Any good motivation letter has three basic parts: the introduction, the body, and then the closing. The closing is the last thing that a reader sees and you want to leave them in the right frame of mind. When you write any motivation letter, you want to know how to close a motivation letter in the strongest possible way so that you can show your reader why they should choose you for the job, scholarship, program, or another opportunity.
We are going to cover the components of a good motivation letter closing and give you some examples. This should help your motivation letters to be stronger and leave a better impression on your readers.
Key Components of a Good Motivation Letter Closing
- Give a Summary of Your Strengths – Sum up the strengths that you provided in your motivation letter already. You don’t want to repeat yourself, but to use different language for strengths that you already provided.
- Be Polite, but Confident – You want to close your letter politely, but at the same time, be confident and lay out what you want to see next or a request or offer. For example “I look forward to speaking with you about the XYZ scholarship and why I would be a great candidate to represent your program.”
- Show Your Thanks – Close your letter with a polite, formal salutation. “Thank you for your time. Sincerely,”.
Using these simple guidelines can help you close your motivation letter and provide the reader with the best last impression possible. You don’t want to make your closing long. It should be a closing, not a new body. It wraps up what you’ve told them already and shows your appreciation.
Things to Avoid When You Close a Motivation Letter
There are a few things to avoid because they are likely to leave your reader with a worse impression.
- Keep it simple, don’t show off your vocabulary
- Don’t be confrontational
- Avoid typos – In this day and age, there is no good reason for a misspelling. Even with the assistance of a computer, have someone else read your letter. Poor grammar, misspellings and punctuation errors drive some people crazy and your letter can become more about that than why they should choose you.
Five Examples of Ways to Close a Motivation Letter
“Thank you for taking the time to read why I would make a great candidate for the XYZ scholarship. My past degree, a record of hard work, and desire to learn would make me a great candidate for your scholarship and a great representative for your organization. I look forward to speaking with you more on how I would be a great candidate.”
“My background and skills have prepared me to be a strong, contributing team member in this type of environment. I would love the opportunity to discuss how I can contribute to your organization.”
“Thank you for your time and consideration. I would love the chance to learn more about your opening and to discuss how I can contribute to your team. I believe that my skills and motivation would help me to be a powerful asset to you. I can be reached at +xx xxx-xxx-xxxx.”
“Thank you for taking the time to consider my candidacy. I’m attaching my resume. Please note that my background in software development and process improvement could help you achieve many of the goals listed in your job posting. I’d love the chance to discuss this more. Please feel free to call me at +XX XXX-XXX-XXXX to discuss how I can help you achieve those goals.”
“As you can see in my attached resume, I have a strong background in public health. My experiences and research there could be beneficial to your program and your very worthy cause. I look forward to discussing more about how I can contribute. Please feel free to contact me at XXX@XXXX.org and we can talk about how I can contribute.”
Your closing is a great opportunity to highlight why you are a strong candidate. You can highlight for the reader why. Make sure to show them how that benefits them. They aren’t looking to make a job offer so much as to fill a gap in their current capabilities. You want to close that gap for them and then make it easy for them to contact you.
Good luck!