A well structured and well-presented motivational statement may be the dividing line between getting shortlisted for your prospective job and having your CV ‘tossed’ into the trash bin.

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In a job application you will most probably be asked to briefly describe your reasons for applying for the job. Most employers will ask you to write a motivation statement. The employer will require you to market your competences or skills in a limited space and number of words. Typically you will be asked to present your selling points in just under 1500 characters including spaces and punctuation marks. A well structured and well-presented motivational statement may be the dividing line between getting shortlisted for your prospective job and having your CV ‘tossed’ into the trash bin. In this limited space and number of words the candidate is expected to articulate his or her skills and previous experiences and how these relate to the competences required of the advertised job. In other words, the motivational statement should focus on what the candidate has done in the past and how this is or will be relevant to the job being advertised. The key point here is for the prospective employee to communicate how his or her past experience will be brought to bear on his or her future job. The first temptation for the candidate is to write a list of his or her achievements in the past. The candidate however soon realizes that the list of achievements does not fit in the space and word limitations provided. Besides, a list of achievements with little or no analysis of how this will be relevant to the job will not get you to the next short list! It is easy to see that with a ‘character’ allowance of 1500 including spaces and punctuation the candidate will not have much flexibility to include all his or her most important detailed experience in the motivational statement. There will thus have to be a balance between the quantity of information and the quality that will make your prospective employer ‘pick’ interest in you. It is therefore far more important to include less detail in your motivational statement but make sure that what is included is well thought-through and demonstrates how you will apply it to the requirements of your prospective job. In this article I will take you through a set of well tested steps in writing an effective motivational statement.

Step 1: The context

Effective motivational statements are written within the context and scope of the requirements of the job. The candidate should study the job advert and craft the statement based on the content of the advert.  Let us take the example of Joshua’s job description. The job advert for the position of “Finance Associate” at Josh plastics has five sections including the ‘Organization context’, ‘Expected functional results’, ‘Technical competences’, ‘Professional competences’, and ‘Job requirements’. Start your context by rephrasing the ‘Job requirements’. The tip here is to write short but logical phrases leveraging the language used in the advert section. The ‘Job requirements’ section in Joshua’s job description for example is stated as follows:

Job requirements

  1. Academic Requirements:

Bachelor’s degree in business administration, and/or finance is preferable.

  1. Experience:

8 years of relevant experience in the public or private sector.

  1. Languages:

Fluency in oral and written English (French and Spanish, depending on duty station

  1. Computer skills:

Proficiency in current office software applications

The statements under each job requirement are referred to as ‘indicator statements’ they show what is actually required of the candidate. These statements should be rephrased and enriched with your actual attainments or qualifications in the areas required. The rephrased statements could read like:

[I am a holder of a Bachelors degree in Business administration; 10 years experience working as Associate Accountant, two with Local government and eight with an NGO; Fluent in English and Spanish; competent in current accounting  software  including quick book]

Note that this paragraph brings out the candidate’s qualifications based on the indicator statements of the ‘job requirements’ stated in the job description.

Step 2: Articulating the candidate’s contribution statement

Next the candidate should articulate his or her contribution in previous or past work related to the objectives, expectations, and competences of the job he or she is applying for. A contribution statement describes what you believe you produced or accomplished through your work. It describes ‘what” you delivered to your client and ‘how’ you   delivered it.  Your contribution should benefit the organization, your co-workers or your clients NOT yourself. A ‘Coach’ may have  “developed the skills of other people”,  while  a  ‘Developer’  may  have  “helped  people  to develop their talents” Both of them make a contribution to their clients.

For each of the competences or skills required of the job the candidate should pause and reflect on the questions “When was the last time I did this?” What did I actually do? And “What did I deliver to the client? Table 4.17 shows a list of word commonly used to state “contribution”. Words like ‘created’, ‘expanded’, and ‘secured’ can be used to make contribution statements. The contribution statement can be phrased using these key words. For example:

[“In my previous company I created the company’s customer grievance register, secured customer confidence in the company thus expanding its customer base].

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Joshua’s job description also has the following sections: “Expected functional results; Technical competences; and professional competences”.  As noted above there are a number of indicator statements under each section

Expected functional results

1. Monitoring program financial performance for organizational resources by providing necessary financial information and analysis, including implementation rate against indicators/results.

2. Developing tools and mechanisms for effective and efficient monitoring of organization’s projects.

3. Interpreting financial policies and procedures-provides guidance and training to staff in ways financial needs can be met within existing policies.

4. Assists budget formulation, controls allotments, monitoring expenditures, and preparing revisions according to the needs of the office.

The candidate should apply the following question to each of the expected functional results to obtain examples of tangible contributions. The following is an example of a question that you can ask yourself to obtain your contribution to the expected results:

“When was the last time you ‘monitored program financial performance for organizational resources?’  What did you actually do?”

The question can also be applied to the second expected functional result thus:

“When was the last time you developed tools and/or mechanisms for effective and efficient monitoring of organization’s projects? What did you actually do?”

For illustration the questions are applied to the technical and professional competences as shown below (The question is shown in bold italics for each indicator statement):

Technical competencies

  1. Business acumen

Independently gathers analyses and interprets data and information from a wide range of sources using appropriate analytical tools and professional standards.

“When was the last time you ‘independently gathered, analyzed and interpreted data and information from a wide range of sources using appropriate analytical tools and professional standards?”

  1. Client orientation

Establishes effective relationships with internal and external clients, actively supports the interests of the client and researches potential solutions to client needs

“When was the last time you established effective relationships with internal and external clients? What did you actually do?

And;

“When was the last time you actively supported the interests of the client and researched potential solutions to client needs?”

Professional competencies

  1. Values: Integrity

Acts in accordance with organizational values and holds him/her accountable for actions taken.

