Q: I begin my internship application cover letter with a humorous anecdote. From its punch line, I proceed to discuss my journalism experience. Only after this do I explicitly say that I am looking for a summer reporting internship.

My question: is it necessary to do so earlier? The letter flows very well as is, and I think the anecdote is funny. It would no longer be effective if I preceded it with a line like, "I am writing to apply for a summer reporting internship." In your opinion, how quickly must "anecdotal leaders" make clear the reason they are writing before they lose you? And is there any way to make this clear outside the bounds of the letter body - like a "Re: summer internship" or some such thing at the top? I want to be creative, but I don't want to get my application tossed out.

The cover letter is attached.

Daniel

A: Your question is timely. Yesterday, I opened, read and entered information for about a hundred internship applications.

I live in some dread of sending internship-rejection letters to job candidates (I once sent an internship rejection letter to David Halberstam, but that's another story), so I appreciate it when I can quickly tell what someone is asking for. (Believe it or not, some internship applicants never say. One confused the hell out of me by not stating that -- and by having her graduation date one year too early.)

Your letter does not say till the fifth graph what you are looking for. I think some editors might say you buried the lead. I'd try to find a prominent way to say what you're looking for. I know it would spoil the lede on your cover letter. Maybe you could try it with a precede:

Here's why I want an internship:

Or an objective line (though I don't usually recommend them.)

Or a Re: line, as you might do in a memo.

If you decide to keep the internship reference low, position it where it will be prominent on the page.