I just moved to Culver City and saw your production facility nearby. I have mad radio skillz, and I would like to work for you for free.

I earned a BA in Communications (Journalism) and Political Science from Simmons College in Boston, MA in 2004; I know how to use Pro Tools and work a radio board; I'm good at filing and organizing and analyzing data; I can use any Microsoft Office program (and I'm especially good at Excel); I can usually make recalcitrant computers work properly again (PCs and Macs); and I make good cookies, too. I volunteered at both the public radio and television stations in Baton Rouge, LA during pledge drives through middle and high school, participated in the radio program at my high school for two years (including one year of on-air experience), and acted as a teaching assistant for my broadcast journalism class in college. I'm currently employed as an independent contractor by a company in Boston, where my job focuses on using Excel for data and financial analysis.

While I've been away from radio for a few years, I'm very interested in volunteering at NPR West. Please let me know if you can use someone (and where by someone, I mean specifically me) with my skills in any capacity.

Thank you, and I hope to hear back from you soon!

Having been the guy that does the hiring from time to time, I'd have to say that it is a little too informal. Stick to the info, leave out the cute. Here are a couple of small suggested edits:

I just moved to Culver City and saw your production facility nearby. I have mad radio skillz some experience in radio, and I would like to work for you for free.

I earned a BA in Communications (Journalism) and Political Science from Simmons College in Boston, MA in 2004; I know how to use Pro Tools and work a radio board; I'm good at filing and organizing and analyzing data; I can use any Microsoft Office program (and I'm especially good at Excel); and I can usually make recalcitrant computers work properly again (PCs and Macs); and I make good cookies, too. I volunteered at both the public radio and television stations in Baton Rouge, LA during pledge drives through middle and high school, participated in the radio program at my high school for two years (including one year of on-air experience), and acted as a teaching assistant for my broadcast journalism class in college. I'm currently employed as an independent contractor by a company in Boston, where my job focuses on using Excel for data and financial analysis.

While I've been away from radio for a few years, I'm very interested in volunteering at NPR West. Please let me know if you can use someone (and where by someone, I mean specifically me) with my skills in any capacity.

Thank you, and I hope to hear back from you soon!

I just moved to Culver City and saw your production facility nearby.

I'd change this. It sounds like you're interested because you like their architecture, or because you can walk to the office, or something. Rephrase it to emphasize your interest, not your proximity.

I have mad radio skillz,

I would stay FAR away from that.

No matter how hip your perceived job, it can NEVER hurt to play by the more formal rules. Bosses read resumes for skills, background, motivation, and talent. You don't have to win them with coolness. In fact, it can be a big red flag. If you have the chops and get an interview, they'll understand who you are when they meet you.

MAybe I'm coming down too hard, but I get way too many resumes that contain that sort of informality, and it just doesn't play. Remember that the people in hiring positions aren't always from the same generation as you, and may not share the irreverent, informal nature of communication that many younger people expect. You can always modulate formal to informal -- it's a lot harder to go the other way.

THWACK!

Sorry, had to be there. Miko's on a roll.

PS -- good luck, and maybe I'd suggest saying in your last graf "I'll phone the week of June [whatever] to follow up with you. I'm available to come in for an informational interview to learn about your work and let you know what skills I have to offer."

That followup call keeps you in control. People in nonprofits are insanely busy -- just make it easy for 'em.

I will echo Miko. Drop the cute and informal. I have hired a lot of people and time is always an issue when going through the paper. A resume and cover letter should get the points across in as little time and space as possible.

Personality is what the interview is for.

I'll just go climb in the deli case now, next to the chopped liver.

Another vote for "drop the cute" from the letter and save your personality for the interview. There is serious competition to volunteer in public radio (a former colleage of mine was a volunteer coordinator at NPR West and KCRW) -- treat it like applying for any job.

Like Miko, I've seen some informal "mad [editing] skillz/awesome cookies" resumes in the past year or so in my publications job, and I NEVER put them in the call-back pile, no matter how good the rest of their credentials are. The unspoken message that comes across is "I'm too wacky to take this part of the process seriously, so imagine how reliable I'm going to be under deadline!" (Sorry if that's harsh, but it's the impression that comes across.)

(And, admins, I hope this isn't an inappropriate use of Mecha. Please let me know/remove this if it is.)

Nope. It aint.
I liked the informal thing, but listen to those with more experience than me.
Good luck.

I'm going to go against the crowd here, Fuzzbean. I've gotten a number of interviews based on slightly wacky cover letters that were at least infused with a bit of my own personality. It's a good thing to do, I think, although NPR may be a little old-school when it comes to this stuff.

