When hiring a security operations center analyst, what are employers looking for more than any other trait? Trust. And the best place to begin to garner trust is your SOC analyst cover letter. In your resume, you detailed your greatest career accomplishments, but your letter can delve deeper into how you will help keep the company secure from breaches.
The ability to expand upon your resume is the key reason you need a cover letter, even if the job ad does not require one. At Resume.io, we have everything you need to accelerate your job search, including 180+ cover letter examples and guides. Within this guide you will find a SOC analyst cover letter example as well as recommendations on the following topics:
Every computer language has a structure and syntax of its own. It is within that structure that you can get creative. That is the case with your job application as well.
The format of a SOC analyst cover letter should contain the following elements:
Resume.io offers a comprehensive cover letter guide containing more general advice about how to go about compiling cover letters, but below you will find advice geared toward a security operations center analyst.
This SOC analyst cover letter example will give you a blueprint for writing your own cover letter:
Re: SOC analyst role
Dear Mr. Hatton,
With a bachelor's degree in Cybersecurity and four years of experience in security operations, I am confident that I can safeguard your infrastructure from increasing security threats. My cyber risk management experience within the defense industry will add to your threat modeling capabilities. I have worked on some of the most high-profile projects in the industry.
I spearheaded the integration of a new SIEM tool that increased our detection accuracy by 45% and reduced false positives by 23%. Swift action prevented potential losses estimated at an average of $2 million per year. I know that incident response time has been an issue for your company, and I enclose a link to a project where I created an award-winning protocol for identifying and dealing with breaches.
I am constantly improving my proficiency in tools such as Splunk, QRadar, Nessus, and Wireshark, and am always keen to pick up new technologies. I am particularly adept at interpreting logs and conducting thorough digital forensic investigations.
One of the aspects of the job that I enjoy most is colleague education. I created a 20-point learning program and rolled it out to 15,000 colleagues. This increased awareness nearly halved the number of low-level security events to under 150 a day. In 2020, this education directly led to thwarting one of the most damaging attacks in our industry's history.
We have met many times before at cybersecurity conferences and I look forward to discussing how we might work together. I know that we share many of the same views on the challenges facing our industry.
Sincerely,
Laura Camberwell
The point of your entire application package is to be invited to interview (and then be offered the job). That means you need to create a header for your SOC analyst cover letter that highlights your contact information in a memorable and readable manner.
Although your skills are in demand, recruiters aren’t going to spend a lot of time searching for your phone and email, so display them front and center in a well-designed header. Include your name, best phone and email contacts, address (or at least the city or town where you live), and any portfolios or professional social media accounts that bolster your candidacy.
Create a job application package
Mesh the design of your cover letter with that of your resume so your documents create a seamless application package. This helps not only in the case that an HR department prints and then accidentally separates your resume from your cover letter, but also to impress with a consistent visual image.
A resume and cover letter that are not complementary may give the impression that you tacked an updated cover letter onto an old resume or vice versa.
If you’re looking for additional inspiration for cover letter writing, you can check out our related IT cover letter samples:
Once upon a time, we would greet people with a smile and a firm handshake. That’s certainly not possible in a video interview and may not be preferable to some in this post-pandemic world. Instead, the greeting of your SOC analyst cover letter substitutes for this warm meeting.
Beginning your letter with “Dear Ms./Mr./Dr./Mx.,” creates a personal bond right away. It tells your reader that you cared enough to find out who they are (and to get both their honorific and the spelling of their name correct). You may have to make a phone call to get this information, but it is worth it to get off on the right foot.
In the case that the security department or HR will be vetting your application, you may use “Dear Security Analysts,” or a similar greeting.
When you’re introduced to someone new, what keeps you listening? It’s likely they’ve grabbed your attention because they have something to offer you. The point of your SOC analyst cover letter is to grab the recruiter’s attention and a strong introduction that offers something to them.
Employers are looking for a skillset and a working style that meshes with the team already in place. Open your letter by describing your career and how you approach cybersecurity so that they can tell that you fit what they need. Then, give them an idea of what you will do to improve their cybersecurity or enhance the department by improving processes or creating efficiencies, for example.
Dear Mr. Hatton,
With a bachelor's degree in Cybersecurity and four years of experience in security operations, I am confident that I can safeguard your infrastructure from increasing security threats. My cyber risk management experience within the defense industry will add to your threat modeling capabilities. I have worked on some of the most high-profile projects in the industry.
Choose appropriate examples
You’re writing a letter to an individual (or department) that represents the company you want to work for. Since each job and company is different, each letter should be as well.
Make sure you know what each position requires by analyzing the job listing and doing a bit of research on the company. Then, choose work achievements that illustrate that you can slide into the job with ease.
Your introduction enticed the recruiter with an idea of what you can do, now you need to prove it. The middle paragraphs, or body, of your SOC analyst cover letter, show through real-world examples that you can do what you claimed you can.
How do you achieve that? By detailing what you have already done or are doing right now. There’s no need to repeat your resume but choose one or two professional experiences that highlight how you will protect your prospective employer and their customers and clients from cyberattacks.
It is a good idea to use a bulleted list within this section, both to highlight the skills mentioned in the job listing and to break up the blocks of text that make up the bulk of this one-page letter.
I spearheaded the integration of a new SIEM tool that increased our detection accuracy by 45% and reduced false positives by 23%. Swift action prevented potential losses estimated at an average of $2 million per year. I know that incident response time has been an issue for your company, and I enclose a link to a project where I created an award-winning protocol for identifying and dealing with breaches.
I am constantly improving my proficiency in tools such as Splunk, QRadar, Nessus, and Wireshark, and am always keen to pick up new technologies. I am particularly adept at interpreting logs and conducting thorough digital forensic investigations.
One of the aspects of the job that I enjoy most is colleague education. I created a 20-point learning program and rolled it out to 15,000 colleagues. This increased awareness nearly halved the number of low-level security events to under 150 a day. In 2020, this education directly led to thwarting one of the most damaging attacks in our industry's history.
The intro and the conclusion of your SOC analyst cover letter bookend your argument for employment and should mirror each other. Remind the recruiter why you’re a great candidate and what you can do for the company. Then, politely request a time to discuss the position further.
If you have space, include a sentence that reveals something new about you. Why does cybersecurity fascinate you? Did you have a mentor that taught you a valuable lesson? If so, what was it?
Finally, end with “Sincerely,” “Best regards,” or the like, and your full name.
We have met many times before at cybersecurity conferences and I look forward to discussing how we might work together. I know that we share many of the same views on the challenges facing our industry.
Sincerely,
Laura Camberwell