For those of you that aren't aware, I'm applying for several internships - State Department, NPR, Slate, DC City Paper, and of course, The Washington Post. I finished my application for the State Department back in December, and have been working on the NPR application for the past few days.
I feel like I should have done all these things before, but none of the jobs I've had (all three of them) have required a cover letter and/or resume. And it's not that writing these things is difficult, but tedious. I have no idea what a cover letter is supposed to look like, how long it's supposed to be, or what it's supposed to say - except that it's supposed to make you look good and you're supposed to flatter the reader a little bit. Mine was about five hundred words and included the sentence "Eww...You want to have sex?" I promise it made sense in the context.
I sent to a bunch of people (Christina, Mr. Brann - I'm talking to you) who did not reply. Luckily Mrs. Hailey and my dad had plenty of time to lend an open ear. And despite it being relatively casual, it was me. And so were the writing samples. I used a BYT review, an article I wrote for Ink about stripping and the blog I wrote after my car accident. When I faxed everything, it came to thirteen pages.
The next deadline is Slate, and I'll probably send the exact same things. I've thought and emailed about being an official intern for BYT, but the editrix has not gotten back to me about it. And it's not paid, though I wouldn't get paid at City Paper either, and I'm not sure about Slate. And assuming that they all want me (unlikely) I would obviously choose the one that paid the most, unless I get the one at the Post, in which case money is not an object. I think I would (and probably will eventually) sell my soul to Leonard Downie. It's really a shame he's not at the Post anymore, but whatever, I'm awesome, and if I can snag an interview with any of these publications I will have it in the bag. TADA!
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