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What is a Letter of Motivation?

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Some training courses require a letter of motivation as part of the application process. For highly competitive courses with limited spaces, a good motivation letter can sometimes make the difference between being selected and not being selected.

A Letter of Motivation should be written by the candidate - it is not the same as a nomination message that might be written by a manager.

Typically this letter should have the following characteristics:

Keep it short. No more than half a page. Remember the course organisers are reading dozens of these letters, so be concise.
Make it clear how you will use the skills learnt on this course to benefit the humanitarian efforts in your location or agency. Course organisers are generally not interested in how the course will benefit you personally, so be sure to describe the impact on humanitarian operations.
Be clear about how often you will use these skills, and how much support you have from your management to take on roles that will need these skills. If you are already acting in such a role, describe the day-to-day value you believe you can contribute with this training.

Hopefully it is clear that a motivation letter consisting of "I want to do this course because it sounds great and I could really get something out of it" - is not going to help us understand why you should be selected ahead of other candidates.

You will need to complete a Letter of Motivation for the following courses:

IT Emergency Management Training

OpEx Bravo