Crafting a platform engineer cover letter can often be a stumbling block even after you've pinpointed your dream job. You understand it's more than a repeated resume; it's your chance to weave a narrative around your proudest professional milestone. It's the delicate balance of formality and originality, devoid of clichés, condensed into a single impressive page. Here's how to distill your experience and passion into a cover letter that stands out.
- Introduce your profile to catch recruiters' attention;
- Use professional templates and examples to make sure your platform engineer cover letter follows the best industry standards;
- Settle on your most story-worthy achievement to shine a light on what makes your application unique;
- Write a platform engineer cover letter, even when you lack professional experience.
Ready to start with the basics: upload your resume to Enhancv's AI, below, to see the platform engineer cover letter it would write for you.
If the platform engineer isn't exactly the one you're looking for we have a plethora of cover letter examples for jobs like this one:
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Platform engineer cover letter example
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- Emphasizing relevant experience: The letter highlights the candidate's experience in developing high-performance APIs at MedTech Innovations, directly correlating with the role that focuses on backend development to improve patient outcomes through technology.
- Demonstrating impact: The cover letter showcases the candidate's ability to not only handle technical challenges but also to deliver solutions that have a tangible positive impact, such as improving system efficiency and reducing patient mortality rates.
- Aligning candidate’s values with company mission: By mentioning a shared commitment to enhancing medical care through technology, the candidate shows that their personal and professional values are in line with the company’s goals, suggesting a good cultural fit.
The must-have sections and format of your platform engineer cover letter
When writing your platform engineer cover letter, keep in mind that it'll only be read by the recruiters and not the Applicant Tracker System (or software used to assess your profile). That's why you should structure your content with a/an:
- Header (apart from your contact information, include your name, the role you're applying for, and the date);
- Personalized salutation;
- Opening paragraph to win the recruiters over;
- Middle paragraph with key details;
- Closing that starts from clichés;
- Sign off (that's not mandatory).
Industry standards dictate your paragraphs to be single-spaced and to wrap your content in a one-inch margin. Designing your platform engineer cover letter, refer to one of our templates, which automatically takes care of the spacing and margins.
Choose the same font for your platform engineer cover letter as you did for your resume: the likes of Lato and Bitter would help you to stand out in a sea of cover letters in Arial or Times New Roman.
Export your whole platform engineer cover letter from our builder in PDF to keep the same formatting and image quality.
The top sections on a platform engineer cover letter
Header: This should include the candidate's contact information, the date, and the employer's contact details, establishing a professional tone and making it easy for the recruiter to reach out for follow-up.
Greeting: A tailored greeting to the hiring manager or the recruitment team shows that the candidate has done their research and is serious about the role at this particular company.
Introduction: In this section, the candidate should briefly state their interest in the platform engineering position and mention their relevant experience or passion for system architecture and cloud technologies to instantly grab the recruiter's attention.
Body: Here, the candidate can delve into specific projects or accomplishments related to platform engineering, such as managing infrastructure as code or optimizing continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, demonstrating their expertise and potential value to the company.
Closing: The candidate should conclude with a strong statement that reiterates their interest in the role and expresses enthusiasm for potentially discussing how their skills and experiences align with the company's needs in platform engineering, while also including a polite call to action.
Key qualities recruiters search for in a candidate’s cover letter
- Proficiency with infrastructure as code (IaC) tools (e.g., Terraform, Ansible, CloudFormation): To design, deploy, and manage scalable and efficient cloud infrastructure.
- Expertise in containerization and orchestration technologies (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes): For creating and managing portable and scalable application environments.
- Strong background in CI/CD pipeline development and automation (e.g., Jenkins, GitLab CI): To streamline the software delivery process and ensure rapid and reliable deployment.
- Deep understanding of cloud provider ecosystems (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP): To leverage managed services and optimize cost and performance of the platform.
- Experience in system monitoring and logging tools (e.g., Prometheus, ELK stack): For maintaining the reliability and performance of platforms through pro-active monitoring.
- Knowledge of network security, compliance, and best practices: To ensure the platform adheres to security standards and protects data integrity.
