AWD 3302: Project Files

Project 3

Student id: m20

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  • Chi Mo
  • 1025 Hancock St, Apt 8G
  • Quincy, MA, 02169
  • 857-222-0943
  • moira0501@gmail.com

Hello Mr.Morrissey[i.n.],

I am interested in the Software Engineering job at EMC Corporation. I became interested in the job, after searching the job position on NEU COOL. Although my major is information science, I took all the computer science classes in college and I meet the requirments of the computer knowledge for this job. I have enjoyed my past work at EMC in the position of ADS testing in Hopkinton, and I think I will fit well with EMC's culture and bring all the necessary abilities to go above and beyond my job requirements.

I bring previous experience with Iron Python from my work at EMC in spring 2016 for my second co-op. As I mentioned before, I worked at Advanced Design Services group and I coded in Iron Python to test the newest servers and equipments.[i.n.] Our group, ADS, is a sub-team in DFx which stands for Design For X and my boss Dick Miller is the manager of the team.[i.n.] In this co-op, I had[i.n.] developed a loop testing in Cumulus platform and it had been[i.n.] used by ADS to Qual Testware and will be used for Debug. I also earned a Bronze Award for this. In processing of developing the test sequence, I took the initiative to contact and work with the Cumulus Software Dev team in Shanghai to compelete it. Besides the developing[i.n.] of the loop sequence, I also developed the test for POST analyzer for Infinity/Arcus. In the last month of my co-op, my role was changed from a software developer to a SQA. I did the SQA job to release the tests for Infinity/Arcus by running tests on all the Warthogs and fixing the software or potential hardware problems with the team. I worked hard and communicated with dev groups from Shanghai, Cork and Franklin. Since all work is not done by one person, it's important to have the team work ability[i.n.] to accomplish the work. Besides the work, I attended the derating class and the IPMI class while I was working at EMC. I also attended the 3D printing workshop which was held in UMASS Lowell. I really enjoyed working at EMC because the EMC community has many events for employees from different cultures. There were Ping Pong competitions and lion dance during the Chinese New Year in February. These events help me put myself as a part of the EMC community.[i.n.]

I had my first co-op at Harvard School of Public Health in IT services, spring 2015.[i.n.] In this co-op, I developed strong customer service skills by troubleshooting users’ software and hardware problems. I communicated with customers by emails, phones and in-person[i.n.]. Because most of my customers are not experts in computer[i.n.], I need[i.n.] to explain the reason of causing the problem and the way to prevent it. I also collaborated with team to manage helpdesk responsibilities and customer issues. These experience helped me gain communication skills by facing different people. Aside from my work experience, I learned C++, Java, C, and XML from my courses at Northeastern University which is a perfect fit for this job as a software engineer.

Because of the previous work at EMC and my computer science knowledge, I think I will fit in well with the culture of EMC Corporation and this job position.[i.n.] I hope you will call me at 857-222-0943 so that we can discuss the next step in the hiring process. I look forward to working for this company again. Thank you very much for your consideration!
  • Yours sincerely,
  • Chi Mo

Peer review

Chi’s genre is a cover letter for a Software Engineering position at EMC, a company for which she previously worked as an ADS tester. The object of the piece is to emphasize her interests and abilities relating to the job and to get an interview or get to the next steps of the hiring process.

Chi does a good job in bringing in her previous experience from her co-ops, especially her previous EMC position. Potentially, she should go more in depth with her previous position at EMC and emphasize that she has already been a part of the community and flourished. Adding something like, “I look forward to working for this company again” will grab their attention and reiterate her involvement. Additionally, it would be good if she mentions her nontechnical abilities, such as working in a team and meeting stressful deadlines since those are important qualities in a candidate. I also recommend explaining any personal projects that relates to the skills needed for the position to show that she has a passion for that type of work. If not, then she can list some of her main technical interests or focus areas that tie in. Other than that, rewording some sentences and fixing some grammar would help the flow of the piece (I put some recommendations in).

Overall, cover letters accompany resumes, so I think she should focus on emphasizing what isn’t included on her resume – that is strong personal traits and technical interests. Lastly, cover letters let candidates go more in depth in projects to show the company that they have a strong understanding in their studies, so that would also be good to look into.

Instructor Note

This is coming along very nicely. There are some issues I've highlighted in comments above that you should address before you send this out. One very important grammatical issue that pops up here is that you have to be sure you are being consistent with your verb tenses--there are moments where you switch back and forth from past to present, which can be confusing for readers. On the whole I think this is a great effort.