bad news (maybe?)
It’s fine if you don’t have an internship yet. But the bad news is that you have to work hard on your cover letter. The unfortunate truth is that putting effort into your cover letter makes a difference.
If you’re applying for journalism internships, your best bet is to get advice from A JOURNALIST! Your roommate who’s in business school probably doesn’t have the right advice. Your mom who’s worked for the same company since 2004 probably doesn’t have the right advice either.
I’m not saying that I am the only person who you should listen to. There’s lots of people with lots of advice about cover letters. Listen to them! Talk to them! Ask them questions!
I have gotten internships with bad cover letters. I interned at CBS News in Washington D.C., a PR agency in Texas and a event booking company in England. I even had a shitty cover letter when I got an internship at The Texas Tribune. Although, Bobby Blanchard told me I had to fix my cover letter.
At the Trib, I completely changed my cover letter using a wonderful template created by Millie Tran. This new cover letter better represented me, the work I’ve done and did a better job of showing potential employers as to why I was right right for the position.
The new cover letter helped me get internship offers from some of the best news organizations in the country and a job at USA TODAY.
Here’s a piece from NPR about how to write a cover letter, and here’s advice from CUNY’s J-School.
But here’s some bullet advice from me as well.
don’t use language like, “I look forward to hearing from you.” it sounds kind of pushy
don’t just list a bunch of skills. SHOW HOW YOU’VE USED THEM!
literally thousands to millions of people enjoy their content. they assume you like them. mentioning that you’re a fan isn’t a standout point unless you’ve tattooed their logo or something
corporate buzzwords are pointless and cringe-y
stop wasting so much space on your heading. why would they need your mailing address?
copy editing is key
match the language in the job posting
I am down to read your cover letter or resume. I also have a “magic” template that I can guide you through. The template has worked magic for me, and my friend also used that exact word to describe it.
my incredibly short term boyfriend #42
I recently made a tweet saying that I was DONE dating. I lied.
So I dated this man for… a weekend. We matched on Hinge, I invited him over and we watched a movie and hit it off. I texted my friends and said, “I’m in love.” and proceeded to not respond to anyone for 3 days while I was in this haze.
He spent the night and we spent the entire next day together until I had to go see Licorice Pizza. The movie was at 7 p.m. so I had to be out of my apartment by 6. When we kissed goodbye he said, “I love you.”
It was an accident, and in the moment it was totally cute. It was just like HIMYM, and he was going to be my husband. Right? RIGHT? Well we hung out again… the next day and he said it again. We made plans for upcoming weeks and months, but I was uncomfortable. At that point, it didn’t feel like a cute mistake. It felt… weird?
So a few days later, he comes over for another sleepover. At this point, we’re acting like we’ve been together for 10 years. But by this point, his shine has worn off and I’m sick of him. We fight. We hook up. He goes home the next day. He has COVID. I don’t.
And so we don’t talk anymore. Will I do this again? Probably. But seriously, I’m done dating.
what I’m reading, listening to and watching
A QAnon con: How the viral Wayfair sex trafficking lie hurt real kids from the Washington Post. everyone from my hometown was obsessed w this god damn story
The Cut’s Auto-Refill series. I’m legit obsessed with this and cross-track what people say the most and compare it to other reviews, etc.
I am OBSESSED with RuPaul’s Drag Race and every queen who’s been on the show, so my favorite podcast is “Sibling Rivalry” from Bob the Drag Queen and Monet X Change. They basically just argue for an hour, but it’s my Whole Foods listen.
"C’mon C’mon” is my favorite movie right now. Saw it with Sofie and cried the entire time. It’s about a radio journalist and his nephew. There’s a scene where they are eating a block away from my apartment and it made me gasp.
Every tweet from vulture ever. damn I love nymag.
What I’ve bought recently
I’m becoming a New Yorker yuppie type. I follow both Tinx and New York Magazine religiously, and I am a little basic. Keep this in mind please.
I spent $400 at Alo Yoga. I didn’t think I would give in, but I HAD to buy their green stuff and my quarantine sweatpants from Outdoor Voices x St. Vincent have too many holes. Anyway I bought these leggings, this hoodie, another pair of leggings and a hoodie. It sucks, but I love all of it.
I HATE how much I love everything from Skims. I just bought my mom these pjs for Christmas.
Carla Lalli Music’s cookbook for a Christmas gift. Never buy books online from Amazon! Buy from Bookshop and support local bookstores.
KN95s for obvious reasons. These ones are too expensive. I only bought them because I wanted green masks. Congrats to the nepotism baby or whoever owns this damn company.
Washington Post subscription because I read all of the news religiously. I should be able to expense all my subscriptions IMO.