Best or worst cover letter ever? You decide

With a tough economy making it harder than ever for college grads and students to get a job, one finance undergraduate decided to take an unusual tack: a brutally honest cover letter.

The letter is apparently getting both praise and criticism from Wall Street executives. Whatever you might think of the letter, it apparently has produced results: Some companies are reportedly considering hiring or interviewing the student. 

The writer, whose name was blocked out when it was leaked to Business Insider, didn't spare the author's ego. Here's an excerpt, which blocked out identifying information:

"I am aware it is highly unusual for an undergraduate from average universities like [BLOCKED] to intern at [BLOCKED], but nevertheless I was hoping you might make an exception. . . I won't waste your time inflating my credentials, throwing around exaggerated job titles, or feeding you a line of crapp [sic] about how my past experiences and skill set align perfectly for an investment banking internship." 

The writer, apparently a man, describes his abilities as including having "no qualms about fetching coffee, shining shoes or picking up laundry, and will work for next to nothing."

Some of the responses among executives who reviewed the letter included those calling it "hilarious but bold" and another who wrote, "This might be the best cover letter I've ever received."

Yet others were more critical of the approach, questioning whether an applicant should be hired for sounding like a "call for charity," according to Forbes. 

"I would still prefer the candidate to have something special about them that they can tell me about, rather than a person who pretty much admits that he or she is pretty average," Lex van Dam, who runs the hedge fund Hampstead Capital, tells Forbes. 

The gambit might reflect the risks students and young people are willing to take when looking for a job. More than half of recent college grads were jobless or underemployed, according to a report last year from The Associated Press.

Still, the strategy just might pay off for the blunt writer: "Tons of people are trying to hire him," according to Business Insider. 

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