Last month I applied for an entry level job at Gawker and this was my cover letter.

Greetings,

On November 1st your content producer Stephanie Georgopulos  mentioned that Studio@Gawker is hiring a Junior Content Producer. Below are ten reasons why I am the hungry junior writer with the skills, moral autonomy and since of fair play to succeed in this position.

1.  I have managed social media platforms and written communications as an intern for Greenpeace USA, in Washington DC and as a PR intern with Terracycle, in New Jersey.

2. Without friends, creative people, music lovers and vegetarians nearby I am semi-helpless.  The more motivation the better. The more friendship the better.

3. Earlier this year, I was writing fiction from my apartment in Honduras, this went on for six months, all the while I was designing a technology curriculum for bilingual middle school students and teaching middle school computer classes.

4. I did not go to journalism school, therefor I lack certain institutionalized problems, like the anti-climactic long-form lead or the reliance on outdated puns - my mistakes are all my own.

5. At this point I can no longer exist without extreme challenges, a new environment, and heroic results asked of me. Lately, it is more difficult for me to stay out of the water than to dive in.

6. If I am writing, and I begin to become terrified that I’m producing something awful I will usually listen to a blues record and drink a finger of rum and dance or I ride my bike with my hands off the bars. Both of these actions help me conceive a higher caliber of results after the struggle.

7. I am lousy at traditional leads and reporting, but I am a good writer. I am also a good editor. After three or four of my own edits something of mine is ready to be shown to an internet audience.

8. Any talent I have is stored and I pace my room like a tiger ready to attack. I turn 26 this month and I am eager to spend time with a mentor, write without stopping, and work from day light to dusk, if I am allowed. 

Additionally, I read voraciously and can drum up an opinion afterward.

Whether or not any of this information will help me receive an interview for this position is beyond me, but I have decided to send you proof of my love of writing, the great melting pot that is New York and my extreme, debilitating desire to work with the creative and talented people at Gawker.

Sincerely yours,