How to write a covering letter.

The truth is, it is difficult to motivate yourself to write it...

Also, they are many masters degrees that require you to write multiple. For this reason, in this post, I'm going to explain to you how I wrote my covering letters and I will give some advice on how to do it in the best way possible.

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Just below, is a list of the steps to take (in my opinion) that I have made:

• A greeting and a self presentation
• Reasons that you are interested in the specific area of study
• Talk about projects and jobs that are relevant to the topic
• International experiences (could be relevant for those who wish to study a masters in another country)
• Work experience
• Languages
• Future Aspirations

1. A greeting and a self presentation

As with any formal letter, we are not sure exactly who we are writing to, so we should start the covering letter with a "Dear Sir, or Madam". After this, we can pass directly to the presentation.

In the self presentation, we have to explain what we are studying now, where we are from and a few characteristics of our personality which are relevant, for example, "I am a disciplined and organised person who is ambitious when it comes to accomplishing my goals". At the end of this paragraph, you could also add: "I think I am a great candidate to enroll in the Masters Degree in European studies due to my personal interests and future perspectives".

2. Reasons that you are interested in this area of studies

In this part we an explain how we became interested in the topic of the masters degree. In my case, my interest in international relations started while I was studying tourism at University. I was taking many subjects, and the ones that I liked the most, where those that were related to I. R.

Also, you could mention what happened after you became interested in that subject, what additional information you searched and how that increased your interest. In fact, that is what happened to me, I started to read more about I. R and I became more and more interested in it.

I also explained, how through that process, I searched for studies and programs in the same specialty which led me to finding the masters in question (the one that I am sending my letter to). I also expressed that I liked the program of studies, the plan of studies and the other testimonials a lot and it was for those reasons that I was interested in obtaining a place in the masters program.

3. Talk about projects and jobs that are relevant to the topic

I think that it is very important to mention that you have completed important projects or jobs. They may not have any relevance, but they show that you have the capacity to follow through with important projects which could be very similar to a post graduate final project. I explained the project that I was carrying out, in this case, TFG and I tried to relate it to the new topic, I. R (international relations).

4. International experiences (could be relevant for those who wish to study a masters in another country)

One could talk about how going abroad is something that fascinates us, and that living out new experiences is something that we feel passionate about. But also that studying abroad is very beneficial. You could mentioned your personal experiences from abroad: like language courses taken in other countries, or an Erasmus trip. I spoke about my Erasmus experience, which I did in the neighboring country to Sweden (Norway), and I explained that I loved Scandinavia because of their forward thinking lifestyles and their education system.

5. Work experience

It is also advisable to mention work experience. I spoke about how I worked a lot in the area of public relations and how that has helped me to be a more understanding and open person. I equally spoke about my work placement and jobs that took place abroad, which in my opinion, gives you bonus points and a higher chance of acceptance.

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6. Languages

It is really important to mention what knowledge of foreign languages you have, given that many masters programs ask for at least a minimum requirement in order to to be accepted. You could speak about projects that you have done relating to foreign languages (in my case, I did a course to become a Spanish teacher for foreigners), the level you have acquired in each language you are able to speak, and also you could mention your intentions to learn a new language or even the local language of where you intend to take your masters program - something that will be of great interest to the university.

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7. Future Aspirations

You explain what exactly you are hoping to achieve by taking the specific Masters program you've chosen and you could also speak about your "dream job".

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I think that with the advice above, you will be able to write a great covering letter. They may or may not accept you into their program, but at least you have made everything clear. This letter could be the starting point for finding a job or for applying for any other type of educational program in the future.

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