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Process engineers serve as value multipliers for companies by increasing the efficiency of their operations and using data to design new and improved workflows.
Depending on how well they perform at their job, a process engineer can potentially save or cost their employer considerable sums of money. As a result, you can expect any hiring manager recruiting for such a position to practice extra scrutiny when deciding which candidate to choose.
If you want to maximize your chances of getting that job interview, you’re going to need to include a well-written cover letter that expands on your achievements and highlights your key skills.
In this article, we’ll explain everything you need to know to create precisely that. We’ll discuss the core structure and elements of any effective process engineer cover letter, as well as provide you with valuable tips and free writing samples.
Looking for a job? These position are hiring now near you:
No matter which company you’re applying to, your process engineer cover letter will follow a similar structure and include the same key elements.
These components are:
The header. List out your contact info, followed by the company’s information. You should also use a professional greeting, such as “Dear [Hiring manager’s name].”
If you don’t know who will be reading your cover letter, using “Dear Hiring Committee” will suffice.
Opening paragraph. Hook the hiring manager’s attention by immediately jumping into your top achievements and sharing quantifiable results.
This is also where you should mention any referrals.
Body paragraph #1. Align your key skills with those mentioned in the job listing.
Body paragraph #2. Now that you’ve proven your past success, explain how you’re going to replicate it at the company you’re applying to.
Closing. Thank the reader for taking the time to read your application and invite them for a follow-up discussion.
Hiring managers rarely spend longer than a few minutes reading over each candidate’s job application, so it’s crucial to catch their attention as quickly as possible.
This means that if you want your process engineer cover letter opening to be compelling, it needs to impress as quickly as possible.
Here are the most important guidelines to follow:
Stay concise. Begin by briefly stating your cover letter’s intent and then immediately jump into examples of your impressive career achievements.
Minimize unnecessary filler and limit each achievement to just a few sentences.
Focus on results. Rather than describe routine day-to-day duties, focus on providing achievement examples that demonstrate how you were able to create value.
Back up your achievements with data. Describe the results of your actions using numbers, rather than vague explanations.
If you increased the efficiency of your employer’s operations, for example, make sure to quantify that rate of improvement.
Mention your references. The opening paragraph is also a great place to mention any employees that referred you for the position.
Make sure to include them in one of your career achievement examples.
Here is a sample process engineer cover letter opening paragraph that demonstrates the principles we’ve covered so far:
Jason Boyd
1228 Flatstone Drive
Oakland Township, MI 22331
444-111-2291
jBoyd@gmail.comJune 19, 2021
Lisa Williams
7123 Sherman Street
Lenoir, NC 55231
221-555-7781
lWilliams@gmail.comDear Lisa Williams,
I’m excited to be applying for the Process Engineer position at Carraway Tech.
During my previous position as a process engineer for Larrison Enterprises, I conducted a comprehensive technical review of the company’s internal operations. As a direct result of the production inefficiencies I identified, the company reduced its safety hazards by 12% and increased its overall production output by 8%.
A few other ways I have helped companies optimize their operations include:
Also at Larrison, used ChemCAD to model more efficient rubber formulations, reducing associated costs by 17%.
At Thermae Productions, implemented a training program to improve communication between the engineering and quality assurance (QA) teams, resulting in a 12% reduction in the frequency of defects.
At Booz Allen Hamilton, developed an automated defect reporting system that reduced quarterly QA-related labor costs by $800,000.
The purpose of your opening paragraph was to grab the reader’s attention by demonstrating your general areas of expertise and ability to generate results.
With your first body paragraph, you now want to be more specific in the skills and qualifications you possess.
If you’ve worked in the industry at length or earned a relevant degree, mention these facts in your opening sentence.
Follow up by highlighting some relevant key skills. Make sure to:
Align your skills with the job listing. Focus on skills that are directly mentioned in the job listing.
The goal isn’t just to prove you’re a skilled process engineer; it’s to convince the hiring manager that your skills specifically suit the goals and challenges their company wants to address.
Don’t worry about leaving out some of the skills you would like to cover, as the hiring manager will see them when they read your resume.
Show, don’t tell. Don’t just throw out a list of skills you have; integrate them into examples that show how you used them to add value to an organization.
For example, instead of just mentioning that you’re skilled in AutoCAD, share a time when you used the software to create an improved design that saved your company time or money.
Another way to remember this tip is to “focus on benefits, not features.”
With my Master’s in Industrial Engineering and more than 13 years of experience optimizing manufacturing operations of all different types of companies, I offer a unique blend of technical and program management skills that will allow me to replicate these same results for your organization.
My expertise in analyzing company operations and establishing effective quality control standards has allowed me to deliver projects to my employers’ clients at record speeds, while still exceeding quality expectations.
My ability to efficiently communicate with stakeholders to gather and organize their project requirements has also saved many of my employers weeks of time and thousands of dollars that would have been spent on additional meetings.
By this point, the hiring manager reading your cover letter can see that you’re extremely skilled and were able to create value for past employers.
However, what they’re still likely wondering is if you’ll be able to replicate that success for the unique goals and challenges their organization is facing.
The goal of your second paragraph is to address that exact question.
