Silence after an application is almost never a verdict on your level. Most of the time it is the result of a file that gave the recruiter no reason to answer right away.
Read the advert to the end
A posting almost always contains one explicit constraint: a specific technology, a city, a contract type, sometimes an instruction on how to apply. Answering it head-on, in your first sentence, puts you ahead of half the candidates — the ones who only read the title.
If you do not meet one of the conditions, say so and explain what you offer instead. A recruiter prefers an honest, explicit application to one hoping they will not notice.
The letter: four paragraphs, no more
An effective cover letter fits in four short blocks:
- The role, and why you. One sentence connecting what they want to what you have already done.
- The proof. A concrete example, with context and result.
- What you add. A useful skill they did not ask for but that serves the job.
- Availability. When you can start, and how to reach you.
What does not belong: your schooling told in order, long courtesy formulas, and any sentence beginning with "Passionate since my earliest years".
Write it yourself, even with help
AsatekUP offers writing assistance. Use it as a first draft, never as what you send. A generated letter sent as-is is easy to spot: too smooth, talking about the company without knowing anything about it, and looking like the previous candidate's.
Keep the structure, replace the examples with yours, cut a third.
Timing matters
Postings receive most of their applications in the first few days. Applying a week later means arriving once the recruiter already has a shortlist. Turn on alerts for your technologies so you receive relevant jobs on the day they are published.
Follow up once, properly
A follow-up after a week is normal and well received. Three rules:
- one follow-up only, on the same channel as the application;
- short: the role, the date you applied, and one sentence;
- with no reproach, not even implied.
If nothing comes after that, move on. Time spent waiting for an answer builds nothing.
Keep count of your applications
For each one, note the date, the role, the company and the outcome. After fifteen lines you will see what no general advice can tell you: where you get through, and where you get dropped. That is the stage to work on, not the others.
To find out where the jobs are on your technology, the jobs by technology pages list what is open right now.