I Was Pressed for Words
A cover letter or a diary entry? Same difference.
If I have to write cover letters, I’m going to pour my soul into them. Here’s a very legitimate letter I submitted.
Position: Full Stack Web Developer
Company: Higher Education Consultant
Additional background info: Looking for developers with experience in WordPress, PHP, and CSS.
Hello Bob,
I came across the Full Stack Web Developer position through [a-different-company-name], and before I knew it, I’m drafting up this letter. I was but a young child when my uncle introduced Wordpress to me. It was in the late 2000s — we were still using CRT monitors. I remember tinkering with various themes (limited, because free themes had no customization) to come up with a website of my own. I was so proud. Although.. I hated that it was [redacted]@wordpress.com; I wanted it to be www.[redacted].com — my very own domain name, just like my uncle’s!
Life happened and fast forward to a few weeks ago: Boom! https://knds.art. I felt like a kid buying a new toy with his saved-up piggy bank. I would’ve gotten a .com but I heard that’s not the hip thing anymore.
I have a background in Biochemistry and Graphic Design. Front-end development, as far as I’m aware, is just graphic design with extra steps. Extra steps I’m willing to take, nay, extra steps I enjoy taking. I love the challenge. I love it when display: flex is not working its magic, I love it when I’m “fixing a bug” but really it was just a typo, and I love it when I run out of Stack Overflow forums for my very specific problem. Because at the end of the day, when that flexbox decides to work, when that typo gets fixed, and when you find that one Stack Overflow with barely any upvotes, it’s all worth it.
Life’s too short not to be direct — I am proficient in React, HTML/CSS, SCSS, and a few other tricks to make any website beautiful. I’m not going to lie and say that I am an expert in PHP, but I can confidently say that prior to starting [a-different-company-name] a few months ago, I had no idea how to code, and look where I’m at today. I can do just the same with PHP. It is just another language. Another challenge. Another tear jerker.
I do hope to hear from you — see if we can be a great fit for each other.
Warmly,
Kaung Nan Dar Shein
Just found this article lying around in my draft, so unfortunately, this very first entry is going to possibly be the only one for the foreseeable future in the The Art of Cover Letters series.
After a grueling 8-month journey of continuously banging my head against recruiters, I accepted the position at my current company. That was about a little over a year and a half ago, and it’s still going strong. If you’re reading this and you’re stuck in the Wheel of Rejection, know that I’m rooting for you.
Go forth. Make mistakes. Let your creative juices flow. What’s the worst they’re going to do? Not reply to you? They already don’t do that anyway.
