<p>"Sometimes we get forwarded applications for summer internships on Wall Street that are extremely embarrassing because the applicant is totally full of themselves or completely clueless. What happens is the letters go viral and the Street passes them around in long email chains blasting the applicant. They’re always funny, but a little bit sad.</p>
<p>That’s exactly what we thought was going to happen today when we received this one in our inbox. It turns that the cover letter originally sent to a boutique investment bank is exactly the opposite.</p>
<p>The cover letter below is unapologetically honest and people on Wall Street are calling it one of the best letters they have seen. Everyone on the thread agrees the letter shows energy and pluck and honesty." …</p>
<p>Fetching coffee and picking up laundry sound typical of an intern but shining shoes is going a bit too far. I wouldn’t ask my intern to do it. :D</p>
<p>Yeah I don’t see how it could be the “best cover letter ever” if he/she spelled crap wrong… I mean doesn’t that just show that he/she doesn’t show enough of an interest to even spell-check her cover letter?</p>
<p>While honest, I don’t find the cover letter impressive. How many times a day do you hear “I don’t know anything; I didn’t go to a top school; but I’m smart and I’ll work hard”? There are plenty of those people. Go learn something. Get some experience. And then come back. All this article does is palliate the harsh reality of the job market. Just because you’re hard working and smart doesn’t mean you “win.”</p>
<p>I did not find the letter creative enough to go viral…(maybe honest, which could be refreshing to Wall Streeters) I was expecting something much more surprisingly clever. I guess Wall Street must be a very boring place to work, if this letter excited them so much. Nothing against the young man who wrote it, he sounds like a great student, but I guess I expected something more daring than this letter.</p>
<p>I think people in general must be pretty bored if that letter is considered something special.<br>
Plenty of kids ask decision-makers to take them on their word-- “my record doesn’t show aything, but I promise, I promise.” If he gets the internship, turns out be be a great choice, better than kids who put their noses to the grindstone and have something to show for it, then I’d be impressed that both he and the employers took a chance.
How do you know the letter is even real? And, how many copycats do you suppose it will generate. Oh, brother.</p>
<p>You really think Wall Street types are going to be impressed by a kid who has nothing to show?</p>
<p>^^I don’t think the kid doesn’t have any accomplishments. He might have a very good resume (he said it was attached), he jut decided not to spend the letter building up what was clearly written down for them to judge.</p>
<p>But I agree, I was expecting something more clever for a “viral” letter.</p>
<p>If he got the internship, good for him and good luck. But regardless, there is one important point that no one has mentioned, the ONLY reason his cover letter got any attention in the first place:</p>
<p>“I met you the summer before last at Smith and Wollensky’s in New York when I was touring the east coast with my uncle.”</p>
<p>His well-off and connected uncle took him to meet people at an expensive fine dining restaurant in New York City. Had this cover letter come from any other person, the recipient would have immediately deleted it, even if he did read it. I am sure Wall Street receives, and rejects, a massive amount of “humble” cover letters around the year.</p>
<p>I don’t understand why people are praising his “refreshing honesty”… I highly doubt he would ACTUALLY want to shine shoes for 4 months, for no pay to boot! He probably knows that wouldn’t be a valuable experience, but thought it would get him an interview for a better internship.</p>
<p>^^ He probably would, in fact. Just being around the Wall Street executives, getting to look in on meetings, understanding the politics, getting snippets of valuable advice, and having a possible door to future opportunities is incredibly valuable. Even if he was informed he would spend months shining shoes or doing other menial jobs, I think he would take the internship.</p>
<p>If he has the money or his family is willing to support him for the summer, I’m sure he would do it for no pay.</p>
<p>he already had connections to this place and implies that he comes from a well off family, based on the restaurant ([Best</a> Prime Fine Dining Steakhouse | Smith & Wollensky Restaurant](<a href=“http://smithandwollensky.com/]Best”>http://smithandwollensky.com/)) he went to.</p>
<p>I totally agree with you. Isn’t making coffee what every other intern who goes through the traditional motions of landing an internship expect also? I have no idea why this is causing such commotion.</p>