Let's be honest, most devs would rather debug a race condition than write a cover letter. You open a blank doc, type "Dear Hiring Manager, I am writing to apply for the position of Software Developer..." and immediately want to close the laptop.
So do they even matter anymore? Not every recruiter or engineering manager reads them. But the ones who do usually read them when they're stuck between you and two or three other candidates. That's exactly when a good letter tips it your way. And plenty of postings still ask for one, especially at smaller companies and startups where the hiring manager reads every application themselves.
The good news is a strong cover letter isn't long or fancy. It just needs to be specific. Here's how to write one.
Keep it short
Three or four paragraphs. Somewhere around 250 to 400 words. If it spills onto a second page it's too long.
Engineers skim. A short letter with one or two strong points gets read. A long one gets a glance at the first line and that's it.
Address a real person if you can
Take two minutes to find a name. Check the job posting, the company's team page or search LinkedIn for the engineering manager or recruiter. "Dear Priya Patel" feels way more personal than a generic greeting.
If you really can't find a name, "Dear Hiring Team" is totally fine. Just skip "To Whom It May Concern." It reads like a letter from your bank.
Open with something specific
This is where most cover letters lose people. The first line is almost always some version of "I am writing to express my interest in the Junior Developer position at your company." They already know that. You applied.
Instead, open with something real that makes them want to keep reading. For example: "Last year I rebuilt my team's CI pipeline and cut our build time from 25 minutes to 6, and I'd love to bring that same kind of work to your platform team."
Or if you're a new grad or bootcamp grad: "I've been using your API for a side project that helps 150 students at my college track study groups, and I'd love to help build it from the inside."
See the difference? One sentence and they already know something about you that isn't in every other letter.
In the middle, match two things from the job post
Don't retell your whole resume. They have it already, and probably your GitHub too.
Read the posting and pick the two things they care about most. Then give one short, real example for each. If they want someone comfortable with PostgreSQL who can work with product folks, you could write "On my last project I tracked down a slow query that was timing out our dashboard, then walked our PM through the fix so she could explain it to the client." That one line covers both.
If you have a project that matches the role, link it. One relevant repo or live demo says more than a paragraph of adjectives.
Show you actually looked at the company
Add one sentence that proves this letter was written for them. Not "I admire your innovative engineering culture," every company gets that line. Mention something real. A product you use, an engineering blog post you read, an open source repo they maintain.
Something like "I read your post on moving from a monolith to services, and the way you handled the database split is exactly the kind of problem I want to work on" shows you did your homework.
A quick tip for newcomers to Canada
If you're new here, your cover letter is a great place to clear up things your resume can't. One line like "I'm a permanent resident and available to start right away" answers a question a lot of recruiters have but won't ask.
You can also briefly connect your overseas experience to the role. If you built payment systems for a big e-commerce company back home, say so in one sentence. Keep it short though. The letter is about what you can do for them, not your whole immigration story.
End with a clear next step
Skip "I hope to hear from you soon." It sounds a bit passive.
Try something more confident like "I'd love to talk about how I could help your team. I'm free any time next week for a quick call." Then sign off with "Best" or "Thanks," your name and your GitHub link. That's it.
Mistakes that get cover letters ignored
The biggest one is sending the same letter to every job and just swapping the company name. People can tell. And sooner or later you'll forget to swap it, which is a pretty awkward way to get rejected.
Other common ones: making it all about what you want ("this role would be a great next step for my career"), listing every framework you've ever touched, going over a page, spelling the company's name wrong and stuffing it with phrases like "dynamic team," "passionate about technology" and "I am thrilled to apply." Those make it sound copy pasted, or written by an LLM, even if it wasn't.
A faster way to get a first draft
Writing a fresh letter for every application takes time. If you want a head start, the ResumeStart cover letter generator drafts one from your resume and the job post you paste in. Then you edit it, add your real example and make it sound like you. Way easier than starting from a blank file.
The bottom line
A good cover letter is short, specific and clearly written for one job. Open with something real, match two things they asked for, show you know who they are and end with a clear next step.
That's maybe 20 minutes per application. For the roles you really want, it's worth it.
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