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Sometimes Brutal Honesty Is The Best Policy: Check Out the Viral Cover Letter Sweeping Wall Street

Jan. 15, 2013 4:45pm Becket Adams

Ordinarily, if a cover letters goes viral, it’s because it’s exceptionally embarrassing and/or misguided. However, every now and then you get the exact opposite — you get one that’s so spot-on, hiring managers practically trip over themselves trying to hire its author.

“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,” Business Insider’s Julia La Roche and Joe Weisenthal note. “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.”

“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,” they add. “The cover letter below is unapologetically honest and people on Wall Street are calling it one of the best letters they have seen.”

Here’s the cover letter:

Brutally Honest Cover Letter Goes Viral on Wall Street

Click to enlarge (Courtesy Business Insider)

The responses have been overwhelmingly positive:

Click to enlarge (Courtesy Business Insider)

Hopefully, someone picks this kid up.

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This post has been updated.

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Comments (83)

RagingTiger
Posted on January 15, 2013 at 7:30pm
The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that, you’ve got it made.

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- tyuchic
  Posted on January 15, 2013 at 8:01pm
  honesty is always the best policy, even if you don’t mean it.
  
  Report this comment
- NOTAMUSHROOM
  Posted on January 15, 2013 at 8:16pm
  Exactly. Just look at the Communist In Chief.
  
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- dogdr
  Posted on January 15, 2013 at 9:20pm
  Except that being honest to get a job in investment banking is an instant disqualification. Who wants to be the only honest person in a corrupt profession. Sort of like being the best surfer in Kansas. Seems impressive but the bar is set pretty low.
  
  Report this comment
- SendTheMeteors
  Posted on January 15, 2013 at 10:24pm
  She should have made the pitch and gotten a contract before she went to bed with the guy.
  
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- Jim S
  Posted on January 15, 2013 at 10:46pm
  ..could never work for the Blaze, coherent, no excessive adjectives and adverbs, no false headlines…that young man has a bright future..just not here…
  
  Report this comment
- DeOppressoLiber
  Posted on January 15, 2013 at 10:46pm
  Sounds like the Lone Eagle Charles Augustus Lindbergh. Honest and willing to do the Hard Yard to learn and advance.
  
  They deserve an interview.
  
  Report this comment
- DarkJello
  Posted on January 16, 2013 at 1:08am
  Sendthemeteors:
  
  Don’t project your style onto the creator of such a cool cover letter.
  
  Report this comment
- conservative510
  Posted on January 16, 2013 at 5:16am
  This kid sounds so much like me! I think it’s good. I always wanna say, I’m good at what you need me to be good at. If I occasionally say things wrong, I didn’t mean it. Let’s get back to me saving your ass. That’s what I do best. And I’ve done what I do for 25 years. 17 years of that totally freelance in LA. I’m good and lucky. God bless America!
  
  Report this comment
frust@ted
Posted on January 15, 2013 at 7:28pm
I’d give this guy an interview. I don’t care what school you came from, I need independent thinkers. I don’t put too much weight in GPA either, the difference between a 4.0 and a 3.0 could be how much they had to work, while in school to pay for their tuition, plus memorizing and applying are 2 different tasks. Plus this guy is articulate and can craft a good email, it is darn hard to find that nowadays(probably my biggest weakness, you know that if you read my posts on here, my grammar is atrocious.).

I’ve hired dozens of accountants, this guy would get a serious look.

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Warphead
Posted on January 15, 2013 at 7:16pm
I’m not knocking the guy, honesty is the best policy. But, I have to admit it reminds me of the homeless guys with the signs that would read something like “Hungry, Please help. God Bless” or the “Will work for food.” Then one day one of them got the bright idea of just telling the truth (well at least in his instance). He changed his sign to say something like” ” I’ll be honest, I need a drink” or “will work for beer.” Due to his honesty he made out well enough to retire. Then came the copy cats and it wasn’t long before they just started getting ignored again. So it will probably be with the “Honest” resume. Every one & their uncle will submit a variation and some will get notoriety. But before long it too will just get ignored. But I have to hand it to the guy, he was the first.

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- zorro
  Posted on January 16, 2013 at 8:57am
  I agree with you. I’m willing to bet most of these responses are fake. I wouldn’t hire him. He sounds immature.
  
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a1776patriot
Posted on January 15, 2013 at 7:15pm
After 5 months of unemployment hell looking for work – I changed my mantra and wrote a similar No-BS cover letter that brought me to a dream job.

I highly recommend it. The world craves truth, honesty and something real.

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- BetsyRoss1513
  Posted on January 16, 2013 at 3:04pm
  I tried that a dozen times, and it never EVER worked.
  
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WINNEBAGOMAN
Posted on January 15, 2013 at 7:03pm
Take him or leave him. It’s your loss or gain.

If this kid has shown anything it is 1 of 2 things. 1.) he’s too lazy to come up with crafty/creative writing scenarios to fluff his image up; or 2.) [and I think this is the one] he may be, at least starting off, the most honest, trustworthy, go-getter out there!

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Box55
Posted on January 15, 2013 at 6:36pm
The kid would look you in the eye, stand by any decision he made, and take the hit if it went south. He is a throw-back. Hard to find now days.

