Motivation letter for PhD

Hello! Thank you for spending your time reading this text. I am going to apply for a PhD programme and here is my motivation letter. I would be grateful if someone could read it and comment.
P.S. I have not written a section about positive features of the university I am applying to deliberately as there are several places where I am going to apply.

Dear Sir/Madam,
I wish to apply to [PhD programme in Management] in the department at your university [] which starts [for the autumn 2013 term]. I am sure that completing this programme is a significant step towards reaching my ultimate objective to become a doctor specializing in human resources and communications management. In the future I see myself as a scientist who could also consult firms on issues related to my sphere of interest and thus be able to improve their performance.
I graduated from Saint- Petersburg Federal State University of Economics and Finance in 2011. Since 1991 the university has been occupying the leading position in the official rating of Russian Ministry of Education among state economic universities in Russia.
I earned the degree of a specialist after 5 years of study (with a distinction) and my major was “Applied informatics in economics”. My average score was 4.9 out of possible 5 which was the highest score among the graduates in my group. As a result of my high grades I was given a scholarship during all period of my studies.
At the university I studied a wide range of subjects: from information technologies to management and economics. Such variety of subjects helped me to broaden my horizons. Furthermore, a high emphasis was put by our professors on system research and analysis of information, the development of analytical thinking and processing of large amount of data. Here I should distinguish “System analysis and systems theory” subject which along with the others helped me to develop system approach and analytical skills. Moreover, my studies have given me solid knowledge in informatics that helps me feel confident with computers and be willing to use achievements in computer science in my research.
During my last year of study I undertook an internship in a consulting company where I participated in the design of a personnel competencies model. It was my first close touch with human resources management and I instantly became interested in this area. I started to study human resources management, including communications management, independently. On the basis of my practical work I wrote a degree thesis named “Development of typical informational personnel competence management system for a company”. In this work I developed and described an informational system for management of personal competencies in small and medium-sized organizations. The system was later sold to the clients of the consulting company I had worked for and that proves its high quality. During the process of writing the thesis I learned a lot about human resources management and personnel competencies.
After graduation I was hired as a quality assurance engineer by an outsourcing company specializing in the software development for European and US customers. It is my current full-time job. My responsibilities include ensuring high quality of all process of software creation, work with customer’s requirements, communications with clients to ensure products are designed and produced to meet customer expectations. I also perform a lot of analytical work there.
Although my duties are not directly connected to my research sphere, it was my job that prompted me to concentrate on studying organizational communications. Due to the fact that the company is project-oriented I became more familiar with project management and curious about it. As I am involved in many communications I see in practice how huge is their impact on performance and their significance in business. I have had vast possibilities to observe arising communication problems, multiple communication barriers and how they affect the effectiveness of communications and projects on the whole. The challenges in communications that I and other my colleagues had faced encouraged me to continue my academic career in the sphere of management and communications. I realized that despite a great number of researches in this area there are still a lot of issues that need to be solved.
Furthermore, as the company works in cooperation mostly with foreign clients the majority of projects is carried out by virtual teams. It resulted in my particular interest in the problems of virtual communications and their research.
In fact, I consider my knowledge of real business needs in communications sphere as one of my strengths. I believe that it will benefit my research.
Among my competencies I would also like to mention high responsibility and strong inter-personal skills. At work I have been representing our project team at the meetings with high-level stakeholders. I am often delegated the responsibility to give presentations to stakeholders and they are highly evaluated by the management. I also participated in business trips to Sweden. Moreover, currently I lead a small team of quality engineers that helps me to understand challenges and insides of managerial work.
Last, but not least significant is that I have an experience in writing scientific materials. I have seven published articles and conference papers. Among them there is an article published in official magazine of Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. More details you can find in my CV.

I have chosen this university because…..:



Taken into account my record of high academic and work achievements, my responsibility and other skills and strong interest in my research topic, I am certain that, if given the opportunity, I will do my best to meet all your expectations. In addition, I am confident that my international background, work experience and interdisciplinary education will add diversity to “management” program.
Thank you for considering my application, and I look forward to receiving your acceptance.