MOTIVATION LETTER WORKBOOK FOR THE SISGP - By Mobolaji Folorunso
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MOTIVATION LETTER WORKBOOK FOR THE SISGP - By Mobolaji Folorunso
Disclaimer
Using this workbook does NOT automatically make you a recipient of the
Swedish Institute Scholarship for Global Professionals. It is only meant as
a guide, based on my experience of learning and teaching others to be
successful in their applications. This document is NO guarantee of being
awarded the scholarship, because it was created ONLY to help you
prepare a very strong application for the scholarship.
MOTIVATION LETTER WORKBOOK 1
In this workbook, we’ll be examining all the questions asked in all the
motivation letter templates for the past 4 application rounds of the Swedish
Institute Study Scholarship. You can print out the workbook to help you write
out your responses in the boxes provided.
You can download all the templates here:
2016 Motivation Letter Template
2017 Motivation Letter Template
2018 Motivation Letter Template
2019 Motivation Letter Template
2020 Motivation Letter Template
Before we delve deep into the essay questions, you’ll discover that there are
some basic questions about your personal details that are usually asked at the
beginning of the motivation letter. Those are quite easy to fill, but there is one
question that featured in the 2016, 2017, and 2018 motivation letter templates:
“Are you active in any network/organization/project aiming to influence
development in your home country? If yes, please, state the name of the
network/organization/project and the website (if applicable)”
To give yourself a great chance of winning the scholarship, you must write
something there. Adding the website for that network/organization/project
strengthens your application. For me, the company I was working for during
that period was massively deploying renewable power solutions across the
country and I was involved in the project in some way. I filled in the name of
the project and the page on the company’s website describing the project.
If you’re involved in some project, professional network or any organization
that involved social/economic/human development for your country or region,
write the name there. If there’s no website for it, I believe there must be some
MOTIVATION LETTER WORKBOOK 2social media references to that project/network/organization, and I’ll advise
you to include the social media link there.
Now, let’s go into the essay questions.
First, we’ll list out all the questions for each application round.
2016 Application Round
1. What is one of the main challenges or possibilities that are important to
you and your country today? Elaborate on how you, with your
professional background and your planned education in Sweden, can
address the above mentioned challenge/possibility? [Max1200 characters
incl. spaces]
2. Describe your personal and/or professional goals for the coming three
years after your studies in Sweden. [Max 700 characters incl. spaces]
3. Describe a personal achievement/experience which demonstrates your
leadership potential/skills. [Max 600 characters incl. spaces]
4. Are you active in any network/organisation/project aiming to influence
development in your home country? If yes, please describe in what way.
[Max 600 characters incl. spaces, if applicable]
2017 Application Round
1. What is one of the main challenges or possibilities that are important to
you and your country today? Elaborate on how you, with your
MOTIVATION LETTER WORKBOOK 3professional background and your planned education in Sweden can
address that challenge/possibility? [Max1200 characters incl. spaces]
2. Describe your personal and/or professional goals for the coming 5-10
years after your studies in Sweden – connect to the challenge/possibility
that you described in the question above. [Max 700 characters incl.
spaces]
3. SISS is looking for individuals with strong networking skills, who will
engage with the SI Network for Future Global Leaders (NFGL) community
and influence and lead others in their chosen profession. Explain how you
meet this requirement; using clear examples of your networking skills, and
outline how you hope to use these skills in the future (kindly refer to an
example beyond your assignments at work). [Max 600 characters incl.
spaces]
4. SISS is looking for individuals that have potential to be future leaders or
influencers in their home countries. Give a concrete example on what
makes you an experienced leader in your context?
(Max 600 characters incl. spaces, if applicable)
How will you use your time in Sweden to develop your leadership skills
further?
