Guidelines for Motivation Letters
These are also referred to as Personal Statements, or Statements of Purpose
Key Guidelines:
ü Design a layout of the letter first. Ordinarily you should have a section for; address/contact details, introduction, back-up/body section and conclusion.
ü Focus on portraying your intellectual capabilities, professionalism, motivation, and passion for the opportunity that you are applying for. Put in clear reasons why you are the best fit or why you should be considered for the opportunity and what contribution you bring to the institution.
ü Where possible use illustrations or examples to emphasize a point. For example, instead of just indicating that you are a volunteer, indicate the name and position of organization that you volunteer(ed) for, the duration of engagement, roles and responsibilities held, achieved accomplishments, and the impact made.
ü Do not provide too many irrelevant details. Put into consideration the requirements and details highlighted by the institution and draft your statement accordingly.
ü Do not repeat what is in your CV, unless you are providing additional reasons or explanations on the content therein.
ü Do not postpone or leave the task of writing the motivation letter up until the application deadline. Avoid a last-minute rush!
ü Share the draft with a trusted acquaintance for proofreading and to obtain objective feedback. Correct any mistakes highlighted prior to submitting your final application.
ü Read as many samples of motivation letters as possible to have a general idea of the different types of approaches that can be used to draft a motivation letter. However, retain your originality as there is NO standard template or a one-size-fits-all approach to writing a motivation letter. Therefore, you cannot fit all minor details seen in such samples into your own draft.
Example:
*This is only an example for illustration purposes. We recommend using your own words.
From
Mary Roberts
81489-002100
Nairobi
Kenya
To
The XYZP Foundation
23 Street Britania Street
10017
New York
Dear Sir/Madam,
RE: Letter of Motivation for Scholarship Application
I am Mary Roberts, a student from Sub-Saharan Africa and holding an acceptance letter from the University of bbbbb to undertake a bachelor’s degree in Business Management. I write to express my interest in the XYZP Foundation Scholarship Program for international students.
I have always aspired to build a career, in addition to charting my own path in life. To this end, I have deliberately increased my interactions with outstanding people who have had a great influence on the development of my personality since early childhood. Through these interactions, I have learnt the importance of education and hard work.
I have strong abilities in subjects such as English and Business Studies which have piqued my increasing interest in business related courses in addition to motivating me to connect my future career with executive management area of activity, hoping to gain success in the future. I have constructed a plan for achieving the goals above namely: graduating from school among the top-ranking students in my class and engaging in internship opportunities that will grow my skills in the field of business management.
However, to be able to accomplish these goals, I need an opportunity to win a scholarship owing to my humble background and to meet the financial requirements of the aforementioned course.
The first acquaintance with your Foundation began from collecting information about it. From the data I had found I managed to make some basic picture explaining why I chose it.
The XYZP Foundation is the biggest incubation centre for business ideas from young people and which actively engages in the field of business management. Furthermore, the Foundation makes a great contribution to the development of high-quality students through various partnerships with Universities around the world. Moreover, the scholarship program by the foundation supports entrepreneurial abilities of the students. All the articles about achievements of the Foundation led me to conclude that the XYZP Foundation is the most suitable organization to help me realize my potential.
As far as professional experience is concerned, I would like to mention that last year I underwent a specialized training in service and operations management for three months. The organization that sponsored the training devotes itself to providing real-time solutions to executive management of corporations and fostering seamless operations for its customers. As an apprentice I had many responsibilities starting from designing strategies on how to improve the delivery of services, evaluating the impact of management techniques on business decisions and success among other tasks. During the training I also managed to acquire additional skills, including organizational skills. Moreover, I learnt the principles of time management and teamwork.
In addition to that I previously worked as a sales agent, for a small retail business in the city which sharpened my bookkeeping skills and managerial skills as I supervised two employees in addition to realizing a 55% increase in sales for the shop compared to the revenues realized in the prior year.
Regarding my interests, I have numerous activities which I like to do in my free time, outside of the workplace setting. I coach a girls’ only volleyball team in my local town during the weekends. This not only helps me keep fit but is also a way of giving back to the community by helping girls stay off the streets as the team receives sponsorship for the competitions they participate in through my assistance.
With respect to my future career, I aspire to use the skills and knowledge to be gained at bbbbb University to provide professional services to various companies and organizations in future. I would like to work with companies focused on using top business leadership to make a positive change in the world and in addition those companies or institutions that link their work to training programs and activities that develop problem-solving, entrepreneurial, and managerial skills of its workers. I am confident that such skills would come in handy in boosting my home country’s economy as it lacks highly qualified specialists in the field of business management. Hence the aim is to return to back to my homeland to make a change from the knowledge and skills to be acquired at the University of bbbbb. To implement these goals, I need to improve my skills and acquire knowledge in my chosen field of specialization, which will be possible through the if I join University of bbbbb and through the sponsorship of The XYZP Foundation
Thank you very much for considering my application and I look forward to your positive response.
Yours sincerely,
Mary Roberts