Web Developer Cover Letter

Being a web developer is exciting—you get to create websites and apps that solve problems, connect people, and improve lives. And it’s a skill that’s in high demand: the Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected that web developer jobs are going to grow 50% faster than the average until the year 2026. If that’s not convincing enough, web developers are highly respected across industries and often earn great salaries. Even if you’re new to web development, you have a high chance of landing a good position - as long as you’ve got the right cover letter to catch an employer’s eye.

Once you’ve developed the right skills, you’ll be competing with your peers for positions at desirable companies. A great cover letter and resume is the first step toward getting noticed by prospective employers. Your cover letter is the first thing recruiters will notice about you—so you have to make sure it’s nothing less than perfect.

If you’re struggling to draft a great cover letter for a web development role, this article will provide you with all the help you need.

What Should A Cover Letter Include?

A good cover letter should do the following:

1. Highlight your skills and credentials – To stand out from the rest, it’s important to highlight all of your skills and credentials. You should include all the key web development terms relevant to the technical skills mentioned in the job listing.
2. Show your development chops – Besides highlighting role-specific skills, you should showcase any professional experience you have that is relevant to the job requirements. For example, you could include a brief summary of companies you’ve worked with or projects you’ve completed. This will help recruiters get a sneak peek into your professional journey.

What Should A Cover Letter Not Include?

Besides detailing your skills, qualifications and experience, you have to be able to convince a recruiter that you’ll be able to create the best end products for the company. And there are certain details you should steer clear of in your cover letter. A great cover letter will boost your chances of being considered for the position—but if it’s irrelevant, sloppy, or poorly written, it can cost you an interview. The following are some of the things you need to avoid while writing a cover letter.

Too much personal information: A recruiter doesn’t need to know about your hobbies for you to be considered as a prospective web development candidate. In general, stay away from personal reasons why you want the job. Instead, focus on the professional reasons why you’d love to be hired for the role. You should aim to showcase yourself as a quality candidate, not someone who’s only interested in the role because you’re attracted to the flexible work hours of the organization, for instance.

Negative comments about your current or past employer: Bad-mouthing your current or past employer is never a good look. Negative comments are more likely to be perceived by an employer as an indication of possible attitude or performance issues. Focus on the skills and personality traits that will make you a welcome addition to the development team.

Salary requirements: Web development roles often come with impressive salaries and benefits, but you shouldn’t ask for it outright. Avoid including salary expectations unless asked to do so by the recruiter. It’s important to show the employer that you’re interested in the job itself. This will also demonstrate to the employer that money isn’t your primary motivation.

Spelling or grammatical errors: Web developers have to do a lot of quality checks on their work, so demonstrate your thorough editing skills with a flawless letter. Your cover letter should validate your ability as a writer and reflect your attention to detail. Even one typo could cost you the job. Review and proofread your work to ensure your letter is error-free. You could even ask a professional to review it for you.  

Misleading credentials: It should go without saying, but you should of course avoid including anything that is not true. Lies or inaccurate information about your credentials will usually be found out and will result in immediate disqualification.

If You're Stuck, Just Start Writing

No one knows your web development experience, knowledge and skills better than you do. Your cover letter is your chance to provide recruiters with a great first impression of your talent and hireability. Your experience will speak for itself, but a great cover letter will represent your personality and your commitment to your work. We hope that the tips in this article will help you pull together an impressive cover letter for a web developer role. A formal and well-written cover letter has the power to launch a brilliant career.

If you need further inspiration to sit down and tackle those job applications, take a look at some of the student success stories from our software engineering  grads.