(Max 600 characters incl. spaces, if applicable)
2018 Application Round
1. Choose one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) from the list
below and describe how your professional position and/or engagement in a
network /civil society organisation relates to that Goal. [Max 1000 characters
incl. spaces]
MOTIVATION LETTER WORKBOOK 42. Describe, using concrete examples, how the master’s programme you plan to
study in Sweden will contribute to your ability to address the UN SDG you have
chosen above. [Max 800 characters incl. spaces]
3. Using concrete examples, describe what makes you an experienced leader and
how you intend to develop your leadership skills further with an SI Study
Scholarship. [Max 700 characters incl. spaces]
4. What are your professional goals 3-5 years after your studies in Sweden and
how will your time in Sweden help you with reaching those goals. [Max 700
characters incl. spaces]
2019 Application Round
1. Describe your current possibilities (in terms of role/position, mandate) to
influence and develop processes and work carried out within your organization
or network, and how the master’s programme in Sweden can enhance your
abilities to do so to a greater extent. Use concrete examples. [Max 1000
characters incl. spaces]
2. Have you engaged in any activity which contributed to social development,
civic engagement, economic development, or policymaking in a developing
country/region? If so, please elaborate with regards to:
a. The activity and your role/tasks in the activity.
b. The outcome and concrete data/statistic supporting the outcome (or
the expected outcome if the activity is ongoing), and your specific
contribution in the outcome. [Max 1200 characters incl. spaces]
2020 Application Round
1. Describe how you can apply the knowledge and experience gained from your
time in Sweden in your organisation/company and/or in your home
country/region upon your return from Sweden.. [Max 1000 characters incl.
spaces]
MOTIVATION LETTER WORKBOOK 52. Please choose one master’s programme you applied for and motivate how this
programme can contribute to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development. [Max 800 characters incl. spaces]
How To Check For Number of Characters (Including Spaces)
Did you notice the texts in red? They’re character limits. In other words, the
maximum number of characters you should type your response in. Note, it’s
“character”, not “words”; this means every space, full-stop, comma, hyphen
and letter counts.
But, how do you know the number of characters you’ve typed in Microsoft
Words when drafting your responses? Don’t worry, I got you. See the following
steps:
1. Highlight what you’ve already as shown below:
MOTIVATION LETTER WORKBOOK 62. Click on the “Review” tab and the “Word Count” menu item on the left
as shown below:
MOTIVATION LETTER WORKBOOK 73. The number of characters(including spaces) is thereafter revealed as
shown below:
In the next section, the questions for the past 4 application rounds are
grouped based on the similarity of the information being requested for and
we’ll work together on how to provide appropriate responses to the
questions.
MOTIVATION LETTER WORKBOOK 8MOTIVATION LETTER QUESTION 1 FOR THE 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019,
2020 APPLICATION ROUNDS
Now let’s examine Question 1 for the 4 motivation letter templates.
[2016] Question 1: What is one of the main challenges or possibilities that are
important to you and your country today? Elaborate on how you, with your
professional background and your planned education in Sweden, can address
the above-mentioned challenge/possibility? [Max1200 characters incl. spaces]
[2017] Question 1: What is one of the main challenges or possibilities that are
important to you and your country today? Elaborate on how you, with your
professional background and your planned education in Sweden can address
that challenge/possibility? [Max1200 characters incl. spaces]
[2018] Question 1: Choose one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
from the list below and describe how your professional position and/or
engagement in a network /civil society organisation relates to that Goal.
[Max1000 characters incl. spaces]
[2019] Question 1a: Describe your current possibilities (in terms of
role/position, mandate) to influence and develop processes and work carried out
within your organization or network, and... [Max1000 characters incl. spaces]
[2020] Question 1:Describe how you can apply the knowledge and experience
gained from your time in Sweden in your organisation/company and/or in your
home country/region upon your return from Sweden.. [Max 1000 characters
incl. spaces]
[2020] Question 2: Please choose one master’s programme you applied for and
motivate how this programme can contribute to the United Nations 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development. [Max 800 characters incl. spaces]
MOTIVATION LETTER WORKBOOK 9Do you notice any similarities between the first 4 questions? List them:
2016 and 2017 are exactly the same with 2018 being different from them. 2019
is more similar to 2016 and 2017 because it asked for your
professional/volunteering experience and how you have been able to influence
development in your organisation. But, if you critically examine the first 4
questions, you'll discover that they're essentially asking for the same things:
1. What's your professional background? In other words, what are you
involved in presently at work? (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)
Example: Medical Doctor at UNICEF Nigeria office
2. What problem(s) in your country is/are your work addressing? (2016,
2017)
MOTIVATION LETTER WORKBOOK 10List them all using facts, figures, statistics from international organizations:
Hint: The scholarship selection committee is made up of human beings with
emotional sides. I'll advise that you describe the most adverse effect(s) of not
solving this problem(s) for your country. Will people die? Or have people died
because of this problem? Talk about it. Is crime rate increasing because of this
problem? Talk about it. Research and mention the numbers.
