This is cute, but in reality it highlights everything that is wrong with the system and the financial sector.
Kid Sends Blunt Cover Letter and Now People are Trying to Hire Him
31–40 of 93 posts
Re: Kid Sends Blunt Cover Letter and Now People are Trying to Hire Him
#32>I wouldn't be surprised if this guy gets at least a call from every bank out there I think that's funny. My brother works in finance, and I work in engineering. We both interview candidates and we were discussing our approaches recently. What struck us is how different our approaches are. A few key differences: * In general, his approach is based more on intuition, whereas mine is very objective. We both spend a lot…
I'm interested in what you say about extracurricular activities. I can certainly agree that in most cases they are a waste of space "I like music, movies and videogames". Surely though there would be some extracurriculars that might impress you? Contributions to a high profile open source projects , doing something that requires good organisation/people skills or just something that might tell you a bit about the per…
Yeah, I should have been clearer, I mean activities that aren't relevant to the job - working on an open source project would be relevant to me. But you are right that some things could be positives, like a leadership position in an honor society.
"Snowboarding" would be neutral, whereas my brother says he considers it a positive (we both enjoy snowboarding/skiing). "President of the campus " would be a negative for me, regardless of the political affiliation. My brother said he could see it as a positive or a negative, probably depending on the affiliation.
Re: Kid Sends Blunt Cover Letter and Now People are Trying to Hire Him
#33One of the responses, fourth from the bottom:
> Not sure if either of you guys are still looking for a lackey to build models and fetch coffee, but this kid could be worth a conversation
Does "build models" mean what I think it does - actually coming up with the mathematical method that projects risk, return, etc ? And if so, is the author being sarcastic, or do they really consider this to be unimportant work best passed off to an intern ?
Re: Kid Sends Blunt Cover Letter and Now People are Trying to Hire Him
#34>I wouldn't be surprised if this guy gets at least a call from every bank out there I think that's funny. My brother works in finance, and I work in engineering. We both interview candidates and we were discussing our approaches recently. What struck us is how different our approaches are. A few key differences: * In general, his approach is based more on intuition, whereas mine is very objective. We both spend a lot…
> I filter far less aggressively, somewhere around the top 50-100 school mark.
Would an otherwise good candidate be excluded solely for going to some no-name school?
Re: Kid Sends Blunt Cover Letter and Now People are Trying to Hire Him
#35Wait a second... this guy sent a letter to a firm looking for employment and had it along with his personal details paraded around - what looks to be - the industry? How is that not a serious violation of privacy? I'm pretty sure this would violate even the most basic privacy statement. I highly doubt they asked the submitter if they would enjoy being emailed to the industry. In Canada or the EU you'd be violating Go…
Yeah, if I were looking for an internship, I'd hate to have my cover letter and resume circulated on personal emails where it's sure to be read closely.
Point is that nobody asked him.
Would you prefer that I "assume" you might be interested in buying something from my close advisor and pass on your name and address to him as well if you buy something from me?
Re: Kid Sends Blunt Cover Letter and Now People are Trying to Hire Him
#36I wouldn't say it's a great cover letter - it's pretty generic and could easily be tweaked slightly for any job/industry. Also it's sort of sad that he has to debase his university and himself for the lords of finance to consider him.
"could easily be tweaked slightly for any job/industry."
I disagree. This can work well for an intern position because whatever this guy wrote in the email, is a greaet pitch to be an intern. But if I am looking for a specialist in a particular niche/industry, at best I would be impressed by such email but will not hire him just because he talks straight.
Re: Kid Sends Blunt Cover Letter and Now People are Trying to Hire Him
#37"People are trying to hire him" seems like a bit of a stretch based on the article. I see a lot of "Haha, I might even give him a call," but no, "I want to hire this kid!"
Re: Kid Sends Blunt Cover Letter and Now People are Trying to Hire Him
#38Wait a second... this guy sent a letter to a firm looking for employment and had it along with his personal details paraded around - what looks to be - the industry? How is that not a serious violation of privacy? I'm pretty sure this would violate even the most basic privacy statement. I highly doubt they asked the submitter if they would enjoy being emailed to the industry. In Canada or the EU you'd be violating Go…
There's no privacy statement involved. It's an email. Emails get forwarded. It's polite to ask first.
"This email is confidential and subject too... "
It's written right at the bottom of the original.
Re: Kid Sends Blunt Cover Letter and Now People are Trying to Hire Him
#39Re: Kid Sends Blunt Cover Letter and Now People are Trying to Hire Him
#40I am not surprised that a cover letter full of humility and honest self-appraisal has shocked Wall Street HR teams to the point of becoming a featured article on Yahoo.
Yeah, I'm confused as to why this was so shocking to the point where it was circulated and warranted a blog post. I've written equally as innocent "just looking to be around talented folks even if it means.." cover letters to companies I respected. In fact, that's what a lot of the design agencies I've worked for got the most of.