Often students think about studying abroad or want to apply for youth exchanges, but they are stopped by the requirement of writing a motivational letter.
Students are not always able to avoid mistakes. Read our article on how to write a successful motivational letter.
A motivation letter is an essay about why you are the best candidate for a particular opportunity. It should talk about yourself and your strengths.
A letter of motivation strengthens your resume and complements it. It is often the basis for selecting candidates, so a well-written motivation letter is quite a strong advantage.
Experts from a reliable dissertation writing service WritingAPaper share some most common mistakes to avoid if you want your motivation essay to succeed and help you get a scholarship or any other opportunity.
What mistakes to avoid when writing a motivational letter
- Lack of structure
- Patterned descriptions of yourself
- Misunderstanding the final goal
Mistake №1. Lack of structure
A motivational essay is hardly called creative writing. There are clear requirements to it, which should be adhered to. There is no need for artistic variety.
How to write a motivation essay correctly? First, you should say hello, clearly state who you are and why you are writing it.
Then, why they should choose you and why you are interested in this particular program. In the end, be sure to write a CTA (call to action).
An example of a CTA:
- I am ready to talk further.
- I am ready for the next steps of the interview.
Often we advertise ourselves but don’t think about the needs of the organization that posted the opportunity.
What does this company need? The motivational letter should show that you are that person. This is especially often worth emphasizing to students.
Mistake №2. Patterned descriptions of yourself
Often in motivational essays, you can see template descriptions of your personality: creative, positive, a team player, stress-resistant, and the like.
When you get a hundred letters with such a list, they all seem to be from the first page of Google.
You can get some help with reviewing or editing your essay from the best writing service to make sure it looks decent and professional.
This also is worth talking about. But before you mention a particular characteristic, two things are worth making sure of.
First, look at the correlation between that description and the opportunity you are applying for.
For example, it’s great that a student is creative, but should you write about that for a position as a student in the finance industry, where accuracy and attentiveness are a priority?
Secondly, be sure to reinforce your traits with an example from your own life.
And, of course, you should never add to yourself those qualities that are not your strengths. Even if you really want to.
Do not write: “I am a creative, positive and stress-resistant person. An excellent organizer and team player. That’s why I’m the perfect candidate for any position”.
How is it proper to write? Last spring, a teacher organized a flashmob #TakeOuttheSchoolyard for Earth Day.
200 students of the school took part in it. I think that describes her as a proactive and responsible person.
Mistake №3. Misunderstanding the final goal
There is often a situation where someone pitches in on many opportunities at once. And this is very striking.
For example, a person just wants to go abroad: it does not matter how exactly and which program will assist in this.
And if someone writes to many programs, his/her motivation essays will be formulaic and will lose out against the letters of people with specific motivation.
For this, students should immediately pitch themselves for opportunities that match their interests.
When your eyes are on fire, your motivational essay is definitely easier to write. To do this, it’s always worth asking yourself the controlling question: I’m submitting to this opportunity for what? What do I want to get?
What exactly will it do for me and how does it align with my goals? Then it’s easy to understand my uniqueness.
A good motivational letter should consist of a greeting (to whom you are addressing), brief information about yourself, why you are interested in the opportunity, and why you are the ideal candidate. In the end – a call to action.
The Secret Leafhack! Always have an electronic packet of papers ready to go. Since you often notice a good opportunity when the deadline is tomorrow.
These can be scanned diplomas, recommendations, important merit badges. Have them on hand on electronic storage. And the structure should be clear.
Also, do not forget that you have to be in a good mood to write a perfect motivation essay, make sure you are comfortable and there is a pleasant atmosphere in the room. Give yourself some time.
Don’t expect to write a winning essay in 30 minutes. Follow our advice and eventually, you’ll be accepted to the program!
Have you seen how you can write a successful motivational letter? Please share your thoughts with us.
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