Q: I'm writing to you with a query regarding cover letters for internship applications. I'm a j-major here at ultra-conservative Washington and Lee University -- the same Lee as in General Robert E. Lee. I know that each year, news recruiting staff get inundated with internship applications. I want mine to stand out from the loud.
I'm considering something with a gimmick, something like a note attached to a check. The note reads, "Mr. Grimm, I understand the Detroit Free Press is hiring reporter interns for $541 a week. Thank you," and the check is made out to $6,492.
My clips are pretty solid, my resume impressive, and I recently completed an internship with The AP's Johannesburg bureau, so I wouldn't be relying totally on the gimmick". How well (or badly) do you think that would go down?
-- Looking for Angles
A: Don't run to your mailbox just yet.
Just this week, I was on a meet the media panel with Jim Bleicher, news director at WJRT-TV in Flint, Mich. He mentioned these ways people have tried to draw attention to their applications:
- Several people have sent him shoes saying they are "getting their foot in the door."
- Someone sent in a bottle of hot peppers with a note that says "I can spice up your newsroom."
- A ceramic snail arrived with a misspelled note that said, "Don't be to slow to hire me."
- Several have sent him fruit baskets, flowers and popcorn tins.
Once at the Free Press, a reporter who had been trying to get on board sent a T-shirt. The front said "Jones on obits." The back said, "Couldn't you just die?"
None of these people got hired. I don't think that is a coincidence.