How to greet recruiters in your platform engineer cover letter salutation
As the saying goes, "You never get a second chance to make a first impression."
Write your platform engineer cover letter salutation to be more personalized to the actual hiring manager, who is set to assess your profile by:
- greeting them on a first-name basis, if you have previously communicated with them (e.g. "Dear Sam,");
- using their last name, if you have more formal communication or haven't spoken to them (e.g. "Dear Mr. Harrows" or "Dear Ms. Marshall");
- writing "Dear HR Team" or "Dear Hiring Manager", if you have no clue about who's recruiting for the role.
Search on LinkedIn, Google, or the company website to find information as to the recruiter's name.
In any case, avoid the impersonal "Dear Sir or Madam".
List of salutations you can use
- Dear Hiring Manager,
- Dear [Company Name] Recruitment Team,
- Dear [Company Name] Hiring Committee,
- Dear [Department Name] Hiring Manager,
- Dear Mr./Ms. [Last Name],
- Dear Dr. [Last Name],
The platform engineer cover letter introduction: focusing on your unique value, with a creative twist
You are not the only one wondering how to start your platform engineer cover letter. Those first two sentences introduce your profile and should be memorable.
No pressure.
When beginning your platform engineer cover letter, immediately point out the unique value of working with you. In other words, what you promise to bring to the role by using your past track record of success.
Start your platform engineer cover letter with a creative twist by telling a joke or stating something relatable. Select this type of introduction only if it aligns with the company culture.
How to write an achievement-focused platform engineer cover letter body
We've got the intro and greeting covered. Now, comes the most definitive part of your platform engineer cover letter - the body.
In the next three to six paragraphs, you'd have to answer why should recruiters hire you.
What better way to do this than by storytelling?
And, no, you don't need a "Once upon a time" or "I started from the bottom and made it to the top" career-climbing format to tell a compelling narrative.
Instead, select up to three most relevant skills for the job and look back on your resume.
Find an achievement, that you're proud of, which has taught you these three job-crucial skills.
Quantify your accomplishment, using metrics, and be succinct in the way you describe it.
The ultimate aim would be to show recruiters how this particular success has built up your experience to become an invaluable candidate.
Closing remarks to end your platform engineer cover letter
Of course, you'll have to show gratitude to the recruiters, who have assessed your profile at the end of your platform engineer cover letter .
A "Thank you for the consideration" would work wonders, instead of the standard "Sincerely yours".
Do you want to make an even better impression?
Close off your platform engineer cover letter by promising how you see yourself excelling in the role and the positive impact you'd bring about.
A sentence that encourages some further action on the recruiter's end could also be a good way to close off the communication (e.g. provide your availability for an interview).
Which story should you tell in your platform engineer cover letter when you have zero experience
Candidates, lacking professional experience in the field - this one is for you.
Your platform engineer cover letter is an exercise of integrity, honesty, and, above all, spinning a positive narrative around your strengths.
And what better way to capture recruiters' attention than with your most job-relevant achievement (this could be from your internship or volunteering experience)?
Make sure to back up your success with transferrable skills that are relevant to the job (e.g. how your year, studying abroad, has taught you to be more motivated and handle multicultural environments).
Another safe card you can bet on is your career dream: in the body of your platform engineer cover letter, go into the details of how your ambitions would help make the company you're applying for better.
Key takeaways
We hope this platform engineer cover letter writing guide has shown you how to:
- Format your platform engineer cover letter with the mandatory sections (e.g. header, greeting, intro, body, and closing) and select the right font (P.S. It should be the same as the one you've used for your resume);
- Substitute your lack of professional experience with your most noteworthy achievement, outside of work, or your dreams and passions;
- Ensure recruiters have a more personalized experience by tailoring your cover letter not just to the role, but to them (e.g. writing their first/last name in the salutation, etc.);
- Introducing your biggest achievement and the skills it has taught you in your platform engineer cover letter body;
- Write no more than two sentences in your platform engineer cover letter introduction to set the right tone from the get-go.
