Tan Si Jia Jacqueline
Blk XX XXXXX Road
Singapore XXXXX
+65 XXXXXXX
7th February 2011
Rhodia Asia Pacific Pte Ltd
51 Science Park Road
#04-01, The Aries Singapore Science Park II
Singapore 117586
Dear Sir/Madam,
Application for Student Internship Programme
I read with great interest of Rhodia’s internship and career prospects on your company’s website. Rhodia offers top-notch career opportunities by acquiring the very best in innovation as well as providing a vibrant and fulfilling working environment for its staff. The challenging Research and Development (R&D) projects that Rhodia is launching right now impressed me very much. Hence, I would like to be of assistance in my area of expertise for your company as I believe I could apply what I have learnt from my Junior College and University studies on the necessary skills you might require.
I graduated from Raffles Institution Junior College (RIJC) with a distinction in Higher-level 3 (H3) Pharmaceutical Chemistry and am currently studying in National University of Singapore (NUS), with a major in Pure Chemistry. In RIJC, I had been trained in the skills and theories of pharmacology, drug development, clinical trials and quality assurance. These concepts have provided me with a strong background which would enrich my application towards the internship projects that you offered. Furthermore, my willingness to learn more complex and sophisticated procedures had broadened my knowledge as I continue to strive for greater achievement in the sciences. This was also the reason why I was selected for a science attachment trip to the University of Western Australia in December 2007. During this month-long trip, I was exposed to the essentials of plant biology and experimented with techniques like gel electrophoresis, allowing me to discover the future prospects a career in scientific research could bring. This trip enhanced my knowledge in theoretical and specialized skills which would otherwise not be taught in my course of study. The combination of biomedical sciences and chemistry thus became an added-on advantage towards my study in NUS.
In NUS, I am exposed to many aspects of Chemistry such as Organic chemistry, Inorganic chemistry, Spectroscopy, Analytical Chemistry etc. With these different aspects of Chemistry, I have built a strong foundation of lab skills: working with Nuclear Magnetic resonance (NMR) machines, column chromatography, gas chromatography, Thin layer chromatography (TLC), ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy, X-Ray Diffraction, mass spectrometer etc. I also possess the skill of performing various testing methods which include solubility, purity, viscosity tests, vacuum filtration, purification, crystallization, and polymerisation. In addition, NUS combines chemistry with computer IT which allowed me to study the 3-D nature of molecular shapes, vibrational and rotational modes, and bond lengths via the HyperChem program.
While studying at NUS, I handled many projects and lab reports in a given time frame, hence learning to work under tight deadlines. It is also a habit of mine to maintain a schedule of my time and continually check my progress to make sure that I am on the right track. This strength will be helpful in the future if I have a chance to be a part of the Rhodia family, as this organizing skill increases the efficiency of work and ensure no delay of the delegated work.
The enclosed resume is a brief description of my qualifications. I look forward to your reply with great anticipation. Please do not hesitate to contact me at XXXXXX or e-mail me at XXXXXX@hotmail.com for further clarifications. Thank you for your time.
Yours faithfully,
I read with great interest of Rhodia’s internship and career prospects on your company’s website. Rhodia offers top-notch career opportunities by acquiring the very best in innovation as well as providing a vibrant and fulfilling working environment for its staff. The challenging Research and Development (R&D) projects that Rhodia is launching right now impressed me very much. Hence, I would like to be of assistance in my area of expertise for your company as I believe I could apply what I have learnt from my Junior College and University studies on the necessary skills you might require.
I graduated from Raffles Institution Junior College (RIJC) with a distinction in Higher-level 3 (H3) Pharmaceutical Chemistry and am currently studying in National University of Singapore (NUS), with a major in Pure Chemistry. In RIJC, I had been trained in the skills and theories of pharmacology, drug development, clinical trials and quality assurance. These concepts have provided me with a strong background which would enrich my application towards the internship projects that you offered. Furthermore, my willingness to learn more complex and sophisticated procedures had broadened my knowledge as I continue to strive for greater achievement in the sciences. This was also the reason why I was selected for a science attachment trip to the University of Western Australia in December 2007. During this month-long trip, I was exposed to the essentials of plant biology and experimented with techniques like gel electrophoresis, allowing me to discover the future prospects a career in scientific research could bring. This trip enhanced my knowledge in theoretical and specialized skills which would otherwise not be taught in my course of study. The combination of biomedical sciences and chemistry thus became an added-on advantage towards my study in NUS.
