the hiring table, I knew how many applications a job post could get, how easy it was to be a needle in a haystack, and how vital a cover letter could be in helping you stand out.
Andela was just 6 or 7 months old at the time, but I still spent more time on this cover letter than any other single one in my life, and had a number of days pass between writing the first draft and sending the final version. Below is that final version that ultimately got my foot in the door, gave me a chance to volunteer, and then ultimately the opportunity to join full-time.
For years, I’ve watched the rise of globalization and the advent of internet technology connect the world. From software developers in Asia to QA Engineers in Eastern Europe to call centers in Latin America, technology has made the world smaller and more connected in an amazing, unprecedented way. But throughout the years of observation and working with distributed teams, one question has repeatedly come to mind: when will Africa be included?
As a Nigerian-American, I’ve long held the conviction that there was untapped potential in the country and continent of my heritage and so when I heard about Andela, I was immediately intrigued and interested in getting involved. I’m applying for your Technical Project Manager role because I believe that my experience, skill set and beliefs are exceptionally aligned with your organization, goals and mission.
After earning a B.S. in Computer Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, I started my career as a technology consultant for Accenture. There, I spent 3 years building relationships with large public and private sector clients and worked in many functions along the software development lifecycle to deliver custom-built software solutions for them.
I later transitioned to consumer web product management and have worked a total of 4.5 years as a product manager first at Tobi.com, next at Zinch.com and finally at Chegg.com (which acquired Zinch.com). The products differed by company and business line, but the heart of the role has always been a need to empathize with users, understand their problems, formulate solutions to those problems, and work cross-functionally to take those solutions from conception to completion.
In addition to my technical background, I believe that my global exposure and experience with distributed workforces would help me succeed as a member of Andela’s team. On top of being born and raised in melting-pot America, I also grew up in a Nigerian community, taught English in Japan for 2 years, project managed Java developers in India (both at Accenture and Chegg) and have led a team of PHP developers in China (at Chegg). As a result of these international and cross-cultural experiences, I’m able to quickly build rapport with people from various backgrounds and believe this would allow me to work effectively with engineers in Nigeria (and elsewhere on the continent) as well as clients around the world.
I’m excited about what Andela is doing and would love to speak with you more in detail about the organization and Technical Project Manager role.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks,
Ebun Omoni
The Result
Not too long after sending this, I was contacted by our then-CTO, Obie Fernandez, and had extensive conversations with both he and our CEO Jeremy Johnson within a week. I later met with some other members of the founding team (Brice Nkengsa, Nadayar Enegesi), discussed what volunteering would look like, started volunteering, joined full-time (much later) and ultimately moved to Nigeria.
4 years ago, I had no idea that I’d end up moving to Nigeria. 4 years ago, Andela didn’t exist (although our founders were already working toward making it a reality at the time). But 3 years ago, I arrived at Murtala Muhammed International Airport via a one-way ticket to Lagos to work with a fast-growing company whose mission and goal of making an impact deeply and personally resonated with me.
And it all started with that cover letter.
If you’re thinking of applying for a role at Andela, or any company, don’t underestimate the power of a cover letter. Every generic one you send is a missed opportunity to stand out and help the hiring team see what you ideally already believe when applying: that of all the people in the world that could join their team, there’s no better person than you.
