Know your intent

The gap between what’s expected and what you deliver is where the magic happens, in business and in life.

                              -Jay Baer.

In every field, the intent matters. Just like when we speak, more than what words are spoken, the way and the intention with which it is said matters; even when we write formally, what you convey in the message and how you do, makes all the difference.

You might have hundreds of skills, but there is always a specific place, to showcase them all. If someone asks you your name or introduction, and with your name you tell them your hobbies, achievements, academic skills, and so on, after a point, it might look like you are exaggerating!

Even though you might possess all the skills you mentioned, but it won’t be any worth to that person anymore. So, you need to know the intent of a questioned being asked and answer accordingly.

Once, high school gets over, one of the biggest challenges for students is to write a letter of intent.

Firstly, let’s know what a ‘letter of intent’ is…

A letter of intent, in simple words, means a letter written to a specific college or university, stating the facts which made you choose their institution, to study the subject or program you opted for. It also accounts for a summary of your skills, achievements, and core strengths that you possess, especially related to the program you have selected. 

Some of the points, one must take care while writing one, are:

Don’t deviate from the course or program selected:

One of the biggest mistakes, which is committed is that often students get distracted with the actual program selected while describing their talent and skills. For example, if a student applies for Bachelor of Legislative Law (LLB), and continues to describe his skills and recognition in the field of dancing or singing, it would not make any sense, even though it’s a great skill to possess. The skills like debating, public speaking, grammatical fluency, communication skills would be the ones, a person would search for in the letter.

Know your goal:

At no time, while writing a letter of intent, a student must forget the subject or program opted. One of the key points which the reader notices, is the motivation and the reason behind which a student has selected to study that particular subject as well as choose their university. A student must always mention, the changes or the importance of that course in their life and how would that particular university make a difference.

 Never use an informal tone of words:

Another thing to be careful about would be the tone and format of the letter. Remember, it’s not a school assignment letter to your friend, that you ask ‘hi, how are you’, or ‘waiting for your reply’, ‘stay connected’ and so on. The letter needs to sound professional at all times. The letter must be in the passive voice and a very subtle tone. Also, the font needs to be simple and no italics, bold, color highlighted or fancy fonts must be used.

Check for grammatical errors:

In a professional letter, each mistake counts. The tense in which the letter was written must be present, as well as the letter should be proofread three to four times to check for spelling mistakes and tense errors. Also, another point of focus, which creates a bad impression is abbreviations, never use abbreviations like u, don’t, can’t, etc, and especially for the course selected. For example, if you select a Bachelor of Legislative Law as a course, you cannot write LLB instead of the full form, as it creates a bad impression.

The intent must be delivered, and the necessary points like name, address, the program selected, skills, strengths must be the highlight, but these small changes would make a big difference as it’s always these small things which come into consideration and makes a difference