How

to write an Effective Essay

Potential employers often want more than cover letters and resumes; they want to know how
well you express yourself, handle spontaneous tasks and follow directions. If you want to nail
your job application essay, don't rush. Take your time and double-check your work. Remember:
without making a good impression on paper, you won't get the chance to make an impression
in person. The essays that you answer during the application procedure will have a tremendous
impact on your selection. Do not make it a deadline task, think, write, read, revise, rewrite and
go on until the essay is clear, concise, and compelling. At the same time, dont be afraid. You
know most of the things you need to say already.

1. Know Yourself: What makes you special? Is there something about your family, your
education, your work/life experience, or your values that has shaped you and brought
you to this career field? What motivates or interests you? Do you have special skills, like
leadership, management, research, or communication? What can you offer to the
program? Be honest with yourself and write down your ideas. If you are having trouble,
ask a friend or relative to make a list of your strengths or unique qualities that you plan
to read on your own (and not argue about immediately). Ask them to give you examples
to back up their impressions (For example, if they say you are caring, ask them to
describe an incident they remember in which they perceived you as caring).

2. Follow instructions: Pay very close attention to the instructions. Answer the questions
to the point. If you go off-topic in your essay, theyll know without meeting you that you
have trouble following directions. Make sure you answer the question that is being
asked--no more, no less. Also, stick to the length of the essay that has been mentioned.

3. Brainstorm: Take notes on the essay before you start writing the actual draft. If you
have several ideas, write your ideas down, use your brainstorm session to try out
various ideas before you find out which one suits you the best.

4. Outline your essay: Create an outline for your essay so that you head in the right
direction.

5. Be specific: Make clear and concise statements in your essays. Refrain from using vague
phrases. For example, instead of writing, Im a good employee and I love to work,
write, "I showed that I love to work when I served as chairperson for ABC Company's
weekend initiative -- we successfully lobbied to have the offices opened during the
weekends, so employees can catch up on paperwork and meetings without the
distraction of clients calling."
 6. Show, Dont Tell: Dont simply state a fact to get an idea across, such as I like to
surround myself with people with a variety of backgrounds and interests.
Do include specific details, examples, reasons and so on to develop your ideas. For the
example above, describe a situation when you were surrounded by various types of
people. What were you doing? Whom did you talk with? What did you take away from
the experience?
Use a range of examples from all areas of your life college, work and other
interests/activities. When recounting your experiences, tell a story by explaining the
challenge(s) you faced, the action(s) you took and the result(s) from your actions.

7. Be professional: Do not put anything in the essay that you wouldnt want to say to the
organization. Treat the essay like an interview and write accordingly.

8. Proofread: Remember to proofread your essay before you hit submit. You do not want
your essay to have silly grammar and spelling mistakes. Spelling, typographical, and
grammatical errors immediately suggest a lack of professionalism to a reader who has to
make a quick judgement about potentially hundreds of candidates.

9. Do not use the Internet to write your essay. Most organizations check for plagiarism.

Before You Start Writing

Do intensive research about the organization. Dont stop with just the company website.
Leverage online search engines, LinkedIn and other relationship marketing tools. If you are
working with a recruiter, make sure he or she has given you more than a job description. After
doing the research think about why you want to work with the organization. Read the
instructions provided by the organization very carefully.

Now Write a Draft

The essays in many application forms are hard essays to write. They are probably much more
personal than any of your papers you have written in your class, because its about you. You
may want to start by just answering something. Try freewriting. Think about a question that has
been asked and then write for 15 or 30 minutes without stopping. Dont worry about the
grammar, punctuation, organisation or anything else. Just write down the ideas that you have.
Now, take a look at what you have written. Find out which is the most memorable and concrete
statement and focus on them. Eliminate any generalizations or platitudes or anything that could
be cut and pasted into anyone elses application. Find what is specific to you about the ideas
that generated those platitudes and express them more directly. Eliminate irrelevant issues or
issues that might be controversial to your reader.

Audience

Know your audience. Your readers will have thousands of essays to read, many or most of
which will come from qualified applicants. This essay will be your best opportunity to
communicate with the decision-makers in the application process, and you dont want to bore
them, offend them, or make them feel you are wasting their time.
Keeping this in mind:
Do assure your audience that you understand exactly the nature of the work in the field
and that you are prepared for it, psychologically and morally as well as educationally.
Do assure your audience that you care about them and their time by writing a clear,
organized, and concise essay.
Dont waste space with information you have provided in the rest of the application.
Every sentence should be effective and directly related to the rest of the essay. Dont
ramble or use fifteen words to express something you can say in eight.
Do assure your audience that you understand and look forward to the challenges of the
program and the field, not just the benefits.
Do not write in clichs and platitudes. Your reader has read these general clichs a
million times. These could include statements like, There is so much suffering in the
world that I feel I have to help people. You could write about a real experience that you
had and how it made you feel you had to take action.
Assure your audience that you are capable academically, willing to stick to the
programs demands, and interesting to have around.

Voice and Style

The voice that you use in your essay should be yours. You can use I in your essay. The essay
should reflect your perspective, experiences, thoughts, and emotions. The voice that you use
should be approachable as well as intelligent.
Refrain from using academic jargon. You do not want your reader to be flipping through a
dictionary or falling asleep while reading your application.
You also do not want to sound chatty to the point of making them think you speak only slang.
A well-written, dramatic essay is much more memorable than one that fails to make an
emotional impact on the reader. Good anecdote and personal insights can attract the attention
of your reader. But be careful not to let your drama turn into melodrama. Dont invent drama
where there isnt any. Getting someone to read your drafts can help you proofread as well as
eliminate unnecessary drama.
Just use an honest voice and represent yourself as naturally as possible.

After Youve Written the Draft:

Get people to read it and write their comments down. Remember, you are best equipped to
judge how accurately you are representing yourself. After youve received the feedback, revise
the essay. Put it away and revise it again after some time. When you think it is totally finished,
proofread it and format the essay. Check every sentence and punctuation mark. You cannot
afford a careless error in this essay. If you find that your essay is too long, do not reformat it
extensively to make it fit. Figure out what material you can eliminate and try removing it. Finally
proofread it again and then hit submit.

Disclaimer: Kindly note that these are general essay writing tips and not specific to Teach For
India application form essays.

References:
http://work.chron.com/write-job-application-essay-10423.html
http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/application-essays/
https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2012/04/30/essay-how-write-good-applications-jobs-or-grants
http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/apessay_tips.html