ecrismalettre.fr
The tool creates the perfect cover letter. Upload your CV, paste the job listing link, customize, and apply in a flash.
Making Applications Less Painful
When I was looking for my first internship, I quickly realized that cover letters were a time and energy sink. Each application required different wording, even though the arguments remained largely the same.
This is how EcrisMaLettre.fr was born: a service that simplifies this step as much as possible, by automating what is repetitive while leaving users in control to refine.
My goal was clear: design a useful, accessible, and fast product, but also learn how to develop a real website with React/Next.js, with a modern stack and concrete challenges (security, SEO, deployment, marketing).
First Steps with Next.js
EcrisMaLettre is my first React site pushed to production, and I chose Next.js as the framework. Next.js brings a very practical abstraction layer on top of React:
- Server-side rendering (SSR) and Static Site Generation (SSG) → better performance and better SEO.
- Simplified routing: no need to manually manage React Router.
- Integrated API Routes: perfect for lightweight endpoints without setting up an external server.
- Automatic optimization: images, fonts, bundles.
Next.js combines React's flexibility with ready-to-use tools for deployment, performance, and SEO. This allowed me to focus on product logic rather than configuration.
From Idea to Product
I iterated in several stages:
- Raw MVP: PDF CV upload + job listing link → AI-generated text returned, without formatting.
- Integrated editor: ability to rework, shorten, or rephrase directly in the app.
- Application tracking: addition of a centralized dashboard to keep track of submissions.
- Onboarding & business model: 3 free trials, then mandatory registration to continue.
At each stage, I tested with students around me to adjust the experience.
Technical Stack
- Front & Framework: Next.js + React, with TypeScript to secure the code.
- Auth & DB: Supabase (email auth, RLS rules to partition data).
- AI: OpenAI API for text generation.
- Infrastructure: hosted on a VPS that I pay for, with automatic CI/CD integrations.
SEO and Marketing
A site of this type only makes sense if it's visible. I worked on:
- SEO: sitemap.xml automatically generated by Next.js, well-filled metadata, loading time optimization (PageSpeed audit).
- Student marketing: word of mouth in my school, LinkedIn posts, first registrations through this network.
- Mascot: a little orange character with a blue cap that makes the site more memorable and friendly.
- Instagram account: I try to post memes, to organically grow my followers on social networks.
Where I Am Now
Today, EcrisMaLettre.fr works and is already being used by students for their applications. It's my first real online product, with real users and concrete feedback. Beyond the tool itself, this project allowed me to learn how to:
- Develop a React/Next.js application from end to end.
- Set up a secure architecture with authentication.
- Think about marketing and distribution in addition to code.
- Understand the importance of SEO and web performance.
It's a first step, but it's also a solid foundation for my future web projects.