Name dropping in cover letter?

[annel]

I'm writing an internship cover letter to a site where I am friends with one of the staff psychologists. He actually introduced me to an approach utilized at the site, so there may be a way to integrate my friendship with him into the CL.

Thoughts? Is name dropping a good/bad idea?

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[WisNeuro]

It's annoying. I'll notice who your letter writers are and who you have worked with by reading your CV and letters. When I get intern applications that name drop like 5-6 people it just looks like an extremely poorly written cover letter.

 

[Member1928]

I'm writing an internship cover letter to a site where I am friends with one of the staff psychologists. He actually introduced me to an approach utilized at the site, so there may be a way to integrate my friendship with him into the CL.

Thoughts? Is name dropping a good/bad idea?

Don't think of it as name dropping. I'm sure you wouldn't say "As a friend of Dr. X, a staff psychologist at your site, I am quite familiar with technique Y and would like to learn how to be more effective in using this technique with Z."

That being said you can say, "I would be excited to work in the traumatic stress track, as this could afford me the opportunity to work under the supervision of Dr. X and learn more about Prolonged Exposure and Cognitive Processing Therapy."

My point is that if the staff psychologist is involved in the training of residents and you would be interested in what he/she has to offer, then mention this just like you would in any other cover letter. Every cover letter I wrote talked about rotations and specific members of the training faculty.

 

[MCParent]

Don't think of it as name dropping. I'm sure you wouldn't say "As a friend of Dr. X, a staff psychologist at your site, I am quite familiar with technique Y and would like to learn how to be more effective in using this technique with Z."

That being said you can say, "I would be excited to work in the traumatic stress track, as this could afford me the opportunity to work under the supervision of Dr. X and learn more about Prolonged Exposure and Cognitive Processing Therapy."

My point is that if the staff psychologist is involved in the training of residents and you would be interested in what he/she has to offer, then mention this just like you would in any other cover letter. Every cover letter I wrote talked about rotations and specific members of the training faculty.

This, if anything. If your friend is your friend, then he or she is already dropping gentle hints about what a good fit you would be there. If he or she isn't, bluntly stating that connection in the letter will not help your application.

 

[futureapppsy2]

This, if anything. If your friend is your friend, then he or she is already dropping gentle hints about what a good fit you would be there. If he or she isn't, bluntly stating that connection in the letter will not help your application.

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