The best motivation letter. How to write a motivation letter: personal experience

17.11.2009

Motivation letter - effective tool in finding a job that can help you overcome the first hurdle in selecting a company. This document can be especially useful for a student or graduate who does not have work experience, since in a motivation letter you can convey to the employer why he should consider your candidacy despite the dash in the appropriate section of the resume.

But we want to warn you right away - a motivation letter can open the doors of the company for you, or maybe close them. If the company does not require you to write an essay and you are not confident in your abilities, then you should refrain from writing this document.

Let's define terms

Transmittal letter

A cover letter is a mandatory part of your correspondence with the company, in which you describe what and why you are sending to the HR manager. The resume sent to the employer must be saved in a separate file, and in the body of the letter you must introduce yourself and indicate which position you are applying for. In a minimal form, the text we provide in the sidebar will be enough for you, but if you want, you can expand your cover letter by stating (briefly!):

shortest cover letter
Good afternoon, (NAME, if you know)
I am sending you a resume for a job accurate name vacancies or desired position). I am ready to consider other proposals in the field (areas of your interests).
It is preferable to contact me by phone (your main number, you can specify the time).
Sincerely,
(Your Name and Surname)

• Your qualifications (5th year student at MGIMO, faculty international economics, 3 years of work experience in the specialty)
• Source of information about the vacancy (in response to an ad on the site site ...)
• Data that will allow you to correctly assess your candidacy (I have no experience in my specialty, but I acquired the necessary skills while working in the trade union committee ...)

Just don’t “pour water” - neither you nor the HR manager need it, but it can ruin the impression.

If you are faxing your resume, include a cover letter in the header of the message.

Motivation letter

A motivation letter (essay) is a document that supplements your resume with information about why you are interested in a certain position and why you are suitable for it.

From the definitions, you can see that a motivation letter and a cover letter are two different things. If you have any questions about cover letter, you can put them on a sieve, and then we will deal with a motivation letter.

Writing a motivation letter

Let's start with the fact that a motivation letter should be unique for each job and company. Of course, you can copy some blocks from one message to another, but there cannot be two identical letters, otherwise the whole point of this procedure is lost. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you do not use motivation letter templates that you might already find on the Internet. A template will kill all your personality and scare off the employer.

Fact number 1. A motivation letter should take up no more than an A4 page, and for a student with no work experience, half a page is enough.

Main difficulty motivation letter- speak to the point and without clichés. Remember that empty phrases and common job seeker mantras (“active, easy to learn, responsible…”) only annoy the reader and do not add points to you.

In order to write a good motivation letter, you need to study the company's materials, its market position, products, job description. Based on the information received, you can draw conclusions about what attracts you to this work. Describe these findings in simple but literary language. Demonstrate to the employer your ability to work with information and draw conclusions, show that you understand the company's business, clearly understand what job you are offered and why you are interested in it. This will be the first part of your motivation letter - why you want this position.

Unfortunately, many young professionals take this recommendation literally, almost copying the texts from the employer's website into their letter. If you do not want to work in this place, you can do so.

Fact number 2. A motivation letter requires registration and careful verification. Read our article "How to write a resume", the tips of which apply to a motivation letter.

Another common mistake is trying to flatter the employer. Usually flattery creates distrust in the whole letter and turns the negavtino HR manager against you. If you write that you are impressed by the company's leadership in the market, and send a letter to a company that occupies the 10th line, then either you do not understand, or you are lying.

In your letter, be extremely careful with facts and details. On the one hand, you need to use examples to convince the employer of your motivation, on the other hand, there is a high probability of error. If you're not sure about something but want to use it as evidence, then cite the source from which you got the information.

Fact number 3. Feel free to let someone check your letter. It would be a shame not to get a job due to spelling mistakes.

The second part of the cover letter is the perfect tool for students and graduates with no work experience to grab attention. You have nothing to write on your resume, but in a motivation letter you can prove to the employer that the money invested in your training will return a hundredfold.

First, you need to show that you have a long-term intention to develop in an area related to the activities of the company or specific vacancy. The best ones for this are facts about your education (additional courses, self-education) or participation in some projects or organizations. You can note the success in certain training courses or your inclinations.