Example: 12,000 children have died of Malaria in the past 2 years in Landa. If
this problem is not addressed, UNICEF projects that children death rate due to
malaria is set to increase to 22,000 per year in the next 2 years.
MOTIVATION LETTER WORKBOOK 113. Now, describe, using specific examples, situations at work where you
helped address this problem in your country. (2016, 2017, 2019)
Use facts, figures, statistics, numbers.
Hint: Use the Situation-Action-Results format for this.
Situation: Describe the situation in specific details
Action: Describe what you did in specific details. Not what your team did, but
what you did.
Results: What were the results/outcomes of these actions of yours?
Example: In 2017, I served as a Medical Campaign Coordinator leading a team
of 7 medical professionals to organise 12 Malaria sensitisation campaigns over
the course of the year in Gburu, a local community in Jos, Northern Nigeria,
hotseat of an ongoing violent crisis between herdsmen and local farmers. This
effort led to a reduction in child malaria cases in the local community from 122
in 2016 to 18 in 2017.
MOTIVATION LETTER WORKBOOK 124. What Master's programme do you intend studying in Sweden and how
will it help you solve these challenges in your country? (2016, 2017)
Example: Master's in Public Health
5. Of all the following UN SDGs, which one fits your professional
background most?
Hint:
List of UN SDGs:
GOAL 1: No Poverty
GOAL 2: Zero Hunger
GOAL 3: Good Health and Well-being
GOAL 4: Quality Education
GOAL 5: Gender Equality
GOAL 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
GOAL 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
GOAL 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
GOAL 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
GOAL 10: Reduced Inequality
GOAL 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
GOAL 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
GOAL 13: Climate Action
GOAL 14: Life Below Water
GOAL 15: Life on Land
GOAL 16: Peace and Justice Strong Institutions
GOAL 17: Partnerships to achieve the Goal
MOTIVATION LETTER WORKBOOK 13For the 2020 Question 1, you should identify what knowledge and experience
you'll gain from studying in Sweden. Like mention one or two. I also expect that
you'll identify a problem in your country and what the problem has cost your
country, probably in terms of human lives, loss of productivity, loss of
agricultural land, etc...And in doing this, mention a number, percentage,
etc...Then, you can mention how you'll use the knowledge and experience in
Sweden that you've mentioned earlier in solving this problem.
For the 2020 Question 2, you should specifically mention the UN SDG(s) that
your Master's programme will contribute to. For this, you identify the
objectives of the Master's programme (don't use same words as on the
university's website). Then, mention the UN SDG(s) it contributes to and how it
contributes to it (this means you should also know more about that SDG and its
targets).
MOTIVATION LETTER QUESTION 2 FOR 2016, 2017 AND QUESTION 4a
FOR 2018
Now let’s examine Question 2 for 2016 and 2017, and the first part of
Question 4 for 2018. We’ll look at the second part of Question 4 for 2018 in
the next section.
[2016] Question 2: Describe your personal and/or professional goals for the
coming three years after your studies in Sweden. [Max 700 characters incl.
spaces]
[2017] Question 2: Describe your personal and/or professional goals for the
coming 5-10 years after your studies in Sweden – connect to the
challenge/possibility that you described in the question above.
[Max 700 characters incl. spaces]
[2018] Question 4a: What are your professional goals 3-5 years after your
studies in Sweden and…
What similarities do you notice in all these questions for the past 3 years?
MOTIVATION LETTER WORKBOOK 14➔ They all asked for your professional goals, 3 years, 5-10 years and 3-5 years
from now.
Now, let's go into crafting appropriate responses to these questions.
You've heard it in different places that goals are meant to be SMART.
S - Specific
M - Measurable
A - Achievable
R - Realistic
T - Timely
How do you apply this format to answering the questions?
1. Be specific with your goal.
2. Measurable. Your goals should be so specific that it should be easy for
anyone to clearly determine when you've achieved them. In other words,
include numbers, names of places, dates, facts, names of institutions, etc
3. Achievable. Based on your antecedence, experience, educational
background, intended Master's studies, can you achieve those goals?
