Wall Street: The anatomy of the 'best cover letter ever'

A young finance major looking for an internship wins over hotshot investment bankers by admitting there's nothing special about him

"I have no qualms about fetching coffee, shining shoes, or picking up laundry, and will work for next to nothing," writes one brave Wall Street intern applicant.
(Image credit: Courtesy Shutterstock)

It's every wannabe intern's dilemma: How to write a cover letter that impresses employers who need you a lot less than you need them. Here's a bit of a "shocker," says Maseena Ziegler at Forbes: On Wall Street, being absurdly, aggressively humble can be just the way to get the attention of hard-nosed financial executives. At least, it certainly appears to have done the trick for one "brutally honest and hilariously self-deprecating" college student who applied for a low-paying and, if necessary, demeaning job at a boutique investment bank. Here's the part that made the recipient promptly forward the missive to colleagues, and declare, "This might be the best cover letter I've ever received":

I am aware it is highly unusual for undergraduates from average universities like (BLOCKED) to intern at (BLOCKED), but nevertheless I was hoping you might make an exception. I am extremely interested in investment banking and would love nothing more than to learn under your tutelage. I have no qualms about fetching coffee, shining shoes or picking up laundry, and will work for next to nothing. In all honesty, I just want to be around professionals in the industry and gain as much knowledge as I can.I won't waste your time inflating my credentials, throwing around exaggerated job titles, or feeding you a line of crapp (sic) about how my past experiences and skill set align perfectly for an investment banking internship. The truth is I have no unbelievably special skills or genius eccentricities, but I do have a near perfect GPA and will work hard for you.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.