A motivation letter (together with a CV) is a common requirement of these days that the personnel officers or prospect employers ask from the applicants. Do not be afraid – we have several good (and tested) hints that will certainly help you.

Why is the motivation letter so important?

• The main objective of the motivation letter is to captivate the personnel officer or the potential employer to actually read your CV.
• The motivation letter gives you the opportunity to draw attention to yourself. After all, you are better than the other applicants who the most probably apply for the same position.
• Take the advantage of the motivation letter and let it act in your favor – it gives you the space to describe your experience and, most of all, the reasons, why you are the best candidate for the position in your own words.
• It is simply the way to make first impression and that is very important.

What should the motivation letter look like and what should it include?

• Indicate the source of the advertisement (newspapers title or employment portal where you have found the offer, etc.), precise name of the position, contact person and the advertisement key, if any.
• "Less means more" – never exceed the length of a standard A4 page. Three paragraphs, well formulated and apposite, are good enough. Your personal details can be found in the CV.
• The letter should be positive. Stress out your merits having relation with the job offer.
• Be specific. Write that you know the potential employer (company) – its products, market position, etc. Inform that you contributed to the increase of turnover, introduced new software, and improved the system of work, and so on in the previous employment. It is the work results that speak for you.
• Indicate contact information (in the electronic mail, signature and phone no. are suitable)
• Explain the reasons, why you apply for the position.

What to beware of:

• Do not indicate your financial requirements, it is better to discuss financial appraisal in person (interview).
• All of us have weak points. Nobody can do everything and we all know about it, so there is no point to stress it out in the motivation letter.
• Beware grammatical errors!
• Beware excessive usage of pattern phrases.

Attention!

Today, when we are used to communicate by e-mail, you will probably not be asked to send the motivation letter in printed version. However, those who are ready are lucky – if you send the motivation letter by classical mail, indicate your contact data (name, mail address, phone no., e-mail) as well as the company’s contact data (or the address of the employment agency advertising the position/job) in the header. Your autograph should be a matter of course.