Submitting Poem as Cover Letter??

Hi fellow monkeys,

Just a little background of myself, I am a Chemical Engineering student (yes, you read right.) based in Singapore and I kinda need some advise. My grades are less than stellar having recently fallen to 2:2 (Second Lower) and most banks usually require a 2:1 or 2nd upper degree. In fact, I am 3.98/5.0 which is an eyelash below 2nd Upper but what can I do right. I am going to apply for a BO job in Operations at Goldman Sachs and knowing that my CAP/GPA isn't that stellar, I have went to 2 networking event by GS and have even connected to 1 Operations Analyst currently working at GS on Linkedin. I am intending of course to ask for a referral but that may not be successful but I will ask for advise at the very least. I am proficient in Excel VBA and Excel.

On to my main question, is it advisable to try and be creative and maybe submit a poem or some essay with a poem in the middle for my statement of motivation (aka Cover Letter) for GS? Cause I know I have to stand out some way and if I just send in a "normal" application like everyone else, I will obviously be marked down for my less than stellar CAP. I'm thinking to myself "What do I really have to lose?" By the way, I will think of something creative, poem is just something I had thought of after reading a few GS articles online.

I have great leadership position being a Captain of a Corporate Dragonboat Team and have many student leadership position but I unfortunately do not have any Banking internships.... But I do have one Big4 internship in advisory and have basic understanding of Finance and Accounting as I have a Minor in Economics and Accounting.

Thanks for you guy's help!

27 Comments
 

Potassium Nitrate.

Don’t hate, it’s great.

It can act as an oxidizer.

I didn’t know that, but now I’m wiser.

It has a crystalline structure. If you can’t respect that, you’re a butt-muncher.

It’s a key ingredient in gun powder, KNO3.

Don’t get no grief.

It can be used to make corned beef.

It’s also known as salt peter.

-
 
"confusedengineer" Oh i forgot to mention that the poem would obviously be about Banking Operations and not just any random poem.

Love how you thought someone might think you'd send a poem about random stuff

Seriously though, it's a nice idea but don't do it. It'll get forwarded on to everyone just like that kid in Germany who wrote a song when he joined Deloitte and ended the email with "I hope you like it. If you like the song, share it with other colleagues and put me on CC to connect with as many colleagues as possible at the beginning."..

Keep it professional, most likely they won't read it anyway unfortunately..

 

Sounds good on paper but probably a bad idea. I tried a cute essay for Dartmouth MBA and it got me soundly rejected. Biz professionals want to know you are capable of being serious and professional. You have a better chance networking your way in than being cute.

This is a very conservative industry - I know a guy that brought a part of a plane he worked on (F-18) and was a career switcher engineer to Industrials IB. He got soundly rejected because of it, despite it being cool and relevant to his "resume walk". They said "yeah, that wasn't cool, not professional, this isn't show and tell".

 

The answer is no, do not send a poem or do anything cute, in case you are at all confused by the sarcastic encouragement of the comments above.

You stand out in recruiting by networking and conducting informational interviews, period. Get to know as many people who work in your desired career as possible. Ask the person you have connected with if there are other people in his/her team they would recommend you spend 10 minutes talking to.

Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes.
 

Wait, so at best you'll stand out as the guy that wrote a poem... but at worst you'll stand out as the guy that wrote a poem?

You've given yourself the choice to stand out as the "poem guy" when you're already unique as the "Chemical Engineering guy".

Explain why being a Chemical Engineering student shows you can handle a difficult course load in applied math that is easily transferable to detail oriented work in a group environment.

 

In general any of these more creative approaches will get shit on when you ask...but every year a few folks in a few different industries have the balls to try and sometimes it pays off for them. I guess what I'm saying is don't expect support here as this is an approach that is outside the norm and hence unlikely to payoff. If you think you've already got 0 chance, then you've got nothing to lose. If you have greater than 0 chance, it's hard to believe the poem is the right route.

 

It was not wrong to ask this question but now I am thinking...if this is the way your mind works (and it's a wonderful thing to be creative), do you want to be surrounded all day by assholes that don't get it? This tech bubble is almost over but there will be another one...maybe position yourself for that and you can be a creative startup billionaire of a perpetually money losing company instead of someone who hustles as hard as they can to barely have a decent standard of living after a 50% effective tax rate....

 

Quia qui possimus pariatur dolor esse. Quidem consectetur debitis est et aut sunt qui. Libero eligendi et nihil magni totam vero. Repellendus accusamus consequuntur et voluptas.

Possimus dolorum molestiae quia deserunt aspernatur a illum. Consectetur vel eligendi distinctio libero autem architecto. Aspernatur qui rerum unde ab error.

Quasi amet ipsa ut sit. Omnis qui eos quo ratione iste necessitatibus. Voluptates in aut voluptas sed cupiditate. Praesentium asperiores unde ut accusamus eum quae. Dolor aperiam quidem dolorem excepturi necessitatibus exercitationem voluptate.

 

Quisquam et voluptatibus ipsa eum perferendis vero. Sit voluptatem reprehenderit numquam et voluptates non quo.

Minima libero eligendi nemo in quis autem temporibus. Minus optio nisi ut adipisci. Non sequi animi recusandae saepe quae delectus. Sint dolor dicta at eligendi inventore numquam. Nihil ut reprehenderit assumenda voluptatem voluptates repellendus neque.

Animi dolorem autem asperiores et. Dicta velit ipsum officia deleniti iusto accusamus et. Et quae cum rem qui pariatur. Aut nam possimus est vel voluptatem sit.

Qui beatae eaque magnam qui. Et est laborum sit ipsa ea optio quia. Quod autem et quis vel omnis. Iste reprehenderit minus excepturi mollitia nesciunt. Dicta expedita unde molestiae et.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.3%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (44) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (78) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (72) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”