If you can confidently convey to the recruiter how you’re prepared to tackle their unique challenges, you’ll set yourself apart from any competing candidate that simply demonstrates their general competency as a process engineer.
To achieve this goal, follow these three important steps when writing your second body paragraph:
Set the stage. Briefly cover the reasons why the company is hiring a process engineer.
You don’t want to make assumptions and align yourself with goals and reasons they may not actually have.
Reference only information that the employer explicitly stated or included in the job listing.
Express your interest. Employers prefer to hire professionals who aren’t just qualified in their duties, but passionate about them as well.
If you’re interested in the company’s goals or share its values, make sure to briefly mention it here before diving into the next section of the paragraph.
Align your experience. Share the most impressive job achievement you have that’s relevant to the company goals you just mentioned.
Other than the initial achievement you mentioned in your opening paragraph to hook the hiring manager’s attention, this achievement will be the most important one that you reference throughout your entire cover letter.
You’re essentially making an offer to the company: “I successfully solved this exact problem in the past, now let me do the same for you.”
When reading the following sample second body paragraph, take note of how the candidate applied the three principles we just mentioned:
Your company’s current initiative to make your operations more energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable fascinates me, as it’s the exact type of goal that I’ve spent much of my career helping companies reach.
At Leed International, I performed a comprehensive review of the energy costs of all our specific manufacturing processes. By analyzing each process and applying my knowledge in optimizing efficiency, I delivered a detailed improvement plan to management that reduced total energy costs by 8% while also increasing production speeds by 4%.
Looking for a job? These position are hiring now near you:
Finish your cover letter by:
Summarizing your offer. Reiterate your interest in joining the team and achieving mutual goals. Briefly remind the hiring manager of the skills you offer.
Thanking the hiring manager. Add a quick line to thank the reader for taking the time to read your cover letter.
Inviting follow-up action. Tell the hiring manager that you look forward to meeting them and speaking in-depth about the position.
Consider the following sample process engineer cover letter closing:
I would love to join Carraway Tech and use these same proven abilities to help you reach your organization’s goals. I look forward to speaking with you further on how we can build a mutually-beneficial relationship.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Best Regards,
Jason Boyd
Here is a complete version of the operations manager cover letter sample we’ve covered so far:
Jason Boyd
1228 Flatstone Drive
Oakland Township, MI 22331
444-111-2291
jBoyd@gmail.comJune 19, 2021
Lisa Williams
7123 Sherman Street
Lenoir, NC 55231
221-555-7781
lWilliams@gmail.comDear Lisa Williams,
I’m excited to be applying for the Process Engineer position at Carraway Tech.
During my previous position as a process engineer for Larrison Enterprises, I conducted a comprehensive technical review of the company’s internal operations. As a direct result of the production inefficiencies I identified, the company reduced its safety hazards by 12% and increased its overall production output by 8%.
A few other ways I have helped companies optimize their operations include:
Also at Larrison, used ChemCAD to model more efficient rubber formulations, reducing associated costs by 17%.
At Thermae Productions, implemented a training program to improve communication between the engineering and quality assurance (QA) teams, resulting in a 12% reduction in the frequency of defects.
At Booz Allen Hamilton, developed an automated defect reporting system that reduced quarterly QA-related labor costs by $800,000.
With my Master’s in Industrial Engineering and more than 13 years of experience optimizing manufacturing operations of all different types of companies, I offer a unique blend of technical and program management skills that will allow me to replicate these same results for your organization.
My expertise in analyzing company operations and establishing effective quality control standards has allowed me to deliver projects to my employers’ clients at record speeds, while still exceeding quality expectations.
My ability to efficiently communicate with stakeholders to gather and organize their project requirements has also saved many of my employers weeks of time and thousands of dollars that would have been spent on additional meetings.
Your company’s current initiative to make your operations more energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable fascinates me, as it’s the exact type of goal that I’ve spent much of my career helping companies reach.
At Leed International, I performed a comprehensive review of the energy costs of all our specific manufacturing processes. By analyzing each process and applying my knowledge in optimizing efficiency, I delivered a detailed improvement plan to management that reduced total energy costs by 8% while also increasing production speeds by 4%.
I would love to join Carraway Tech and use these same proven abilities to help you reach your organization’s goals. I look forward to speaking with you further on how we can build a mutually-beneficial relationship.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Best Regards,
Jason Boyd
Here are some additional tips to help you maximize the effectiveness of your cover letter:
Research the company. Researching the company that you’re applying to is extremely important for your application as a process engineer.
Depending on the company, you may be able to discover information about the equipment you use or their workflows. If you can brand yourself as a specialist of those exact types of equipment, you’ll gain a considerable advantage over competing candidates.
Show off the fact that you did your research will also impress the hiring manager and prove that you’re genuinely interested in the job, rather than simply mass applying to positions.
Describe your value proposition as clearly as possible. Do this by ensuring that all achievement examples you provide are as relevant and tailored to the job description as possible.
If you can show the hiring manager that you successfully tackled the same types of challenges their company is currently dealing with, other candidates will be fighting an uphill battle to win the spot over you.
This tip is especially important if you’re writing your cover letter to request a promotion. Companies will only increase your salary if you can convince them that you’re well worth it.