“When was the last time you acted in accordance with organizational values and held yourself responsible for actions taken?”

  1. Knowledge sharing/Continuous learning

Takes responsibility for personal learning and career development and actively seeks opportunities to learn through formal and informal means.

“When was the last time you took responsibility for personal learning and career development and actively sought opportunities to learn through formal and informal means?”

After elaborating the various contributions in each of the competences the candidate will choose the best contribution statements to include in the Motivation or capability statement. As with the ‘context’ the candidate should write short but logical phrases leveraging the language used in the advert or job description

A contribution state will read something like this:

[I am a holder of a Bachelors degree in Business administration; 10 years experience working as Associate Accountant, two with Local government and eight with an NGO; Fluent in English and Spanish; competent in current accounting  software  including quick book]. [“In my previous company I created the company’s customer grievance register, secured customer confidence in the company thus expanding its customer base].

Step 3: Articulating the candidate’s relationship statement

In applying a skill or competence to make a contribution, the candidate will usually relate to the team or group in one or more ways. A relationship statement describes who you are and how you interacted  with  your  organization,  team,  co- workers  or  clients  in  making  the  contribution.  Were you a team member, team leader, or steward?  In making the contribution did you lead or follow? Did you work alone or within a team? A  Coach may prefer a ‘one to one relationship’  while developing the skills of other people. The developer on the other hand may prefer ‘team work, meeting new people and having close relationships with team members’. In writing the relationship statement the candidate must ask the following questions on his or her contribution statement:

 “What part did I play in making the contribution? For example, “what part did I play (in relation to others) in ‘creating the company’s customer grievance register?”

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Table 4.16 gives words commonly used in writing relationship statements. The candidate may have ‘led’ the process, or ‘directed’ the activities or ‘coordinated’ the different players. In all instances the candidate relates to the rest of the team members in a particular way. Were you a leader? Were you a member, an Assistant, a manager, a coordinator?

The part the candidate played in making the contribution should be woven neatly into the contribution statement . The contribution statement [“In my previous company I created the company’s customer grievance register, secured customer confidence in the company thus expanding its customer base], can be rephrased to include a relationship statement as follows:

[“As team leader of the customer services department in my previous company I created the company’s customer grievance register, secured customer confidence in the company thus expanding its customer base].

Step 4: Stating the candidate’s measurement statement

The measurement statement states the tangible result accruing from making a contribution in a given roleA measurement statement describes how you define success or failure in the work you perform or the contribution you make. This statement should emphasize observable responses from co-workers, supervisors or your clients. Success could be ‘creating and leading a cohesive team of deliverers’ or ‘getting more opportunities to help others or to develop an area of expertise’. Success could also be in form of recognition or reward from the team or from society in which you make a contribution. In this step the candidate should articulate the results of his or her contribution. The measurement statement should be “measurable” and ‘evidence-based’. The statement should clearly articulate a distinct product, outcome (institutional or behavioral) or observable response. The statement should answer the question “So what?” of your contribution. You were the team leader, you created a customer grievance register, and you secured customer confidence. So what? In the example given above the answer would be: “the company’s customer base expanded”. A complete measurement statement should be measurable. It should show the change from one level to another. The measure can be either quantitative or qualitative. For example instead of just mentioning that the “customer base expanded”, you could write “the customer base increased by 20 percent of the previous year” or “the customer care department received an award in recognition of its role in expanding the customer base” Table 4.18 gives the words commonly used in writing measurement statements

At this stage, the motivation statement has all the three elements that make a good statement i.e. contribution, relationship and measurement statements. The statement this far reads:

[I am a holder of a Bachelors degree in Business administration; 10 years experience working as Associate Accountant, two with Local government and eight with an NGO; Fluent in English and Spanish; competent in current accounting  software  including quick book]. [“As team leader of the customer services department in my previous company I created the company’s customer grievance register, secured customer confidence in the company thus expanding its customer base by 20 percent of the previous year”].

Step 5: Demonstrating the relevance of the experience to the prospective job

In this step the candidate demonstrates how he or she will bring his or her previous experience to bear on the prospective job. The candidate should ask him or herself the following questions: “What is it that I did so well that I want to do more of?” Or “If I were to do this next time, what would I do differently?” Note that both a positive and a negative experience can be used to make an effective statement.

The candidate should relate his or her contributions, relationship and results to the expected objectives of the prospective job. In Joshua’s case these would be the “Expected functional results”. In the example one of the expected functional results of the job is: “Developing tools and mechanisms for effective and efficient monitoring of organization’s projects”. The candidate can link the motivation statement developed thus far to this functional result as follows:  

[I am a holder of a Bachelors degree in Business administration; 10 years experience working as Associate Accountant, two with Local government and eight with an NGO; Fluent in English and Spanish; competent in current accounting  software  including quick book]. [“As team leader of the customer services department in my previous company I created the company’s customer grievance register, secured customer confidence in the company thus expanding its customer base by 20 percent of the previous year”].  My experience in customer management will enable me to [“develop tools and mechanisms for effective and efficient monitoring of organization’s projects] as is required by this job

In summary, writing an effective motivational statement requires that the candidate makes the job advert or job description the context in which the statement is written. A Clear and concise statement should articulate the candidate’s contribution, relationship and measurement statements as they were demonstrated in his or her previous experience. Most importantly, the relevance of these experiences should be brought to bear on the required competences and/or skills of the prospective job.

For more information about writing motivation statements visit  our  Email  coaching  program  at  http://www.expressexpertise.com/lesson/getting- started/ and make a coaching request.  You can also join our Express expertise career club at http://www.expressexpertise.com/join-club-2/ and get access to a wealth of career building tools and materials

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