Example 2 Cover Letter

The following represents a more detailed cover letter that I have sent to a few employers, including internal positions. It lists details I think are important to the kind of jobs I would be applying to, and is also easily tailorable; all I really have to do is change the position title and company name to match the applicable position/company being applied to. This is a great thing to have to send to employers, in bulk, and at a fast rate.

For the purposes of differentiating my cover letter examples, I have formatted this cover letter to be used when applying for an internal position; hence, it offers a different level of detail when compared to my first cover letter example. Although the details listed are representative of my experience, I have removed specific program names and details for proprietary reasons. As a general rule, you should never share proprietary information outside of your company. From my annotations (bolded and italicized wording), you should get the general idea of how to tailor this for your own use as an internal or external cover letter or email. 

My thoughts about the contents of the letter are annotated in bolded italicized wording. The link to the Google Doc of this cover letter can be found here. If you copy the document to your Google Drive, you will be able to edit it, save it as a PDF, and start sending it out to prospective employers in no time!

If you are using this as an internal cover letter, you should definitely know who the recipient of your letter and resume will be. Address them appropriately. If you don’t know to whom the letter/email is being addressed, simply state, “To Whom It May Concern;” otherwise, say, “Hello <FirstName>.”

Hi <FirstName>,

I hope all is well!

Tell the reader who you are, and why you are reaching out to them. It may also be beneficial to let them know the specific job you are applying to since they most likely have many open positions. Most companies have an internal site that employees can apply to internal positions. List this information here.

My name is David Marcus, and I am reaching out to you with regards to the ABC Engineer Position (<InternalJobSystem> Req ID 0123456789) within your department. I found this position through the <InternalJobSystem> website, and fell in love with everything I read! With this being said, I would like to introduce myself, and formally submit my interest in the ABC Engineer Position!

In the next few paragraphs, give the reader some background information about you: education, certifications, work experience, job responsibilities, etc. Try to provide context about when you may have worked at these jobs as well.

I am David! I am a Professional Electrical Engineer, and am alum of the University of South Florida. I received my Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering in December of 2013, and I have been working as an engineer in the aviation industry since then. I earned my Professional Engineering (PE) license in June of 2019. 

I worked for GE Aviation as a Systems Engineer for 3.5 years, and I currently work as a Principal Electronics Engineer supporting <Platforms,Products,etc.>, here, at NGC in Melbourne. In these positions, I have led and supported multiple military and commercial aviation programs, and have served as the subject matter expert over many types of avionics. I author bench test procedures, technical reports, and white papers, and produce many other types of technical, program documentation for internal and external customers. As a lead avionics engineer for <Platforms,Products,etc.>, I also serve as the primary interface between my functional department (Electronics and Payloads) and all of our internal/external stakeholders (customer, program management, logistics, vehicle eng., manufacturing, systems, quality, subcontractors) throughout the program lifecycle. Also as the lead E&P engineer, I have extensively participated in budgetary estimates and technical trade studies/analyses for the capture of future programs for <Platforms,Products,etc.>: <Program1, Program2, ProgramN>.

List specific program names, platforms, products, etc. that you may have worked on.

Break up your work experience into multiple sections, especially if the type of work is considerably different. With this being said, it is always good to be well rounded. You never know who is going to pick up your resume. More often than not, people will interview for one job, but get offered a different job at the same company but a different team.  

For the last 2.5 years, I have been working with Radar Tracking subject matter expert, <SME First/Last Name>, in developing MATLAB algorithms for the <Platforms,Products,etc.> Radar Systems IPT. In this area, I have created algorithms to process and fuse large amounts of Radar data in multiple formats (<ListDataFormats>) from the <Platforms,Products,etc.> sensor, correlated the data against established areas of interest, and have improved speed and efficiency of code execution. Additional expertise in the MATLAB/programming/scripting domain ranges from reading/writing/manipulating data in multiple formats (XML, CSV, binary, ASCII) to DAQ/control of SDRs and other lab test/measurement equipment.

To name drop or not to name drop; that is the question. Do so very carefully, and never name drop just to name drop. There are many articles detailing this, so I won’t spend too much time on it here. Ask yourself the following questions beforehand: are you familiar with the person you are name dropping, do you have a working relationship with him/her, do you have or need their permission, will the recipient of this letter know who you’re referring to, how will it help or hinder me, does the name dropped person provide an added effect to the goal you seek. 

List some accomplishments that are applicable to the job you are applying to. What did you accomplish, how did you accomplish it, what is it’s intended use, etc., are all things you should detail in this section.

My most recent accomplishment is represented through the thoroughly documented and detailed usage of a Computational Electromagnetics (CEM) simulation tool for the generation of 3D model based Radar data. The CEM tool, Lucernhammer, represents a suite of CEM tools with many individual command line executables that compose the total software package. These tools, with machine learning, and along with many 3D models of different vehicles (primarily maritime ships), are being used to generate simulated RCS/signature data, range profiles, and SAR images to potentially be used in an Auto Target Recognition (ATR) application on <Platforms,Products,etc.>. The primary focus of this assignment was to resurrect and enhance previously researched <timeline> capabilities for future <Platforms,Products,etc.> applications by: distinguishing between multiple versions of the Lucernhammer tools, creating instructions for operation of each tool, describing important parameters within the input and output files, instructing how to analyze output data with MATLAB, and creating MATLAB tools for the analysis of output data. 

If you do anything in your spare time that may relate to the job, go ahead and list it here. Like I said before, you never know who’s going to pick up your resume.

Lastly, in my spare time, I have worked on various projects with commercially available SDRs. With these devices, and MATLAB, I have been able to perform the following tasks:

• Generate text messages and convert messages to binary
• Generate a frame structure for transmitting data
  • Frame structure contains data guard followed by preamble (synchronization sequence) followed by message in binary format
• BPSK module frame data
• Initialize radio for data transmission
• Apply pulse shape filtering to frame data prior to transmission
• Transmit frame data repeatedly via radio
• Receive and record transmitted message using same radio (transceiver) or receive-only radio
• Apply matched filtering to received data prior to compensating/decoding
• Autocorrelate data for coarse synchronization
• Apply frequency compensation
• Cross correlate data against preamble (synchronization sequence) for determining data start position
• Apply phase compensation
• Demodulate data
• Convert data back to binary and then convert to text message 

Thank the reader for their time, restate your interest, point the reader to your resume, and leave the door open for future discussion.

I am very eager to learn more about the ABC Engineering Position within your team. Please find my resume attached to this email. I would be glad to discuss my background, this and all potential opportunities, and how I will be an immediate, positive impact within your team.

Fill in the appropriate details for the position you are applying to.

Thank you,

Use your company signature and provide all applicable information.

David Marcus, PE

Principal Electronics Engineer

Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems

yourName@companyemailaddress.com

Office: (xxx) xxx-xxxx, Cell: (xxx) xxx-xxxx