Second, show your seriousness. List the steps you yourself have taken to improve your skills. This can be independent study of textbooks, reading periodicals and Internet resources, participation in conferences or seminars.

Fact number 4. Don't testify against yourself. No one is asking you to write negative things about yourself, so don't do it.

Finally, try to find some suitable experience, which will confirm that you are suitable for work in the proposed position. Determine what skills are needed for the job (usually listed in the job description) and consider where you might have already acquired those skills. For example, data skills could be developed by writing term paper, and skill public speaking in KVN.

The last part of the motivation letter should be dedicated to your strengths. Once again, we do not need empty words and clichés. Back up your claims with facts or other people's recommendations. “I consider a high degree of responsibility to be my strength. For example, during the training I did not miss a single deadline for the delivery of work. My supervisor also noted this feature of my character more than once ”- an exaggerated example of the construction of a phrase. Write only what you can later prove in an interview.

A motivation letter for a job allows the applicant to convey basic information about himself to a potential employer. In the process of looking for a job, it will be a great success to receive an invitation for an interview. This requires attention personnel worker who views the summary. And the only chance to declare your qualities at this stage of communication with the employer is a cover letter.

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How to write a motivation letter

In order for the letter to exactly meet the expectations of the company that posted the resume, the applicant must:

• study in detail the preferences of the employer for the vacant position;
• note which requirements are important and which are secondary;
• determine the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed work;
• to study the level of "seriousness" of the enterprise;
• track employer layoff statistics.

Based on this information, a candidate for a position can systematize his data and present them in exactly the order that will be beneficial for a particular vacancy.

After adjusting the resume for the corresponding announcement, you can start writing the text proposing the candidate.

In order for the letter accompanying the questionnaire to attract the attention of a potential employer, it is advisable to include in it:

To whom is the accompanying document sent?

The cover letter, along with the applicant's resume, is sent to e-mail to the address of the company that posted the vacancy or a contact person. Also, these documents can be brought to the office of the enterprise that needs new employee. For reliability, it is recommended to make a motivation letter in 2 copies: one to hand official, on the other, ask to mark the receipt. You can also send your resume by mail.

Important! In the case of drawing up a letter on paper, it must be signed by the applicant.

It is best to send a resume after calling the employer. Sometimes vacancies close within a few hours. In this case, the time for adjusting the resume and writing the letter will be wasted.

Compilation errors

According to statistics, only 10% of employers thoroughly study a motivation letter. Therefore, often applicants do not pay enough attention to it or completely neglect the opportunity to contact the personnel specialists of a potential employer directly. However, all large companies give preference to questionnaires with accompanying texts. After all, from these you can find out:

• about the employee's motives;
• about his ability to express his thoughts;
• about the level of written language proficiency;
• about the possible contribution of the person to the common cause of the enterprise.

Therefore, it is better to fill out a letter in a leisurely atmosphere, and think over the text in advance.

A common mistake is to direct accompanying document not to the person indicated in the appeal. This can happen if one specialist is listed in the contact details, and another employee is considering the resume.

Therefore, if there is no exact certainty about who will read the motivation letter, it is better to use an impersonal address (“Good afternoon!”, “Dear gentlemen!”, etc.).

Excessive use in the text will not benefit the applicant:

• "watery" or "general" formulations;
• doubtful conclusions;
• non-specific phrases.

The applicant should not, for example, speak out about the fact that he did not decide on the choice of a company, he had an unsuccessful experience in finding a job, and also about doubts about whether he is worthy of this position. The letter should be based on strong speech turns that will show the candidate’s confidence in himself and his experience (“I can”, “I’m sure”, “I will do better”, “I will increase sales”, etc.).

Motivation letter retention periods

According to the Order of the Ministry of Culture of Russia No. 558 of August 25, 2010, all correspondence on the reception and registration of employees of the enterprise must be kept by the employer for 5 years. Moreover, it is necessary to ensure the safety not only of correspondence with the candidates hired, but also with persons who are not included in the staff of the enterprise.

