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It's rare for a magazine to accept a story it didn't assign. Rare. That said...First, you find a magazine that's a good fit for your story. Check the masthead and see if you can determine which editor edits which section. Always pitch directly to a human. Those "submit story ideas" e-mail address are black holes.Even though you've already written the story, you still have to get the editor to read it. It's still pitching. To summarize the story, copy the nut or billboard paragraph (different editors call it different things) into the e-mail to briefly summarize your story. Always sell the story to the publication. Why should the editor care about this piece today? Why is X magazine the perfect place for this story? How is it relevant to X Magazine's readers? Invite the editor to read your story and include maybe the first 500 words in the body of the e-mail. Indicate that you are prepared to work with the editor on any required revisions.You might have better luck pitching a story to an online publication. Websites need to update all the time and are always looking for new content. But the spirit of the pitch is the same as it is for a print publication.

If they submitted it electronically via the links that were created by the college (like MIT), there are no issues.However, if they are printed on plain paper , placed in an envelop and mailed to the college…………… How will the college know that you did not forge those letters??????????Have those teachers e-mail the college from their high school e-mail address and tell the college that they mailed the letters but forgot to sign the letters and provide some context of what is in the letter. Easy and will take a couple of minutes.All the best.

I can tell you the craziest thing I ever did that got me to skip the job interview almost entirely. (BY MISTAKE)It all happened around 3 years ago when I was eagerly looking for a job in product management. I had a computer engineering background but didn’t want to have anything to do with programming anymore. I learned fast that I had a really high customer oriented mindset and a knack for working with developers and designers to ship products that answer the burning pain of the users. I had worked as a programmer in the past but also as a business developer, trainer and I wanted to combine my strong points from each of them.Every job description I found was perfect for me. I had all the necessary skills and even beyond, combined from my previous jobs but I never held the title of “product manager” in any of them.I tailored my CV in such a way that I would showcase exactly what they were looking for and wrote customised cover letters for over 50 different companies and startups. I sent over 100 applications and e-mails, researching companies and reading more about product management along the way.Months went by although I did so much research and planning, you know how many replies I got?One. Out of a hundred. And that one was a rejection saying “sorry due to the large number of applicants we have decided to move forward with other candidates”.The rest of the applications vanished into the bottomless black hole of insignificance.I went through so many courses and programs on how to improve your CV that I knew every guide out there available on the first 20 pages of Google and Bing. I kept tweaking and tweaking and had over 20 versions of my CV saved on my desktop.But I also had something else saved on my desktop.Some weeks before, this article about lessons you should learn in your 20’s kept popping up. It contained a framework of how to find your purpose in life and set goals accordingly. You go through self-reflection, answer some questions and then you add all the answers in one sheet (slide 101). You could print and hang it somewhere to keep track daily. I did that exercise and created a PDF version of that slide with my own dreams and goals. It had been on my desktop for a while.One day I found an opening on a job portal. It was 1:30 AM. I was so tired but still searching. Found a startup that was looking for a Product Manager with 3 years of experience. I was already tired and depressed because although I had gathered so many experiences in the last years and always tried to showcase my lets-do-this attitude, I was not even worthy of getting a proper rejection back in the e-mail.At this moment I was sick of articles about companies searching and nurturing talent, that hard skills don’t matter and that they are customising their recruitments for a more suitable approach towards millennials. It all meant bull crap to me.The truth was another one.You either have the number of years or not. Regardless of actual work being done and how capable you are. Maybe not in software development but for other sectors those articles are just advertisement.But here comes the twist.I filled up their application form and at the end they asked me to attach a PDF version of my CV. I had over 20 versions of my CV on my desktop. I attached one and then pressed submit. The moment I submitted the application I realised I did something incredibly stupid. I had uploaded and sent the PDF with my purpose in life instead of a proper CV.I was astonished of how big of an idiot I could be. I was just ashamed, thinking of the laughs the person on the other side of the e-mail was gonna have when they open my application. Nobody besides me ever read that file. Eventually I got over the whole incident and just went to bed not expecting anything more from it.Two days later I got a call from the CTO of the startup and said that he was impressed by my application and that he wanted to talk.You have to understand the huge blunder I did. There was nothing related to the role I was applying in my goals list, just dreams and ambitions I set for myself to accomplish in my life. Some examples from the list in a random order bellow:Travel to 50 countries until the age of 40Live in Asia for a yearBecome fluent in SpanishWrite a bookDo a speech in front of 500 peopleRead a book per weekFinish a marathonCreate jobs for 50+ peopleGet a beautiful girlfriendLearn to play a musical instrumentMeditate dailyWe had a 15 minute phone call where he asked me about my actual professional experience and it went pretty well. I think because he knew me so deep from reading my file the conversation felt more like a chat between friends. He said we will keep in touch after.The next day I had a call with the founder and he said that the CTO spoke really highly of me and he just wants to check if I fit in with the culture that he wants in this team. Later that week I got the offer and I accepted the job. I never talked with anyone from their HR team during the process.It was a great experience where I learned and contributed a lot until I decided to actually follow my list that I initially created and move to another country to bigger opportunities.I learned one important thing throughout this whole experience that applies to much more than just a job application.You could get 1000 rejections but you only need one yes.I troubleshoot through life and deconstruct the science behind confidence, positive influence and how to create remarkable work. Connect deeper here Rule Your Way