Sorry I was silent again, but the Long Stay is appearing to be busy!! It's all great. Already two weeks have elapsed and it's very very interesting. I'll blog about it, but I still need to absorb and digest.
Today I wanted to give some thoughts on motivation letters. I'm sure it's all been written a zillion times before, but this is a blog, so ah! I'll say it anyway.
In the past two months I reviewed a number of applications that included a motivation letter. I was quite surprised at how varied they were, even though I did not get a huge number. I was surprised to see how good this is at showing people's motivation (that's a good start) but also imagination, and interest in the topic.
Honestly, if a letter is like page 2 of How to write a motivation letter, with impersonal things, I fall asleep directly. If it speaks about preparing food when what the project is about is really about cookies and how to combine them with cold beverages, I fall asleep. I can't feel any motivation there.
When someone tells me that they haven't combined cookies with cold beverages but that they did do that for cakes, and/or that they find cookies really cool, then I'm awake. And interested. It's not necessarily in the length or past experience, but about showing genuine interest in the topic (and not just in a PhD studentship).
And anyhow, I wonder why people who work on savory dishes contact me at all. If they want to work on savory dishes... Anyway, spending time on a motivation letter is really time well spent. That's where you can show who you are and why you're better than the other one.
The whole hiring people stuff is interesting. It is completely new to me. Now on to sorting the administrative hassle linked to it... Gaah!
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2 comments:
That people don't tailor their letters always surprises me. It's such a basic concept and the most frequent advice that is given. So, people should be able to follow it already! Sheesh!
Iknow! I was suprised too!
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