Graduate / Strategic management; Motivation letter Erasmus Mundus Programme [5]

I am writing a motivation letter to the Erasmus Mundus programme and I need help to make it extremly well.
The deadline is today, on 6 of Jan, at night.
If somebody has any ideas or comments on my essay, I'll be glad to here from you))
Please, criticize fairly.

To whom it may concern:

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost;
that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
Henry David Thoreau

My Castle is built in the field of Strategic management. My Castle is a world recognized consulting company. In it I help little, but promising companies, as well as industry giants and government organizations to grow and thrive. I define a path to achieve their goals and lead them on it. Thus I am putting a foundation under my Castle - applying for the Masters in Strategic Project Management (European) programme.

It's no secret, that projectification is a strong tendency in modern business. More and more companies are moving to the project management concept. In consulting, construction and IT industries it is the only way of doing business. Understanding the importance of project management for organizations' future encouraged my interest in this field and brought me to decision to continue education in it. But it seemed to be a little bit narrow. It will not give complete idea of management process, as I will see only the process of implementation, but not strategy development.

The field of Strategic Management I found important, but on the contrary, too general. Understanding strategic goal and involvement in company's strategy creation process are very important for successful managing, but it does not give exact practical instruments for project performance. Therefore the desire for excellence has driven me to the Masters in Strategic Project Management as the perfect course to start my professional development in strategic consulting.

I've held my Bachelor's degree and continue Master's in International Economics at one of the best Ukrainian universities - Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. My education gave me an extensive knowledge both in economics and business studies, as I've chosen a cluster in International business. It was focused on such courses, as Strategic management, Industrial and International marketing, Market research, Logistics, International pricing, Product policy and others, which give a keen perception of how a company should develop its strategy.

I'm proud to say, that I have got a Ukrainian government undergraduate scholarship and had been receiving it for all four years of study. I have always been excellent in my studies, both back at school and now at the University. I've finished my undergraduate studies with average point 94 out of 100 - the fourth result in the group of 60 students.

My undergraduate courses were based on practical projects, such as case studies, business-plan writing, foreign markets researches and marketing strategies creation for real Ukrainian companies. Through that experience I have gained various practical skills during my education, most important of which are conducting market research and decision making, using different strategic management instruments, strong analytical skills, complying with deadlines, open-mindedness and accuracy. My final bachelor's project is a good example of them.

The theme of my thesis was "International competitive advantages development for incinerators of Ukrainian origin in the Swedish market". The main goal of the project was to identify the opportunities of a real Ukrainian company to penetrate international market and develop practical recommendations, based on concrete figures and facts. My work was appreciated highly both by Examination Board and personally by Head of the company I was writing about. Therefore, I am sure my educational background is worthy to be enrolled at MSPME.

I was taking active part in student's self-administration and organizing different events at the University. I had been on the elective position of a student trade union leader for four years, leading a whole course - thirteen groups and their trade union organizers. I took part in decision making and was responsible for arranging all the union's projects within my course. I can say with confidence, that my leadership in the union was very successful.

My leadership skills were confirmed many times. At the end of the fourth year of study I realized, that every time I naturally became leader of the group I was working with. It applies to all the projects both at the university, whether it is a business-plan writing, homework or presentation, and at seminars and workshops I am used to visiting. The last such experience was at Consultant School conference from one of the leading Russian managerial consultant companies. The solution of my group, which I was leading through the case, seemed to the committee to be exact and very effective. After the conference the Head of the company offered me a job.

During summer holidays I used to work at different jobs. I am happy to say that all my employers were satisfied with my work. Now I am fortunate to work as a Project manager. The core of my project is new paper cup producer's entry to the market through development of its business processes. I am responsible for organizing and controlling all the company's work: from supply chain management to shipment of goods. I am dealing with outside contractors and have two employees in indirect subordination. Since the company is young, I was also implemented in all making strategy process. This gave me a great opportunity to understand importance of strategic planning, forecasting and budgeting. I see how significant company's strategy awareness is for the specific project successful execution.

I am totally confident in my abilities and hope my previous results and strong motivation are reasonable grounds for being enrolled in the MSPME programme. In exchange for the program's academic excellence opportunity, I would bring my own experience, educational background and exposure gained throughout my academic and professional period to international cooperation in future.

I believe I have the right academic record, the right skills and attitude to succeed and I am convinced this program is the right stepping-stone in putting foundations under my Castle.

They can because they think they can.
Virgil

Yours faithfully,