> We also noticed vague cover letter language:
Sadly, the examples in the article are as good as, or better, than letters I've received from US-based devs.
Sadly, the examples in the article are as good as, or better, than letters I've received from US-based devs.
If you’ve got to churn out as many job applications as possible just to get an interview with a real company, you’ll go insane if you try to make them all thoughtful, beautiful, and crafted to the specific job posting. Worse: you’ll churn out fewer applications. The job application with a cover letter like weak tea is infinitely better than the job application that you never submit because you’re paralyzed by the need to write something perfect. I had a standard template that I modified slightly for each application, but I kept the time customizing it very low: swapping out a list of skills to highlight, etc.
That being said: after talking to my boss recently, apparently my cover letter helped when I was applying to this job (I’m enthusiastic about this area, so I put in some extra time and let my water nerd show). I think what I said is still probably valid for most junior developer positions, but your mileage may vary.
That might very well be the case for a big company that receives a ton of applications but the numbers game works both ways: as the person looking to hire somebody, I find it well worth the time to weed out people based on poor spelling, grammar, etc. It only takes a few seconds to spot the bad ones, and it ensures I don't have to waste my time with somebody who has poor communication skills to begin with.
My money's on "both".