Don’t Bluff!

In the last post, “Cheap Viagra, summer internship,” I talked about the way many bright students fail miserably to persuade professors to hire them as summer interns. Let me follow it up with the text of an exchange I had with an IIT student. All names except mine have been masked. Apart from this, the text is reproduced without any editorial changes.

(1) Original email from the student

Subject: Application for Internship

Dear Mr. Monippally,
     I am writing to you to explore the possibility of summer internship in your esteemed university during May-July 200x.

     My name is Raghupati Mishra. I am a Second year undergraduate student in the Dual Degree Program (Btech + Mtech) in Mechanical Engineering Department(specialization in Thermal and Fluids engineering) at the Indian Institute of Technology XXX, India.

     Having visited your personal homepage and gone through your research interests, I am really motivated and would consider myself fortunate if I get an opportunity to work under a distinguished scholar like you.

      I am very motivated to involve myself in Management field. I have  sufficient lab exposure--academic as well as optional as summer project--I have comppleted many managerial porjects related to marketing and management. I completed my project of data collection of NTSE students and convencing them to join [a coaching centre] for the preparation of IIT-jee for thier safe future under Mr. XXX. (Director of the coaching centre, Kota). I am also presetly working as a project manager and central co-ordinator for the conduction of zzz (a project under Mr. yyy,Director of Acme, Kota).

     I am also proficient in MS Office(Softwares) and Programming language C++, and can work in both Windows and Linux platforms. I am learning MATLAB to have some additional software knowledge.

     Kindly spare some time to consider my credentials and evaluate my chances of acquiring a summer trainee position under your able guidance. I have written a brief resume below for your appraisal. If any further information is required, I would be glad to furnish the same.

Thank you for reading.
Regards,

Raghupati Mishra
II year undergraduate,
Mechanical department,
IITX

                  CURRICULUM VITAE

[An impressive CV, copied in the body of the mail and attached as a Word file.]

(2)  My response to 1

Raghupati 

My advice: Don't bluff. 

Best wishes 

RN Saxena

(3) The student’s response to 2

Dear Monippally,

Actually i didn't got you while mentioning it as bluff. I am working since last two years at so much hard level, just to build up mine resume and if somebody calls it as bluff's, it really hurts me a lot.

First of all i will love to mention that i am making mine website(its under construction:- http://www.me.iitx.ac.in/~raghupati    please please please visit it before commenting some other words about me), their i would be uploading all the certificates which i received while working on these projects, i did since last 2 years as a proof.

Actually I am from such a family, that my father don't even had money  for my graduation. My father had taken loan form bank on mine studies, in short i knows what are my dreams and who i am right now. Case was this that before coming to IIT i had'nt touched computer before but then i started to exploring myself, and started devloping such qualities within myself. Now the situation is this that my hostel   council decided that i should start working as a comp. secy. of my hostel. because they thought i was quite much known about computer stuffs.

I am asking for a project in winter(dec.) not for summer(june and july) because i dont want to waste my 1 month like others use to do. My life is full of struggle. I am sorry to say you that if you don't want to give me a project then please dont give me that but please don't say such words that would effect someone feelings.

Last but not the least, i would be greatfull to yours if your will mention me that while reading which line u fealed that mine resume was bluff.

Thanking you,
Raghupati Mishra, Mechanical department, IIT XXX

(4) My Response to 3

Raghupati

When I asked you not to bluff, I wasn't referring to your CV at all. I didn't read it. I didn't want to go on to the CV because when I came to the following claim in your mail, I realized you were bluffing:

"Having visited your personal homepage and gone through your research interests, I am really motivated and would consider myself fortunate if I get an opportunity to work under a distinguished scholar like you."

There was no sign at all in your mail of your having visited my personal homepage to check out my research interests. If at all you clicked on the link, you appear to have done it just to be able to say that you visited the home page.

I could have just deleted your mail. I decided to send you a one-liner in your own interest. There may be professors here who are working on areas that interest you and might offer you an internship. Don't spoil your chances of such a project by this kind of pseudo-customization.

Best wishes

MMM

(5) The student’s response 4

Dear Monippally,

It may be my fault that while mailing i decided to keep the cover letter to be same for everyone. So sorry for that, but i would appreciate that your reason was very logical.
Last but not the least, thanks for your best wishes.

Thanking you,
Raghupati Mishra,
Mechanical Department,
IIT XXX,

Image from http://www.istockphoto.com

Small Words, Big Power

In their book, Yes: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive (New York: Free Press), authors Noah J Goldstein, Steve J Martin, and Robert B Cialdini talk about the way Colleen Szot shattered the twenty-five year sales records of a home shopping channel by changing just three words in her infomercial. In place of the usual, “Operators are waiting; please call now,” she wrote, “If operators are busy, please call again.”

The authors argue that this is an instance of the power of social proof. It makes the readers feel that a lot of people are buying, and therefore it must be very good. If they can’t get through when they call, they have been told that this might happen. So they try again.

I find it an excellent example of smart framing, the heart of persuasion. If I call in response to the invitation, “Operators are waiting; please call now,” and I find the line engaged, I get annoyed. If the line is engaged the second time, I may give up. When, however, I see the request, “If operators are busy, please call again,” I immediately sense that a large number of people out there are buying this product. I expect the line to be busy. It confirms my inference that a lot of people are trying to buy the product. If I get through without having to redial, I consider myself lucky like finding a parking space being vacated by someone just as I come into a chockfull car park during peak hours.

The lesson is simple. We may be able to do a lot more about persuasion by tweaking our words a bit. Of course that little change represents a big creative effort and deep understanding of the psychology of customers.