4. Realistic. Is it a realistic goal and not one based on fictions or fantasies of
one's mind? Based on resources that will be at your disposal, can these goals
be attained?
5. Timely. Goals should have a timeline. In how many years, at what time in
the future, in what month or what day will the goals be achieved?
So, based on the above format, see examples of goals I crafted off hand. Note
that these are just some examples that came off hand and not meant for you to
duplicate in any manner. The Swedish Institute frowns against it.
Example 1: In 3 years after finishing my Master's study, I intend to return to my
country to establish a centre for youth unemployment in Cairo, my country's
capital city.
MOTIVATION LETTER WORKBOOK 15Example 2: Immediately I finish my studies in Sweden in June, 2021, I intend to
return to my country and join the Rural Electrification Project of the Federal
Ministry of Power of Swaziland.
Also, take note of how "intend to return to my country" is mentioned in
those statements. It's not compulsory to include that in your response, but
since the purpose of the SISS is for scholarship recipients to return to their
countries of origin after the studies in Sweden, mentioning it makes your goal
more specific.
Now, write a draft of yours below:
MOTIVATION LETTER WORKBOOK 16MOTIVATION LETTER QUESTION 2 FOR 2018, QUESTION 5 FOR 2017,
QUESTION 4b FOR 2018, and QUESTION 1b FOR 2019
Now, let's turn our attention to Question 2 of 2018, Question 5 of 2017, and
the second part of Question 4 of 2018.
[2018] Question 2: Describe using concrete examples, how the Master’s
programme you plan to study in Sweden will contribute to your ability to
address the UN SDG you have chosen
[2017] Question 5: How will you use your time in Sweden to develop your
leadership skills further?
(Max 600 characters incl. spaces, if applicable)
[2018] Question 4b: …how will your time in Sweden help you with reaching
those goals. [Max 700 characters incl. spaces]
[2019] Question 1b …how the master’s programme in Sweden can enhance
your abilities to do so to a greater extent. Use concrete examples.
They're asking for how your time in Sweden will help you achieve your goals
or what will you be involved in to develop yourself as a leader.
The starting point should be,
1. What avenues for skill development are available in Sweden for you that
you can take advantage of?
MOTIVATION LETTER WORKBOOK 17Action point: Search for skill development opportunities for SI scholarship
holders that you can take advantage of. Contact past scholarship holders for
information on this.
2. Conferences? What specific conference in Sweden is related to your
Master's studies and your goals or can help you develop leadership
skills?
Action point: Search for relevant conferences or networking opportunities in
Sweden that you can attend.
3. Study visits? What specific study visits can help you develop skills
relevant to your goals?
MOTIVATION LETTER WORKBOOK 18Action point: Search for opportunities in Sweden that will afford you relevant
study visits.
4. Is there something spectacular about a course or a faculty member of
your intended Master's programme that could help you build your
leadership skills and achieve your goals?
Action point: Go through every course and profile of faculty members in your
intended Master's programme. This can be found on the university's website.
After doing all this, make a draft of your conclusions below (see a sample
below):
Example 1: Learning from Professor Ericsson, a faculty member of my Master's
programme and a Nobel Prize Winner in Physics will give me access to world
class and time-tested solutions to knowledge and expertise on rural
electrification.
Example 2: I intend to attend the Annual Energy Conference in Stockholm and
the Amnesty International-organised symposia on rural electrification to
develop networks and learn from experts on rural electrification.
MOTIVATION LETTER WORKBOOK 19MOTIVATION LETTER WORKBOOK 20
MOTIVATION LETTER QUESTION 3 FOR 2016, 2018, QUESTION 4 FOR
2017, AND QUESTION 2 FOR 2019
[2016] Question 3: Describe a personal achievement/experience which
demonstrates your leadership potential/skills. [Max 600 characters incl. spaces]
[2017] Question 4: SISS is looking for individuals that have potential to be
future leaders or influencers in their home countries. Give a concrete example on
what makes you an experienced leader in your context?
(Max 600 characters incl. spaces, if applicable)
[2018] Question 3: Using concrete examples, describe what makes you an
experienced leader and how you intend to develop your leadership skills further
with an SI Study Scholarship. (Max 700 characters incl. spaces, if applicable)
[2019] Question 2: Have you engaged in any activity which contributed to
social development, civic engagement, economic development, or policymaking
in a developing country/region? If so, please elaborate with regards to:
a. The activity and your role/tasks in the activity.
b. The outcome and concrete data/statistic supporting the outcome (or
the expected outcome if the activity is ongoing), and your specific
contribution in the outcome. (Max 1200 characters incl. spaces, if
applicable)
Do you see any similarities between the above 4 questions from the last 4
years?
