Instant Interviews: 101 Ways to Get the Best Job of Your Life

Chapter 48. Writing Letters to the Editor

Write in and ask for interviews!

We'll review some sentences to use in an instant.

I discovered the high profile of writing letters to the editor over two decades ago when our daughter Angel was in elementary school. One of her teachers was exceptional, and I thought it would be a nice way to thank her.

I was instantly inundated with calls from parents of classmates, school officials, and even the mayor of the city! All this without even having my phone number printed.

Since that time, I've suggested the idea to many jobseekers. The results were the same.

If you talk to the publishers of your local papers, you'll find that the most consistently, religiously read section is letters to the editor. Often even more than news items, since letters are topical and controversial. They often influence public opinion, so are must-reading for powerful, well-connected politicos (a dynamite interview source).

Letters to the editor almost always get printed too. That's because any censoring by the paper is very bad for business. Community newspapers survive as much on good will as on advertising revenue. Publishing the letters allows them to create controversy without taking a position. So few people write anything positive that the papers are instant about running the letters.

Short, focused letters have the best chance of being included. Be sure you have a single message. Almost everything else is backup.

There are two ways to use newspaper letter writing effectively. ...