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%	LETTER INFORMATION
%	All of the below lines must be filled out
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% The company being applied to
\recipient
  {}
  {Freedom of the Press Foundation\\601 Van Ness Ave. Suite E731\\San Francisco, CA 94102\\USA}

% The date on the letter, default is the date of compilation
\letterdate{\today}

% How the letter is opened
\letteropening{To the Hiring Manager,}

\letterbody{
    My name is Ethan Paul and I am writing to apply for the Newsroom Support Engineer position
    at the Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF). In my nine years of professional experience I
    have worked in a wide variety of positions including as a Tier I support technician for a
    legacy institution that supported thousands of clients, and a systems architect and
    administrator for a small startup company. Through my entire career what I have enjoyed most
    from my work are the opportunities to meet people, understand their technical challenges,
    and work to build and deliver solutions that help them to be more successful in their jobs.
    While I enjoy solving technical problems, it is the relationship between technology and
    people that has always been of greatest interest to me.
    \\\\
    Developing this relationship is the work that the FPF provides through the maintenance and
    support of projects like SecureDrop, which demonstrates an ideal model of a distributed open
    source software platform. The relationship between people and technology is so
    often a complicated one that grows more so as systems become ever more sophisticated and
    stratified. As a result of this sophistication, taking advantage of technological
    benefits becomes increasingly difficult as the level of expertise required to work within a
    system also increases. This makes the work of specialist groups all the more important:
    organizations like the FPF provide the essential service of helping people better participate
    in our rapidly digitizing world. The FPF and similar organizations also stand in stark
    contrast to companies that ostensibly provide the same service, but only for their own
    benefit rather than that of their clients, customers, and community. The commitment to
    providing enhanced access to technological resources for the principle benefit of its clients
    and community is what appeals most to me about applying to join the team at FPF.
    \\\\
    One of the most interesting and fulfilling projects I have had the opportunity to work on
    during my time in the technology sector was the implementation and support of a network
    monitoring system for my company's wireless network infrastructure. This project allowed me
    to work with and learn from experts in different fields as I coordinated the system's design
    across several engineering departments while continually working with the Network
    Operations teams to understand how they needed the system to function in daily use. While the
    technical work for the project was interesting, by far the most engaging part of the process
    was understanding the needs and limitations of the people using the system so that I could
    work to improve its utility. This exposure to other teams and specialties helped me to develop
    a better understanding of the business, a plethora of diverse relationships, and gave me more
    opportunities to expand my technical knowledge.
    \\\\
    At this point in my career I am interested in the impact my work has on my community and
    environment which is why I have chosen to branch out of the traditional technology sector.
    I value contributing positively to my organization's culture and clients, but doing so
    while also working to fight inequity and improve free access to information is a dream
    opportunity for me. I have admired the FPF's work from a far for long enough that the
    prospect of applying to work here seems almost surreal. And yet the Newsroom Support
    Engineer role combines two elements that are very important to me: developing people's
    relationship with their technology, and promoting digital freedom for people everywhere. For
    all these reasons I hope you will consider me for the position and I look forward to hearing
    from you soon.
}