Due to the special importance of personnel records, in the event of liquidation or reorganization of the employer's company, documents are transferred to the state archives.

A motivation letter (aka Personal Statement) is a mandatory part of the questionnaire, which is attached when submitting documents to a foreign educational institution. Often this factor is underestimated by the applicant and is revered as a pure formality. Instead of using the chance to get accepted, applicants simply find an example of a motivation letter and replace their name, the name of the university and some other provisions in it.

A successfully and well-written motivation letter will make it possible to pass the competition even with deliberately losing points in exams. Many people look for an example of a motivation letter on the Internet, but they overlook the fact that this letter must be unique. If it is secondary, that is, similar in style and content to the rest of such letters, then the chance of getting the coveted place with the applicant is sharply reduced.

Instead of giving an example of a motivation letter, it would be much more useful and correct to indicate the basic rules and principles for its preparation. Accumulate all your knowledge and imagination. The right example of a motivation letter can inspire the university administration and the applicant himself for unexpectedly productive cooperation. It is very important to be independent and creative when writing: take at least forty minutes to think in detail about the real reasons why you want to become a student of this particular university, what it will give you, and what you yourself can offer to a potential educational institution.

The structure of a motivation letter

In order for yours to be easy to read, you should adhere to a clear plan. It should consist of an introduction, main body and conclusion. Do not forget that the letter is designed to attract attention, to interest the reader. So main idea better placed in one of the first paragraphs. The main part involves listing your educational achievements, an average grade and a list of publications and developments on major topics. The following lists yours and the reasons that prompted you to choose this particular educational institution as an option for continuing education. The conclusion is always a look into the future. Tell us about your plans, how you see your cooperation with the university, what you expect from it. You should know that a motivation letter, an example of which you will find in Russian, must be translated into a foreign language with the utmost correctness.

Rules and tips for writing a motivation letter

Be concise. Brevity is the soul of wit. Usually there are established frames that limit the length of the letter. In addition, this is a great chance to demonstrate to the selection committee how you can formulate and express your thoughts. Adhere to the academic style of presentation. Ask motivation letter example to the university from those who have already applied and entered.

Do not forget that this is an important document, part of your resume, you should not use slang and jargon when writing. They can cause conflicting feelings in the reader and create an erroneous impression of your abilities. Use drafts. Before compiling the final version, try to make several draft versions, each of which will focus on different aspects of your personality, its features. After that, you can distance yourself and objectively evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each option, choose the best and make it into the final one.

Ask for advice. It is often difficult for a person to evaluate his own and skills. An outside perspective is great for this: ask teachers, friends, and parents to help you. Listen to their opinion, maybe they can come up with a couple of good ideas.

This section discusses the options for motivational letters written by students of the 10th grade of the GBOU secondary school No. 197 of the Central District of St. Petersburg, who study in a specialized class (medical). The class teacher gave the students the task to justify their choice, motivating them with the fact that in next year they will write motivational letters to the university and this is a good opportunity to hone their skills in writing such documents and show their personal interest in studying in a specialized class.
The overwhelming majority of students, newcomers to this school, purposefully came to a specialized class and in the first half of the year showed a deterioration in academic performance in the main subjects. The class teacher (the first experience of class leadership) asked the deputy. director of OIA to help in the selection and implementation of a methodology that will help identify student problems. In addition, the results of this method allowed class teacher get to know the children better, find out their interests, hobbies, family values ​​and get to know the families of the students better.
The names of the authors have been removed to protect personal data. The rest of the text of the letters is given without correction.