In general, I save the chatty cover letters for places where I already know someone -- If I'm applying directly to a certain editor, let's say, rather than sending a letter off to someone in HR. Because people in Human Resources have no sense of humor.

Good luck!

Huh. Okay. I had thought that there would be less competition for a volunteer gig than for a paying one, so more informality would be okay. I'm used to weensy NPR stations where you walk in, say, "Hi, I want to volunteer" and they give you stuff to do. And often coffee.

Thanks everyone for your input. I really appreciate it.

One more question: I *am* pretty close to the station, and debating whether I should print this out, plus the form and a resume, and walk it over or whether I should just email it. Both the form they have you fill out and the website seem to lean towards emailing. Would walking it in demonstrate a gung-ho attitude or a complete inability to follow directions?

(I haven't had to apply for a job, volunteer or otherwise, in a few years, so I'm dead rusty at all this. And I really do want to work there.)

The way I feel about applications -- particularly cold-drop ones - is that you should never give a reviewer an obvious reason to exclude you. It's not that bosses or hiring staff have no sense of humor -- it's that they typically have dozens of applications for a single position, and right off the bat they've got to get rid of some. The first weeding out includes the ones with bad spelling or writing, the ones with a completely inappropriate background for the job, and the ones who don't observe the basic conventions of applying for a job. The basic conventions are that you approach a responsibility you're asking for with seriousness and respect. When I'm hiring, remember that I'm looking for someone to work for me. To get a job done. I'm concerned about performance, awareness of others, and appropriateness for the position. I don't want to pick someone who's going to be hard to manage, not take the job seriously enough, or potentially embarrassing, no matter how witty they may be.

As others have said, in the interview you'll show your sense of humor and fun personality. But in a job application, the main thing to do is convince the reader that you're viable and that you deserve a closer look.

As brina says, maybe if you know the person to who you're writing you can be more informal - it's a judgement call. But even then, consider that your cover letter and resume may be Xeroxed and may have to go through an HR review or filing process. Is it something you want in your employee file there forever?

Generally, I'm amazed at some of the resumes I get. It's as though people have never had a basic introduction to the process of applying for a job, or they're just unfamiliar with the working world. Here I'm not talking about one little phrase like in fuzzbean's example, but I once got an e-mail cover letter from a total stranger that began "Dear X, So I'm trying to figure out the whole life/work thing and I thought of Place X."

Just don't do anything to disqualify yourself in Round 1.

Fuzzbean--you'd be surprised at the competition for unpaid work at the cool, popular, exciting places. It's almost stiffer than competition for the paying gigs because at least with the paying gigs there's a minimum height to enter. bmarkey, Miko and scody have said exactly what I would say. The first contact, especially when made with a stranger, is almost never the moment to present yourself as anything other than professional. There's just too much noise coming into those people's in-baskets; you're more likely to earn the closer look (the chance to show your sparkle charm and wit) with a heavy dose of competence and professionalism.

Haha. Sorry for the bad advice, fuzzbean. I had figured that the volunteer position would be significantly informal given my volunteering for radio stations (and Amy's). But none of them were at a place like NPR West (and good thing too). Plus, I was tending toward the feature writing tone for my cover letters because I was trying to get a job in feature writing (I pitch better than I cover-letter-write, I think).

Hey, no worries klangklang. Always get a second opinion (and yeah, I was working under the same substantially-informal assumption).

I think your letter's pretty well covered above; I should just add that the more you contact them, the better. If you drop it off, and anyone gives you a card, when you get home, send an email to that person (even a receptionist) saying how nice it was to come in and how much you look forward to working with them in the future. Sure, that sounds bland and non-specific, but only 'cuz it's an example -- yours will be specific "I was impressed by how quickly we covered the important parts of --- and I look forward to such an organized approach on the job..." or "I enjoyed talking with you about the technical differences between Earl Scheib's and Thomas Kinkade's work, and agree that, while both paint with light, the functionality and ready availability of Scheib's painting puts him in a class of his own."

Seriously, twenty minutes after you speak to them, they may be making their decision, looking at a stack of resumes, weeding out ones they didn't warm up to, and if their email chimes with a nice note from you and you're in the top five, that could just be the difference.

Just don't take Kinkade over Scheib. It's all about the undercoat.

I'd like to share with you my favorite cover letter I've ever received: "I'm yer gal. 'Nuff said."

Two lines, that's it. She got the job, but if the cover letter had gone through HR first, I probably never would have seen it.