They're basically asking for specific and brief narrations of past situations
where you have exhibited leadership skills.
I know you might look at your past experiences, and be looking for those big
moments that you were the "leader" or you were in a leadership position. It
doesn't have to be that kind of situation.
MOTIVATION LETTER WORKBOOK 21Have you ever organised an event? Have you ever tried to raise money for a
project? Have you ever initiated and implemented an idea at your workplace?
Write about them.
In crafting your response, you're also going use the Situation-Action-Results
format.
Situation: Describe the situation in specific details. Names of organisations
involved, number of people on your team, your role in the team, the name of
the project, the duration of your leadership/project, dates.
Action: Describe what you did in specific details. Not what your team did, but
what you did.
Results: What were the results/outcomes of these actions of yours? How
much money was raised? How many people benefited from your project? How
much money did the company make after your idea was implemented?
Note: Note the difference between the words used for questions in each year.
2016 and 2017 asked for just one example, but 2018 asked for "examples",
in other words, more than one example. So, take note of these minute details
for the next application.
Note: If possible, include short links of social media pages, blogs, or websites
that reported that project. You can use bit.ly to shorten weblinks.
Example 2: In April 2016, I led a team of 8 medical doctors to volunteer for a
Free Polio Immunization Project (bit.ly/fip87th) in Adi, southern Nigeria, a
community of 300 men, 500 women and 320 children. We raised $1000 for the
project from different organizations and 145 children were freely immunized
against Polio.
Now draft your own response to the questions below:
MOTIVATION LETTER WORKBOOK 22MOTIVATION LETTER WORKBOOK 23
MOTIVATION LETTER QUESTION 4 AND QUESTION 3 FOR 2016 AND
2017 APPLICATION ROUNDS RESPECTIVELY
[2016] Question 4: Are you active in any network/organisation/project aiming
to influence development in your home country? If yes, please describe in what
way. (Max 600 characters incl. spaces, if applicable)
[2017] Question 3: SISS is looking for individuals with strong networking skills,
who will engage with the SI Network for Future Global Leaders (NFGL)
community and influence and lead others in their chosen profession. Explain
how you meet this requirement; using clear examples of your networking skills,
and outline how you hope to use these skills in the future (kindly refer to an
example beyond your assignments at work). [Max 600 characters incl. spaces]
Do you notice any similarities between the two?
They're asking about situations where you exhibited your networking skills.
Your ability to meet new people, establish a valuable working relationship
with them. In other words, do you have the ability to meet someone new and
start a company together, solve a social development problem together, work
together on a project, become team members?
So, we're using the same Situation-Action-Results format for this.
Situation: Describe the situation in specific details. Names of organisations
involved, number of people you networked with, where you met them and
how you met them, the name of the project you collaborated on, the duration
of the project, dates, and if possible, include shortened weblinks of social
media pages, blogs or websites that talk about the project you collaborated on.
Action: Describe how you met the other person/people, where you met them,
what you did in specific details. Not what your team did, but what you did.
Results: What were the results/outcomes of these actions of yours? How
much money was raised? How many people benefited from your collaboration
with this person?
MOTIVATION LETTER WORKBOOK 24Example 1: In June 2015, I networked with 2 Quantity Surveyors at the Annual
Surveying Conference in Lagos, Nigeria and we collaborated on an urban
renewal project to develop the inner cities of Lagos. This project has received a
funding of $2 million from the state government and is currently in the
execution phase.
Example 2: I am currently a student coordinator for the Lagos network of the
Nigeria Society of Pro bono Lawyers, a network of professional lawyers who use
their resources to provide free legal services for poor people. I'm in charge of
student recruitment into the network and increased student membership of the
network from 22 in 2016 to 183 in 2017.
Now draft your own response to the questions:
MOTIVATION LETTER WORKBOOK 25Whew! That’s a whole lot.
Yeah, it is. But, it’s worth it, don’t you think so?
MOTIVATION LETTER WORKBOOK 26You can also read