MOTIVATION LETTER. Example #1

Hello!
My name is _________. I was born ________ in the Perm region, the city of Perm. I currently live with my parents in St. Petersburg. I am the only child in the family.
Since childhood, I have been involved in music, and I have great achievements in choral art. My choir is the winner of many international competitions and winner of seven Grand Prix awards.
In the lower grades, I mainly loved humanities, but with age I realized that the subjects of the natural science cycle are closer to me.
In high school, I came to the idea that I want to connect my life with medicine. To become a doctor. Then I realized that I would need to go to medical school. And for this, of course, it is necessary successful delivery exams. I did not know how to start the preparation, and therefore I decided to ask the girl who had already gone through all this and entered the First Medical University. Pavlova. She was the person who advised me to change the educational institution and go to school 197. And I am eternally grateful to her for that. Compared to my last school, now I have large quantity hours of biology, chemistry and physics, which I am glad about. At first it was quite difficult to study, because the profile of the previous school was very different from school 197. But I am gradually coping with these difficulties. I do my best to achieve good results.
I believe that purposefulness is the main feature of my character. Hope it helps me in my life. Also, I can say that I have good perseverance and attentiveness, which is very important in the work of a doctor.
Unfortunately, there are no doctors in my family, but absolutely everyone supports my choice.
After graduating from the 11th grade, I plan to apply to several universities in St. Petersburg and Moscow, including: First St. Petersburg State Medical University. I. P. Pavlova, North-Western State Medical University. I.I. Mechnikov, First Moscow State Medical University named after I.M. Sechenov.

MOTIVATION LETTER. Example #2

My name is _________. Born ______ in St. Petersburg. Until the second half of the 10th grade, I studied at the gymnasium No. 278 named after B.B. Golitsyn, but transferred to school No. 197 in the 10th grade. As for my family: my father works in “_________” in a significant position, my mother is a housewife, my grandmother also lives with us, she survived two microstrokes and now hardly walks, my mother and I take care of her. _______, my brother, is now working as a lifeguard on an icebreaker near the Yamal Peninsula.
In my free time I spend with my family or play computer games. Hobbies - the study of computer components and the relationship between them.
In the old school, I tried to participate in all the olympiads that were related to my favorite subjects, but, alas, I never won.
I assume that if you know my hobby, you can already understand me. What will help distinguish me from other APPLICANTS? Hm, no idea.
My favorite subjects have always been algebra and geometry (grades 5-7 - mathematics), German (I studied from the 5th grade), biology (I studied from the 5th, but fell in love with the 6th) and chemistry. Mathematics has always attracted me because it is an exact science, everything is easy to understand there. German at our school was taught very decently, and I liked it only because of the teacher, who was always very kind and at the same time strict with us. I liked biology because we study living organisms, the world around us, and so on.
I became interested in medicine two years ago when I became ill almost constantly, skipping school. Also, the illness of my grandmother, whom I officially care for, encourages me to make this choice.
I learned about this school in the children's polyclinic No. 24 when I once more went to the ENT (Tereshchuk Olga Albertovna). She heard about my dream and said that she herself studied at school No. 197 from grades 10 to 11, where she received high-quality knowledge that helped her go to college and become a good specialist in the future.
I just moved to this school, so so far, I have not encountered any difficulties.
I believe that I have always been responsible, I was often assigned special tasks in the old school, reports, so that I would do them and tell the class. I can demonstrate this quality in preparation homework and more..
In my opinion, I have skills such as learning and perseverance.
I consider myself the most suitable candidate to stay to study for the entire period of study, because this is a childhood dream from which I will not give up, that is, I will try: to teach, to do, to “spread”.
Everyone supports me in choosing this profile. No other options were discussed in the family.
I have a desire to continue my studies in this class - difficulties do not scare me!
I haven’t decided yet what specialty, but I’m considering only MED1.

I, ________________, was born in St. Petersburg on _______. At the moment I'm studying at school 197 at 10"B". There are no people working in the medical field in my family, except for distant relatives. I decided to choose this area, with the help of my parents and their support, I entered the medical class.
So why did I decide to go to this school, to this class? I suggest starting from the beginning. Throughout my studies at another school, I always liked biology, as it is an interesting subject, and also about ourselves. In the 8th grade, I realized that the field of medicine attracts me more than others, it was then that I began to study this topic in depth. Of course, everything was much more difficult with chemistry, I was not given this subject for the first year, but then I began to study more and it turned out to be easy. To this day biology and chemistry are my favorite subjects. It seems to me that I am very suitable for this area. Why? Because, in my opinion, I am a sociable person, attentive and always ready to help, and these are the qualities that the field of medicine requires. After school, I plan to enter a medical university at the Faculty of General Medicine, in priority the first medical and VMA. I understand how difficult it is to enter and what a difficult exam in biology. That is why I went to school 197, relying on good feedback graduates. I learned about this school from a friend who advised it to me, as it has good preparation for the exam. I am very glad that I managed (could) get into this school and hold out for six months. I believe that I can cope with the program and the pace of learning at school. Of course, at first it was very difficult, but then it will be easier. I hope that I will be able to continue my studies here, as I am very motivated to study well.

