Technical Cover Letter: Examples + 3 Writing Tips

As a technical support specialist, you may be great at diagnosing and resolving IT-related issues, but in order to secure an interview you’ll need to elaborate on your technical abilities with an outstanding cover letter.

To help you get started writing a great technical cover letter, we’ve provided three writing tips below that will ensure you convince employers you’re the right person to resolve their customers’ technical issues.

1. Highlight your technical support skills

Whether you work in tech support or software development, employers trust you to help them efficiently tackle problems. It’s important to assure employers you have the right skill-set for the job by clearly displaying your competencies on your resume.

In your technical cover letter, showcase your IT or computing experience by elaborating on your problem-solving skills, communication skills, and computer skills, while also emphasizing your key technical support hard skills.

Here are 12 great general technical skills to include in your cover letter:

• Expertise in operating systems and software (Microsoft Office, Microsoft Windows, Windows Server, Macintosh, Linux)
• Knowledge of various systems and networking tools (WAN/LAN, Desktops/Laptops, MAC Books, and Cisco Routers/Switches)
• Experience with troubleshooting technical issues
• Data recovery
• Error logs
• Web applications
• Hardware & software upgrades
• Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL)
• IT Service Management (ITSM) Software (ServiceNow, Jira Service Desk, SolarWinds Service Desk, TOPdesk, and Spiceworks)
• Networking systems
• Enterprise systems
• Microsoft SQL Server

Additionally, because simplifying complex concepts to customers is a huge part of technical support, showcasing your soft skills on your cover letter is also important.

Here are 16 essential technical support soft skills:

• Patience
• Empathy
• Customer service skills
• Attention to detail
• Organizational skills
• Critical thinking
• Analytical skills
• Adaptability
• People skills
• Interpersonal skills
• Conflict resolution
• Language skills
• Collaboration
• Teamwork
• Decision-making
• Customer satisfaction

Here’s an example of how to feature some of your technical hard and soft skills in the body of your cover letter:

I enjoy building customer-client relationships, and have the ability to simplify complex technological problems when dealing with clients to ensure they receive excellent and digestible technical support. Furthermore, I am proficient in using several IT service management software programs, such as Jira Service Desk, TOPdesk, and Spiceworks.

2. Open with a strong introduction

With STEM degrees becoming more popular than ever and many tech fields paying excellent salaries, technical fields can be highly competitive.

However, knowing how to start your cover letter strong will give your job application a boost from applicants who have similar technical backgrounds.

Here are three ways to write a compelling cover letter introduction for any technical job:

1. Show your excitement for the opportunity by expressing your passion for the company or the work you do

As a solution-focused IT professional with 6+ years of experience, I am excited to utilize my analytical, technical, and problem-solving abilities in a new role

2. Align your talents to the job so employers can immediately recognize you have the right skill-set to provide technical support

From installing and configuring software and hardware to troubleshooting and resolving system/network issues, I have a track record in delivering exceptional service to end-users and company clients

3. Provide examples of what you’ve achieved in the past and use real numbers when including your accomplishments to reassure employers you can achieve results and thrive at their company

In my current role as an IT Support Specialist for Enterprise Holdings Inc, I provide technical support to the company-wide network infrastructure consisting of more than 5000 users, ensuring optimal network availability and smooth running of all systems

3. Use action verbs in your technical cover letter

Most applicants applying for IT positions will make the mistake of using phrases such as “responsible for” and “duties include” when describing their experience to the hiring manager.

In order to make your technical support cover letter more engaging for the hiring manager to read, and to set yourself apart from similarly qualified candidates, use action verbs when describing your technical experience on your cover letter.

Here are 40 great technical action verbs to choose from:

Here’s an example of how to use actions verbs on a technical cover letter:

In my current role at Enterprise Holdings Inc., I install and configure software and hardware, diagnose and resolve system and network issues, and deliver exceptional IT service to a company-wide infrastructure of 5,000+ end-users. To date, through engineering and troubleshooting, I have pinpointed and recovered an avg. of 10 major system and network errors monthly, and I also maintain a 95% customer satisfaction rating with clients