Yeah, that's more for later. You don't want to go all Dilberty in the cover letter. My vote is to keep it out.

It's tough - you want to stand out, but not enough to be considered 'out there'. Maybe reference letters of recommendation that highlight your skills?

I'd say no, for the simple reason that I could see myself doing exactly this same thing, and my instincts about these things are almost always entirely wrong.

Plus, humor doesn't always translate to print, especially in such a dry medium as a job application.

No no and more no, unless you're specifically applying to a uber-small, hip creative firm who would be naturally looking for offbeat, assertive types.

Keep it extremely short, focused and neutral. Save the flashes of wit for the face-to-face interview, and even then, sparingly.

If you get the job you want there will be plenty of time later on to show people your fun side.

Speaking as a past hiring manager, I can definitely say "Don't do it."

Ok good. You have saved me from myself. Application is being uploaded right now.

"My to-do lists are legendary" tells the story. "My to-do lists have two columns, tasks (immediate) and nodes (long-term)" shows the reality. Alter the latter to fit your particular methods.

nodes?

that's a new one on me

A quick story about job interviews:

For the first year I lived in Austin, I was the front desk manager of the Driskill Hotel. One of my duties was to hire employees for the front desk. To simplify things for myself, I would pick one afternoon a week and I'd interview applicants every half hour for about three hours, so I could knock out six applicants at a time.

One particularly dull afternoon, where I had pretty much decided to hire the third applicant of the day, my last applicant showed up for her interview a full hour late. No excuse. Just an hour late. She was a teenager and her application showed she had no work experience whatsoever. I asked her if she misunderstood what time the interview was supposed to be, but she said, "No, I just couldn't make it here then."

I placed her application on the desk in front of me and clasped my fingers together. "Look," I said. "You're not going to get this job. You were an hour late for the interview and that's not a good reflection on how dependable you'll be as an employee."

"But," I continued, "It seems that you don't have any job experience and I'm willing to bet that you haven't really interviewed for many jobs. You're not going to get this one, but would you like to interview anyway? It may help you to not be nervous on your next interview."

She seemed confused, but said she'd like to.

So I began the interview as if the tardiness never occurred. And it actually went quite well. She was smart and had a good sense of humor and seemed capable of handling the job efficiently. She had a genuine interest in the hotel and the history of the area, and seemed quite at ease to take on new challenges. A few times she stumbled in the interview, and I coached her on what kind of answers employers were looking for.

All in all, it was a good interview otherwise. When we finished, she seemed happy to have the job all locked up. I thanked her for her time and wished her a good day.

"So..." she said. "Will I be hearing from you?"

"Oh, no." I said. "You were never going to get this job after showing up an hour late. We'll be hiring in a few months and I'll encourage you to re-apply then, but this was just for practice. I hope it will help you."

Two days later, I got a "thank you" note from the applicant AND one from her mother, thanking me for taking the time to conduct the interview and for teaching her a valuable lesson on punctuality. True story.

Nodes is my word for the breakdown of large projects into daily manageable pieces. If I were in a musical frame of mind, I would call them movements, which is probably more accurate in a bad-pun kind of way. Or, maybe just more cathartic.

ColdChef: If I didn't love you before (and I do) I totally love you now (and I still do). I believe you are going to go way up on my list of people to visit in their home turf before I die. And possibly after.

Repeats what TrishaLynn just said--that was awesome!