I have always liked sales people. They have a smooth tongue, one that always gets the job done. Otherwise, they lose their jobs. Call it business psychology or what you may, but these folks can get into your head and influence your decisions.
Imagine you had to sell a second-hand laptop on which your survival depended. Your clothing, food and rent depending on you getting that one thing sold. How would you approach people? How would you present the laptop? How would you look, personally?
I bet you’d be a different person. How you talk and look would change for you would want to look and sound professional and convincing. You would probably read sales books and even the art of closing deals.
Entrepreneurs know that marketing and sales involve packaging and selling. Yet when it comes to personal life, most people either sell themselves cheap or don’t sell at all.
Most people aspire to get to higher learning. They know they need scholarships. But only a few will dare to read about what it takes to craft winning personal statements.
Unlike those compositions about myself, these should be persuasive. You’re not just telling the scholarship committee about you, you are selling yourself. Your aim is get them hooked and gain their support. So you’ll have to up your game and stop gambling with scholarship applications. After all, your future depends on such.
Remember, you’re your own complete operations and staff. In crafting these, you’ll have to compile evidence of your skills and resourcefulness which form part of the sales package.
Going through the self-assessment exercise will help you in that you will gather information for your application and personal statement; you’ll also gather data to use in interviews that usually follow.
To get started, be sure you have the information on where the desire to pursue your desired field came from. It could be the way you grew up, your work experience, or previous studies. This information will help show that you’re the right fit for such a field. From there, think of why all these combined personal features measure up to the desired pursuit.
Then think of what the scholarship opportunity means to you. Think of what it will help you achieve. Think of why you’re a smart investment. Then remember to conclude your application by thanking the scholarship committee for giving you an opportunity to tell your story.