Reaching 20k+ readers on Medium and over 3k learners by email, I draw on my 4 years of experience as a Senior Data Engineer to demystify data science, cloud and programming concepts while sharing job hunt strategies so you can land and excel in data-driven roles. Subscribe for 500 words of actionable advice every Thursday.
[ETR #13] A 3-Step Python Script To Write Less Cover Letters
Extract. Transform. Read.A newsletter from Pipeline: Your Data Engineering ResourceHi past, present or future data professional! Somewhere along your professional development journey someone lied to you. They told you to crank out resumes because no one reads cover letters. This couldn’t be further from the truth as 87% of hiring managers read cover letters. Such a high read rate represents a compelling opportunity to sell your data skills and showcase a bit of personality. The problem? Those pesky 3 paragraphs take way too long to write—as long as 30 minutes per job. Assuming you’re applying to 3-5 jobs per day, you’re looking at 2.5 hours of cover writing time. Earlier this year, while helping a friend apply for data science positions, I created a simple Python script to auto-generate cover letters based on input. In addition to generating a cover letter based on my more than 500 hours as a career advisor, it will convert your output to a PDF, the preferred format for cover letters and resumes. Even if this helps you generate cover letters faster, you might want to think twice about “spamming” your resume/cover letter. Only use a bulk application method if:
Since I’m not trying to ask you to spend 30 minutes on this email, here are this week’s links:
Finally, this week is significant to me because 9/13 marks 3 years in data engineering. Read my story and advice for following a similar path. Why I Nearly Turned Down A 30k Raise And A Data Engineering Job Questions? You know where to find me: zach@pipelinetode.com. Until next time - thanks for ingesting, -Zach Quinn |
Extract. Transform. Read.
Reaching 20k+ readers on Medium and over 3k learners by email, I draw on my 4 years of experience as a Senior Data Engineer to demystify data science, cloud and programming concepts while sharing job hunt strategies so you can land and excel in data-driven roles. Subscribe for 500 words of actionable advice every Thursday.
Hi fellow data professional! Quick question: How much could I pay you to switch your job? Conventional wisdom in the tech industry in the last handful of years is that the way to supercharge growth and max out your career earnings is to frequently change jobs. On average, job switchers could and should target an increase of 15-20% of their current salary. But in a rocky economy (at least here in the U.S.), career experts are urging would-be switchers to consider the benefits of a stable role...
Hi fellow data professional and Happy New Year! In the second half of 2025, I made a radical choice: I (largely) stopped blogging. Over the past year, Medium (where I host my content) made a series of changes that de-prioritizes technical content, leading to the departure of several major publications, including Toward Data Science. Pair that platform disillusionment with a bit of burnout, and the result is a feeling that it’s time for a change. For 75+ weeks, I’ve preferred concise,...
Hi fellow data professional - Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Since an email is probably one of the least exciting things to open on Christmas morning, I'll keep this brief. As a thank you for subscribing and reading the newsletter this year, I'd like to offer a gift: My FREE guide to web scraping in Python. Centered around 3 "real world" projects, the guide highlights the importance of being able to retrieve, interpret and ingest unstructured data. Get your guide here. Have a restful...