In NUS, I am exposed to many aspects of Chemistry such as Organic chemistry, Inorganic chemistry, Spectroscopy, Analytical Chemistry etc. With these different aspects of Chemistry, I have built a strong foundation of lab skills: working with Nuclear Magnetic resonance (NMR) machines, column chromatography, gas chromatography, Thin layer chromatography (TLC), ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy, X-Ray Diffraction, mass spectrometer etc. I also possess the skill of performing various testing methods which include solubility, purity, viscosity tests, vacuum filtration, purification, crystallization, and polymerisation. In addition, NUS combines chemistry with computer IT which allowed me to study the 3-D nature of molecular shapes, vibrational and rotational modes, and bond lengths via the HyperChem program.
While studying at NUS, I handled many projects and lab reports in a given time frame, hence learning to work under tight deadlines. It is also a habit of mine to maintain a schedule of my time and continually check my progress to make sure that I am on the right track. This strength will be helpful in the future if I have a chance to be a part of the Rhodia family, as this organizing skill increases the efficiency of work and ensure no delay of the delegated work.
The enclosed resume is a brief description of my qualifications. I look forward to your reply with great anticipation. Please do not hesitate to contact me at XXXXXX or e-mail me at XXXXXX@hotmail.com for further clarifications. Thank you for your time.
Yours faithfully,
Tan Si Jia Jacqueline
Enclosed: Resume, transcript
Hi Jac!
ReplyDeleteCan't comment much. I'm not doing too well with this too. Haha!!
I like the way you support your letter with very concrete details- how you were chosen for the special attachment trip to Australia, how you are proficient with numerous and specific lab techniques etc.
Some changes you could make to your letters are:
1. 'I believe these concepts would provide me with a strong background which would enhance my application towards the internship projects that you offered.'
to
'These concepts have provided me with a strong background which would enhance my application towards the internship projects that you offered.'
(anyway, what do you mean by enhance the application? Maybe you can rephrase that)
2.
'I believed that the combination of biomedical science and chemistry became an added-on advantage towards my study in NUS.'
can be changed to
'I believe that my additional knowledge in biomedical sciences and chemistry has become an advantage towards my time in NUS.
3.
'as this organizing skill increases the efficiency of work and ensure no delay of the delegated work.'
can be changed to
'as....and ensureS no delay..."
4.
Not sure if this should be changed, but I'll just point it out to you anyway:
'My personal ability encompasses strong communication and computer skills'
to
'My abilities encompass strong......'
Ok,that's about it! haha.. jia you,Si Jia!
Hey Jac you have certainly accomplished a lot already!
ReplyDeleteJust one quick comment though. In our application letter I don't think we can begin to many sentences with the word 'I'. If I'm not wrong we went through this in class this past week.
But overall a job well done! I especially like the 3rd paragraph. Very evil scientist-esque... haha...
Edwin- Thanks! Haha I've made the relevant changes! =)
ReplyDeleteFaizal- I've changed the sentence structure for some paragraphs! Thanks for that really useful advice! And hey! If I'm the evil scientist then you're the mad engineer! HAHA!
Hey jac!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Faizal; there many sentences with the word 'I'. Maybe you can consider changing them to passive voice.
Overall,I think your application is well written!
Hey jac!
ReplyDeleteThat was a great letter and you've mentioned your accomplishments really well. But the first few lines in your first paragraph seem a little unnecessary. You do not have to mention where you found out about the job(as Brad mentioned in class) and the next line seems like you are giving the company more information about themselves which i feel is unnecessary.
But great letter otherwise!
Cheers
Content-wise, the letter seems fine. However, in my opinion, there are some things to take note of:
ReplyDelete1. There is no need to place your name at the top of the letter with your address, as mentioned by the website which I believe was suggested by Eunice.
2. I don't think there is a need to restate your contact details below since you already have them above.
3. I'm not so sure about this point, but the use of 'etc' in the listing of techniques might not be appropriate. It seems to imply that you might know the rest of the techniques and hope for them to fill in the blanks for you, from what I believe. Maybe you can make use of 'such as' or 'including' to begin your list of techniques. I hope someone else can help to verify the validity of this point.
4. I am wondering whether it would be better if you structure it such that the combination of biomedical sciences and chemistry is seen as an edge over the others who are applying for the same internship, rather as an advantage which you experienced in NUS. Maybe you can experiment with it and see which is better.
What I have said earlier should not be taken as the absolute truth, but rather, you should check with other people to see what they think of these points.
Hi Jac!
ReplyDeleteI thought your letter was pretty well structured but I felt that the use of 'I' was used a little too much as mentioned by the rest.
Also,I would like to suggest that perhaps you could leave out some of the laboratory skills mentioned because it makes your letter quite lengthy. You could do some research on the company and perhaps list some of the techniques you've learnt that are applicable to the field of study the company is focusing on.
But in all,I think it was a good letter overall.
Hey guys! Thanks for all the useful comments! Yeah the letter had way too much 'I's in it so I've changed some bit of that! Kenneth! I agree with you that the 'etc' part sounds a bit too informal so yes I've striked that off too. =) Thanks peeps!
ReplyDelete