MOTIVATION LETTER. Example #3

I am a student of the 10th grade _______________, I study at school No. 197. Born in St. Petersburg ___ year. I have a small family - me and my mother. I like to spend my free time reading books. I am also fond of theatrical art, I go to vocals. I also study French and English, additionally I study biology and chemistry.
In elementary school, I liked biology. It seemed to me amazing the ability of a person to know himself. Later, I fell in love with chemistry lessons, I wanted to do as much laboratory work as possible. But interest in physics was instilled in me quite recently. Being at these lessons, I realized that I like to study, that's my element, and I'm ready to fight for the honor of our school, which I learned about quite by accident.
I want to note that in our class there are no guys who do not strive to be the first, but I am sure that I can show leadership quality fully. I am also proactive, attentive, hardworking and, of course, trainable.
Everyone in my family would like to see me as a doctor in the future. My mother is a neurologist. Since childhood, I have heard many medical terms, names of diseases and medicines. Once, when one of the patients observed by my mother came to our home for a consultation, I, being an extremely curious child, decided to eavesdrop on their conversation, and after thinking for a few seconds and ahead of my mother, I gave advice.

I have many relatives whose profession is related to medicine. Thus, I could say that I have some responsibility for the continuation of the family tradition. I really like to study at our school and I would like to continue my studies there. After school, I would like to enter the first Pavlov State Medical University.

When you need to prepare a motivation letter, a sample from the Internet seems like an obvious solution to you, whether it is an example of a motivation letter in English or in Russian, for a master's degree, for a bachelor's degree or for a scholarship.

But why can this play a cruel joke on you?The thing is, there is a wrong way and a right way to use motivation letter examples.

Wrong way

Wrong - this is when you copied a sample motivation letter from some site, substituted the name of the specialty, university, changed a few sentences, sent this “work” to a university or scholarship competition.

You naively expect good news, but instead of an invitation, a natural refusal comes. Why? Everything is simple. Almost always all documents are accepted in in electronic format through the university website or any centralized online system.

Naturally, now checking any text for plagiarism is a matter of a few minutes. As a rule, this check is carried out automatically after you click the “Submit” button.

Often there is no warning about checking for plagiarism, but sometimes you may see something like the following warning.

Given how intolerant plagiarism is to Western and good Asian universities, a cunning plan to copy a motivation letter from the Internet can end in failure.

The right way

It is correct to use only to familiarize yourself with the format of this document, how and what others write about themselves, but not for verbatim copying. This also applies.

It should also be understood that you rarely find really cool examples of motivation letters on the Internet. Would you yourself put your motivation letter on the Internet, over which you diligently pored over for several weeks, or even more so paid professionals to help prepare it?

Even if someone writes that you allegedly have examples of successfully enrolled students in foreign universities, most often these are motivational letters from students who entered after a preparatory program (foundation or pre-masters).

The selection committee treats the motivation letter of such applicants condescendingly. The fact is that they already have some idea of ​​a candidate who, for his own money, has been preparing for several months to enter a university or an international center with which the university has established partnerships. For such candidates, a motivation letter is more of a formality, so you should not take them as a standard.

If you enter a foreign university directly, then the admission committee does not know anything about you and will initially judge you only by your documents, including a motivation letter. Accordingly, your motivation letter will be read carefully.

Thus, copying someone else's work is a big no-no! Do not want your efforts and time spent on preparing for tests and good academic performance in vain? Then contact the OnСampus.ru professionals. We guarantee the preparation of a unique and non-standard template that will pass any plagiarism check.