Applying for work

Here is a personal letter I wrote for a work application:

Hello,

my name is René Brauer and I would like to apply for the position as: “Göteborgs hungrigaste julkortssorterare!” (translation: Gothenburg´s hungriest Christmas cards sorter).  I hope you can forgive me for writing in English, it is just easier for me to express the point I am trying to make.

Yes I fulfill all the job requirements needed for the advertised task. And by now you probably have read hundreds of similar personal letters where everyone describes themselves in the rhetoric used in your work advertisement. So I thought I use this opportunity to point out a dissonance in your rhetoric with scientific findings.

You advertise the position in fashion that you state that: 'you are looking for a hungry person'. This can have two different connotations; first it can mean physical hunger as a bodily function indicated the need for nourishment or metaphorical hunger in the sense of a motivation to do a task well for a promised reward.

Let´s start with the body’s requirement for nourishment, aka. hunger. Here we can differentiate between cognitive tasks and physical tasks, both requiring nourishment to function properly. While there are substances that can enhance brain functions like “amino acids tryptophan and tyrosine, caffeine and carbohydrate” (Lieberman 2003, p. 245) a general lack of sufficient nutrients is usually regarded with adverse effects on brain functions (ibid.). Common indicators of low blood sugar levels are tiredness, difficulties to concentrate etc. all associated with lower productivity. In regard to physical functions the same applies; while dietary supplements can have beneficial effects on physical performance (Williams 2005) general lack of sufficient nutrients inhibits maximum task utilization. Therefore physical hunger is adverse to the proper completion of specific tasks.

Now let’s turn to the metaphorical hunger, aka motivation. The common thinking is that the higher the reward the better task performance. This ‘common logic’ is not what scientific studies showed, they found “when money was used as an external reward, intrinsic motivation tended to decrease” (Deci 1971, p. 105). This was true for all tasks requiring some form of higher cognitive activity. The conclusion was drawn that monetary rewards had adverse effects on task enhancements, findings that were confirmed by subsequent studies. Therefore even in the sense of metaphorical hunger, this does not necessary lead to improvements in the task performed.    

I hope I could show to you that hunger in both senses does not improve your work results. Thank you for taking the time to read this and by the here shown level of reasoning I think you would agree that I am qualified for the position, looking forward to your reply.

References

Deci, E (1971) Effects of externally mediated rewards on intrinsic motivation, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 18. Is.1 pp. 105-115

Liberman, H R (2003) Nutrition, brain function and cognitive performance, Appetite. Vol. 40 Is. 3 pp. 245-254

Williams, M (2005) Dietary Supplements and Sports Performance: Amino Acids, Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, Vol. 2 Is. 2 pp. 63-67