I have no doubt that I want to pursue a career in computer science (otherwise referred to as software engineering). After I finish my education, I am interested in landing a high paying job that matches my passions.
The Software Engineer position at CRA International is a good fit for me. It matches my interests, skills, and my criteria. I love working with Microsoft technologies and I am very interested in finance. This is a software engineering position using Microsoft technologies at a financial firm – a perfect fit.
One of the qualifications listed on the job ad is experience with the Microsoft Visual Studio development environment using the .NET platform and the C# and VB .NET programming languages. The primary language in which I program today is C# and I am an expert in .NET. I am also very good with VB .NET because Basic (similar to VB) is the first programming language I learned. Furthermore, the job ad stresses the importance of knowing ASP .NET and Win Forms. These are two technologies that I have been using for over 8 years now. I have programmed many projects using Win Forms, including a stock market analyzer, which if I mention on my resume, will definitely stand out.
Another qualification is knowledge of AJAX and Web 2.0 technologies. I have taken graduate level computer science classes on distributed systems which covered Web 2.0 technologies very extensively. I also interned at Microsoft working on Silverlight, the newest Web 2.0 technology released by Microsoft. Silverlight will be a perfect fit for the kind of work this company is doing and they are probably not even aware of it yet. These skills and suggestions will surely empress the employer.
CRA is looking for people who are experience with NVIDIA graphics cards. Two summers ago, I interned at NVIDIA corporation working on the windows control panel. Not only am I familiar with NVIDIA graphics cards, but I was one of the people who worked at NVIDIA. This level of expertise can hardly be matched by any other applicants.
The company is interested in people who are familiar with F#, a programming language which has not even been officially released for production use yet. As a Microsoft evangelist, I always keep up to date with their latest technologies (including F#). Since the language is still in Beta, I am one of very few people in the world who understand it or even know about it. The is probably not one of the most important factors for the job since the F# language is still in development, but they do have it in the list of qualifications and I am familiar with it.
Knowledge of database management systems (DBMS) and the Structured Query Language (SQL) is another one of their important qualifications. I have experience with SQL and databases ever since I can remember. As a volunteer, for five years, I was the lead website programmer and designer for Westside Boiler Invasion (WBI) Robotics, a website that heavily relies on a MySQL database. My long and steady experience with WBI Robotics and MySQL matches this qualification quite elegantly.
Of course, I also meet the basic requirements. As requested, I have a bachelor’s degree in computer science and lots of experience developing on windows platforms. The job ad lists technologies which they require the candidate have experience with. From my summer internships, I have extensive industry experience with all of them.
There are several personal characteristics which are particularly important to this company due to its sensitivity of the financial information that they handle. They ask for “mature judgment in handling of confidential data, intellectual property, and customer communications”. I can be discrete and respectful of confidentiality when needed so I have no problem with that. They also ask that people sometimes be available during the weekends if an emergency occurs and I have no problem with that either.
Overall, I think this job is a great match. The work that I would be doing is heavily tied with Microsoft technologies which I am very interested in. I like the financial angle to the job since I have a personal interest in finance. And although the pay isn’t listed, by looking at similar job ads posted by this company their salaries of 100,000 – 135,000 meet my requirements.
The job post may be found at:
http://jobview.monster.com/getjob.aspx?JobID=78962324&JobTitle=Software+...
Instructor commentary
Overall, this is solid analysis. You identify specific requirements in the job ad and mention ways that you meet these requirements. I think there are two main ways to revise this analysis. The first is that you mention some interesting hooks, but you don't give them sufficient concrete development. Here are a few examples:
These are each interesting, but you need to state as specifically as you can what you created, for whom, and what the effect of your work was. A good story is one with tangible details. Don't just say that made a stock market analyzer with Win Forms, tell who you made it for, what the conditions were, and how it benefited your employer. Provide a practical example of a time when you were "discrete and respectful of confidentiality."
This leads us to the second way you could revise this analysis: you should turn to a discussion of how your analysis shapes your cover letter (and other documents). Recall that the assignment description states: "Think of the Job Ad Analysis as a prelude to the Cover Letter." Right now you have generated a list of requirements and how you suit them. You should pay attention to how you will arrange your content to the greatest rhetorical advantage in your cover letter. Will you focus on a few key examples? How will the text be ordered? What will be the single prevailing theme or thread that connects your examples, and that you want your reader to take away from the document? You want to use this analysis as groundwork for the documents ahead of you, which means attention to both content and structure.
Overall, however, you've got a great start, and you should be able to mine much of this content for your other employment documents.