Looks really great to me! In fact, I may even "borrow" your general outline for my cover letters... Good luck! > From: Carl Baltrunas <http://www.reststop.com/~carl> > Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:19:03 -0800 > > Hi, > > As some of you know, I'm looking to apply for a position at Cisco, and > I've crafted the following as a cover letter. > > I value your judgement and would like your comments. > > I can send you a copy of the Cisco Req if you would like, but my > intention was to hit the key points from the description and required > skills. If some things would be obvious and do not need to be stated > in the cover letter, please let me know, and I will shorten it. > > I'm concerned it may be too long. However, I do not want to begin > each sentence with "I". > > Thanks! > > -Carl > > PS: Please do not pass this on without my permission. > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; name="CiscoTestCover.txt" > Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="CiscoTestCover.txt" > Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 > X-Attachment-Id: f_gymha13e0 > > Dear Hiring Manager, > > (Name removed) has told me that you have a couple of openings in your Test > Organization for a Software Engineer, Req # R914482 and R914483. > > My entire career has been to create and build systems which allow people > to get on with their work and let the tools handle the automation and > repetition. > > I have a solid background in software development, testing and automation. > > As an operating systems programmer, I spent 30% of my time developing test > programs to perform white-box testing for verifying both correct and incorrect > behavior of the OS and utility programs, before and after patches were applied > or new code was added. > > Since then, I have been involved with contributing to test plans and the > design and automation of product release procedures. As a support engineer, > I created an entire configuration management environment for change control > and release verification for a 6,600 node data network with 38,000 customer > interfaces. We automated this system and tracked all changes to synchronize > configurations on bi-coastal fail-over systems to achieve 99.999% uptime. I > built this using a combination of C, Perl and shell scripting on Unix servers. > > I have hands-on experience with Cisco IOS versions 9.x-11.x on early models > thru the 7000 series routers and worked with many brands of switches and hubs, > having designed, configured and installed both server and network components > in our world-wide data network. > > Known for my strong problem solving and analytical skills, I am able to > master or improve any system or set of procedures that I work on. > > I strive for the highest quality, and sometimes my work becomes the basis for > others to build upon. The restricted shell I developed to permit our partners > to access company sensitive material over the internet became the company wide > access method deployed by both MCI & BT Network Security departments for world > wide access to confidential data residing on our internal networks. > > The many migration projects I worked on went smoothly due to the automated > reformatting, transfer, and verification tools I designed and implemented. > > I am a jack-of-all trades and know how technology can fit together or be > rearranged in new and interesting ways. With my vision and insight I bring > experience with both depth and breadth to Cisco, and would be an excellent > asset to have on your team. > > Sincerely, > > Carl A Baltrunas > Engineer, Master Craftsman and Architect