From: Hope S. Eternal
To: Angry Professor
Re: Graduate School
Hey Dr. Professor,
My name is Hope and I'm applying to the LSU Social Science Ph.D. program. Your work on [cut and paste from website] looks very interesting. Can you tell me what else you're working on? Are you accepting new students?
Hope
Monday, November 10, 2008
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18 comments:
Wow, that is ballsy. Did you hit delete?
I don't get what's so wrong with it. How else is he supposta ask?
At least she didn't just call you by your first name.
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My verification word is "fradda". I fear I'm suffering from some confirmation bias, but it seems that the verification word generator has been generating pronounceable letter combinations pretty consistently since sometime in September.
I'm not sure what the major issue is either.
I'd cut out the "hey" and I'd indicate a little more knowledge of the system by saying something along the lines of "I know what's posted on webpages and out in print may not reflect your current research agenda so I was wondering if you could share with me your current lines of work if they should differ from those listed on the webpage".
And I would be more articulate in my language but essentially also ask if you were taking any new students.
As a matter of fact I did all of that when I was applying, and have encouraged all of my students/research assistants to do the same.
It saved me from applying to work with people who were no longer working in my area of interest, and also helped me to know that the advisor I chose to work with was a really good fit in terms of interpersonal style as well as research interests.
Oo -- let me share this email gem:
Dear Mr Pablito,
I am writing to you to apply for a twelve-week research laboratory
internship from June 2009.
Please find my curriculum vitae and my cover letter enclosed.
Yours sincerely,
Abas Les Belgique
12 rue Emile Saint Germain
Grenoble, France
---
Followed by:
Dear Mr Pablito,
I am writing to you to apply for a twelve-week research laboratory
internship from June 2009. The former mail I sent you may enclose files you
cannot open.
Please find my curriculum vitae and my cover letter in PDF format.
Yours sincerely,
Abas Les Belgique
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Here's the "cover letter":
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Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing to you to apply for a work experience, a twelve-week internship in physics
engineering and research, starting June 2009.
As you can see from my enclosed curriculum vitae, I am currently a second-year student in
[qu'est que c'est], a French physics engineering school. I am specialized in [some flavor] engineering. Through my current teaching, I have discovered, among others, [other field] physics. It makes me want to know more about it and to experiment.
I am highly interested in your work that I have discovered through your website. An experience in your laboratory would enable me to complete my education, to develop my knowledge in physics and to discover research abroad. Open minded and inquisitive, I’m a
loyal and dynamic team worker. I would be very keen on doing an internship in your team.
I am available for an interview at your convenience. I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
Abas Les Belgiques
Such creativity in e-mails! These students never cease to amaze me. Or would that be "frustrate me?"
I especially like the ones addressed to "Mr.", although a quick look at my home page should tell that I am of the other persuasion.
Or the ones wanting to do graduate work - we don't have programs. Or the ones wanting to do internships with me on topics I wrote a paper on 15 years ago and never since.
Ah well.
Yeah, I want to be fair and generous to young people looking to get into research. They can't be expected to know all the ways that we interact with our colleagues professionally, I suppose, but they could have some common civility. Getting the right form of address, making it not look like a mass form letter, actually figuring out something about the person you're writing to. I did this basic legwork when I was a kid. I find that this type of letter is attached to an indifferent student.
I'm going to start replying to all emails with this link: http://tinyurl.com/47rkh8
I guess I'm also in the camp of not thinking it is THAT bad. When I applied to grad school everyone told me that it would be helpful to the point of being necessary to contact people you were thinking of working with. This did help- when writing to someone at one school at which there were only 1 or 2 people I would be interested in, I found out those people weren't taking students that year, so I didn't apply.
Obviously the "hey" can't work, and they could have put a little more effort in, but inherently is there a problem?
Nope, there's no problem with contacting people you might be interested in working with or getting some information. But why would you expect that it's not going to get circular-filed if you put pretty much no effort into it? You don't care, I don't care. I'm not seeing the caring in these contacts. We're busy people. Make us notice. Make us care. Look bushy-tailed and all. Not to speak for Prof. Angry, but that's what I look for.
Perhaps there is a language barrier in play, for some of these cases? In particular, the student who contacted Dr. Pablito seemed to be using grammar constructs that suggested a non-native speaker.
Also -- and I'm trying hard not to make fun of less experienced people here, but in applying for a position as a research assistant/internship in a science laboratory -- would you include on your resume your stint as an employee at McDonalds?
I remember writing a note not much better than that. Web pages were still in the hands of Physics departments so I was at least saved from the temptation to cut and paste.
I got the impression that it wasn't so much that they included a mention of her research as it was that that mention was copied and pasted directly from her own website, as if this was a form email with fields for professor name, school, and area of research. Better than not paying any attention to their research, but not by bloody much.
I too think you should cut the students some slack. Figuring out how to professionally negotiate the world... well, it takes years of life experience. They're doing it the best way they know how to do it. A truly lazy student would not be trying to find an internship.
Could have been worse. In a few years the letter will start with
Dude!
I'd like that summer internship. Text me back at ...
PS - My word verification is "lumsoop". Doesn't sound too tasty.
Yeah, I find this type of post kind of obnoxious. Why on earth do you assume that all students should be like you were when you were a kid? Did you even figure that out on your own, or did someone tell you? Be honest now, you must have learned it somewhere if only from imitating what you thought was expected?
Personally, I don't see what's wrong with a short, to-the-point email indicating interest and asking for more information. At least the person understands that lab websites are often wayyyyy out of date.
And doesn't want to waste your time with a bunch of bullshit! I don't want to read a long, generic ass-kissing letter the gist of which is always the same, do you have any space in your lab.
Looks aren't everything. In fact, in my experience, they aren't much in the realm of finding good RESEARCHERS. But maybe that's not what you're looking for.
p.s. my word is "ingeddeh". Which sort of sounds to me like a cross between "ingrate" and "getta loada (this)".
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