✍️ The newsletter: Feedback for Conservators #5
The motivation letter and what should be really about (part 1) 📚
This is a monthly free newsletter project that came from the Mentorship Initiative Feedback for Conservators ✍️: a place to bring a little bit of professional advice to help on topics that I wish I knew more about at the start of my art conservation career. Topics discussed here are recurrent ones that I see over those Zoom sessions! So I thought it would be useful to discuss them here. It’s also not a perfect newsletter and doesn’t intend to, but rather a space to share. Read here past newsletters. And as always, some disclamers1
The motivation letter and what should be really about (part 1)
(Written version below)
The motivation letter is hands down the star of all the enquiries I get. The longest Zoom sessions that I do are always on it! The two main worries for which I’m approached are:
I do not know how to do it or
I did it but something is off… and I do not know what.
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Let’s start by saying we all have been there, everyone (and it’s quite comforting to a certain extent).
Why?:
1. Nobody talks really about how to do it, 2. Examples on the internet do not explain well how to translate this as an art conservator, 3. Most people do not know/like/feel confident to talk about ourselves2
Although I could be talking for ages about it (it is one of my favourite topics to work on), I decided to keep this subject in 2 posts, to cover very generally the two main blocks that I mentioned previously. Today: I do not know how to do it.
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I do not know how to do it: the Room Story metaphor 📚
The motivation letter usually is the document that stresses the most any colleague, to the point that some can feel very blocked on how to approach it. If this is the case I introduce the Room Story metaphor.
Some time ago I heard this metaphor somewhere (I do not remember where, unfortunately 😅). It was discussed in the context of approaching the creative writing process, but It applies very well to the motivation letter:
Imagine that you have to write a story. If you have a room filled with objects and you’re talking about it in your story, you will not describe each and all of the objects, right? Instead, as a writer, you will just highlight the ones that are useful to tell your story.
A motivation letter is the same: be selective about telling the things that are interesting from “your room”(=you + your experience) AND that you can connect them to the specific “story” that you’re telling: the motivation to work/apply to X place.
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And which are these rooms’ objects? As a general rule, we have at least 3 types:
► things about you that I can not know through your CV: e.g. how you present yourself/define yourself? what is your special skill or/and your area of interest?
► things that I need to know: e.g. you have already X experience that can be useful for this job/internship or you have experience on X that It is not required but that could potentially be interesting.
► things that justify that you know well the place you apply to (more on that also in part 2 of this post).
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I am not, by any means, implying that you have to made up or exaggerate something. Never. You can create wonderful motivation letters even as a student.
My point is that usually by making the switch between thinking “I have to prove that I am good so I will mention everything I did well professionally”, to rather “Let’s take this as telling a really interesting and engaging story by discussing relevant things connected to it”. Usually helps out to feel more guided through the writing process and have less pressure about it.
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For the motivated
Try to do a motivation letter from scratch. No templates or copy-paste from past applications.
Sometimes not having references helps to feel freer to see what can come up by just having this “Room metaphor” in your head.
There is only one rule: you must select a specific application of X place. Do not think of it as a general template, but rather think about a specific case of job/internship vacancy (a specific Story). Results are much much better.
P.S.: The “Room Story Methaphor” is very connected to the Bible CV that I previously mentioned. I will tackle more in detail in another post.
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That’s a warp for today. More in two weeks, see you then?
As mentioned, this newsletter supports the mentorship service Feedback For Conservators (here are some testimonials). Also, as part of it, I offer limited Pro-Bono sessions for those colleagues or students who can not afford them. If you’re interested in any of both just email me, promise I do not bite 🤓.
This is my personal opinion, which means also that I could be wrong! You do you✨.
Please do not share extracts of this newsletter without my consent.
More on that in a future post!