A new approach in cover letter. Nobody seems to pay attention to what I’m sending them anyway, so why not brag a little?
I have been writing programs in C++ in a unix environment for nearly a decade. I hand coded my first website in 1995, before Internet Explorer came onto the market. I have setup multiple, small LANs and have been using wireless networking since it first came out. I have installed linux on countless personal computers starting in 1995. When my laptop’s display failed, I took it apart, and fixed it myself. I also have several years experience in technical support and customer service. And I would like to put my skills to work for you and your customers.
Unsolicited Observation
I don’t think that’s bragging at all. Busy employers like getting the punch line first–roundabout and humble doesn’t help anyone much. That said, the anal English part of my degree feels that “setup” is more of a noun than the verb “set up”.
Re: Unsolicited Observation
Writing it just made me feel so gandalf-facing-balrog. Or maybe balrog facing gandalf. Yes something demonic. Old and demonic. Give me a job or I will eat your soul and trash your bank account. Terribly silly. Lots of chest pounding that is only tangentially related to whether I could or would do good work for them. =)
Re: Unsolicited Observation
And I totally agree about “setup” vs “set up”
Nothing wrong with a little balrog-facing ..
But your grammar leaves a bit to be desired for a cover letter, especially one that’s so direct. *shrug* You’re not going for a grammar-critical job, however .. so it would probably pass under their radar. I’d probably have done it like this, but your mileage/variance applies. This is unsolicited, so apologies.
I have written programs in C++ in a Unix environment for nearly a decade. I hand coded my first website in 1995, and have set up multiple LANs for wired, wireless and combination networks. I have installed and configured Linux on many personal computers, also dating back to 1995. When the display on my laptop failed, I fixed it myself. Professionally, I have several years of experience in technical support and service environments, and I would like to put my skills to work for you and your customers.
The reason I’d leave out any reference to internet explorer is that your reference had nothing at all to do with the year microsoft rebranded spyglass as internet explorer and bundled it with windows. It’s just one of those unnecessary “my skills are better than microsoft” *nix people things that would cause me to toss the cover letter into the “smug unix asshole” pile. Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t hire you — I’ve often needed smug unix assholes — but if I didn’t need one, there ya go.
Again, this isn’t criticism but more “I would have done this.”
Balrog feels the love
There was no hurty, your input is much appreciated, as is the history lesson. =)