Motivation letter for a master in finance

Hello! I would really apreciate if someone could take a look in the below motivation letter. Thank you in advance.

Dear Sir or Madam,

With this letter I hereby wish to apply for the masters’ degree program in xxx at the University of XXX for the 2018-2019 academic year.

I graduated in July 2014 from the department of maritime studies of University of Piraeus. Basic target of the department is to offer a broad grounding in economical, scientific and technical coursework. After the attendance of several seminars, and various courses such as Maritime Economics, Financial management, Business statistics, Accounting and Freight market analysis I gained theoretical knowledge which was most intellectually satisfying and stimulating. However, due to the fact that shipping has a wide range of different disciplinest i decided that I needed first to work in a relative sector and gain work experience in order to able to better understand the function of a shipping company and decide which position/ department best suits my character and skills.

During my studies I worked as an intern in two well-known shipping companies where I managed to develop my interpersonal and communication abilities. After my graduation I worked in a NYSE company as an assistant operator for 2 months. Despite the short period that I stayed in the department it was a quite enlighting period since I had the opportunity to acquire detailed knowledge and understanding of both the operations and financial strategies of shipping. I had daily cooperation with almost all the departments of the shipping company including the finance department which really contributes to my decision of orienting to a more financial position. After the completion of my internship, I joined the freight collection department in which I have been working up to today. Being in such a position and having cooperation with the finance and trading department, updating the departments of current freight rates and calculating estimated budget of the vessels that are in progress, i was able to view finance from a different scope. Working 3.5 years in a highly competitive and stressful environment, I have been able to develop my analytical capabilities and learned how to handle and prioritize the workload. An element of my character that I believe will be useful during the course of subject master.

However, apart from the skills and knowledge that I acquired throughout the years, I realized that despite being in a leading global brand, the environment is quite family oriented. Companies tent to trust to managerial positions, people that are family related and treat with cautiousness the non-related ones. However, I believe that as companies expand they should adhere a more corporate attitude. This urged me to start searching ways to evolve and extend my knowledge in order to be able to chase a position in the finance department. This lead me into thinking that a master is the only way to improve and to acquire a solid understanding of the financial and trading activities.

My career objective is to pursue a career as a financial and trade analyst. After reviewing the courses that you offer I strongly believe that this master will be a stepping stone to my onwards career. The compulsory course of ‘’ Research methods in finance’’ is of high interest to me since it assists students acquire a solid background of the tools needed to analyze financial problems. The fact that the master provides courses that are taught from a case study approach such as ‘’ Business research and consulting’’ really fulfils my requirements concerning a master degree. From the entire process, I am confident that I will acquire the skills and knowledge that are necessary to meet the needs of a finance department.

Being aware of the dedication and perseverance needed in order to achieve the best results in the field I strongly believe that my background will qualify for such a master program. To better introduce my background and skills I have enclosed the CV and professional achievements together with this motivation letter. Thank you for considering my application.