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GuruMeditation
Posted on January 15, 2013 at 6:30pm
I prefer brutal honesty. You know where you stand with it.

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- marybethelizabeth
  Posted on January 15, 2013 at 8:50pm
  Honesty?
  
  Saying he just wants to be around professionals to soak up their knowledge is just stroking egos.
  
  Report this comment
- MisterSarcastic
  Posted on January 15, 2013 at 9:18pm
  Hi MBE. I see you’re still as stupid as ever. Please keep it up. You’re always good for a laugh.
  
  Report this comment
- vendingdude
  Posted on January 16, 2013 at 10:32am
  Mary, did you miss the part about fetching coffee and shining shoes for free? All your friends collect welfare for playing video games, right? At least this kid wants to work now and be rewarded later, a sample of wisdom that is sorely missed today.
  
  Report this comment
Saving_the_Republic.com
Posted on January 15, 2013 at 6:30pm
Ive written blunt letters like that got me nowhere.. still broke still unemployed

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americanfirst
Posted on January 15, 2013 at 6:16pm
oh geez… this industry is obviously dying for some basically honest people.

This kid’s email has no particular merit to it outside of a average dose of sincerity and that assumes he’s not just really duplicitous…

Maybe the banking industry just needs to get rid of the phlegmwads and hire more honest people…
I’d recruit at BYU Idaho!!

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exfire
Posted on January 15, 2013 at 5:39pm
It’s great to see someone looking for work and not just employment !

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- asybot12
  Posted on January 15, 2013 at 6:13pm
  And what is really amazing is the response.
  
  It seems like all these HR people have never heard or read an honest person’s,resume .
  It be fun to find out the writer is 65 years old and PO’d at all the BS he has been reading as a HR manager for the past 30 years!
  
  Report this comment
thibx
Posted on January 15, 2013 at 5:34pm
sounds like his parents raised him right.

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Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on January 15, 2013 at 5:30pm
Hire him and see what he can do.

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- chips1
  Posted on January 16, 2013 at 12:45pm
  That’s what the liberals did with Obama. It just went down the crapper.
  
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VRW Conspirator
Posted on January 15, 2013 at 5:23pm
DAMN…I would hire the kid in a minute…
Type of guy that you knew wouldn’t get all whiny and cry-baby on you over a little joke here and there.. or a comment on this or that…not to mention the eagerness and fact that he comes in KNOWING his job is gonna suck but he just wants the knowledge and experience…
one of these banks would be stupid not to pick him up….let him work there while going to school… finance his Corporate Law degree and then sign him on an an entry level executive….

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sybilll
Posted on January 15, 2013 at 5:20pm
I’d hire s/he in a heartbeat Well done, and your parents should be proud.

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sta
Posted on January 15, 2013 at 5:19pm
Pitifully, every self-important moron will now write letters like this and those who really feel this way will never be brought on board.

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DeVain
Posted on January 15, 2013 at 5:17pm
One of the best applications I ever received was at a restaurant. The guy listed another restaurant as work experience and under “reason for leaving” he said “sucked my will to live from my bones”.

I liked it and wanted to call the guy to come in for an interview, but my boss nixed it saying he would be trouble.

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Onesimus
Posted on January 15, 2013 at 5:14pm
Refreshing, but I weep for our nation that this is so far out of the norm.

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Zundfolge
Posted on January 15, 2013 at 5:10pm
Did he misspell crap? Or is crapp some sort of acronym or accepted alternate spelling?

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barber2
Posted on January 15, 2013 at 5:09pm
Tell the kid to be sure to hide his school records. That worked for Barack Soetoro Obama.

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BannedByHuffpo
Posted on January 15, 2013 at 5:08pm
Unfortunately, the average American voter would rather hire a phony bull$h!tter.

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Leonardoverse.com
Posted on January 15, 2013 at 5:03pm
I’d say he should get into politics for his candid honesty but that might ruin it.

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jeffo184
Posted on January 15, 2013 at 4:59pm
I would hire this guy today! Young people, take notice and learn from this. Employers want someone who will work hard and learn…this guy epitomizes those values

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- JeffMT
  Posted on January 15, 2013 at 7:03pm
  Some employers want employees who will work hard and learn – agreed. Sadly, there are a lot of employers out there who want people who will just ‘play the game’ and ‘look the other way’. And those employees willing to do so are the people who ‘get ahead’ in those companies. I have witnessed it first hand as an employee in both large corporations and small businesses, in both white and blue collar environments.
  
  The key is to make the job interview a two way street whereby the candidate interviews the employer as well as the employer interviewing the candidate. It doesn’t take long to learn about a prospective employer when that tactic is used. Those employers who don’t have a problem with that approach are generally the ones most attractive to work for. Those who don’t like it are generally the ones you want to say ‘thanks for your time, nice to meet you’ and head for the door as quickly as possible.
  
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psadie
Posted on January 15, 2013 at 4:56pm
I would hire him; his letter was refreshing.

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alinskythis
Posted on January 15, 2013 at 4:56pm
People are so bowled over by anyone speaking truth!

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LeadNotFollow
Posted on January 15, 2013 at 4:54pm
I really like people who are totally honest and hold nothing back.

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