My first Cover letter draft

I am a first year MBA student, with a degree in Biology and with a professional experience in the Clinical Operations team at AstraZeneca, a leader Pharmaceutical company.

During six years I worked as a Clinical Study Delivery Leader, where I had the chance to use and further develop a skill set that I consider will help me succeed in the position that I am applying for:

Leadership and orientation towards results – I coordinated international and national projects, from launch to delivery, which successfully reached their very ambitious goals. My planning, perseverance, organization and enterprising skills were the main drivers for the success of the projects I coordinated.

Team spirit, adaptability and flexibility - The ability to work in a team helped me develop and implement several innovative ideas, which generated high level of satisfaction in our clients. Working in a team allowed me to improve my communication skills, as I often needed to present and discuss my ideas and projects. My passion for working with people and my diplomatic, genuine and friendly personality facilitated an adaption to different types of teams.

Analytical skills / Problem solving - The extremely competitive environment of the clinical projects required a constant update of plans, and the skills to fully understand and forecast the performance and timelines of competitors. I was responsible for identifying and solving logistic or conflict issues, as well as generating creative methods to improve our processes.

Function orientation

This week I had my 2009 evaluation at my company. I had a "exceeded expectations" on "Focus on results". I'm good at it. However, this extreme focus on results does not allow me to analyse the details or, on the other hand, get the big picture. I only aim for the final result. So, my first priorities for this year are to develop my analytical skills and my strategic vision.

This week I also received feedback from the "Power of the Word" session. I was told that I had good verbal communication skills but there was space for improvement concerning my non-verbal skills. I have to improve my confidence in order to better sell my TerraLaVita's brand.

Concerning the function I aim, I'm starting to have some ideas. I'm a hands-on person, I know that. I like to be in the field, working with people, doing, delegating, coordinating or motivating. Should I aim for Coordinating / Planning / Logistic / Execution functions ?

Additionally, I like images and brand promotion, advertising, events planning. Should I aim for Marketing functions?

Finally, I know I am good at exploring and discovering new markets. Should I aim for Market Research / Market Management Functions?

CRC, I think I'll need your help on this!

Who am I?

Today's post will be short. No time for long talks. It is late in the evening.
My latest assignment allowed me to dyscover some more features about myself - I'll start with a Swot analysis:
Strenghts - Focus on results, Determination, Independency and Competency
Weaknesses - Functional and investigative skills
Opportunities - Acquire knowledge and expertise
Threats - Personal values

I have also defined my Life Map for a 5 year time-span. I'm now sure about the Industry & the Location I'll work in.
Industry - Environmental /Tourism/ ONGs will be my target
Location - Be based in Portugal but with medium-term assignments abroad
Function and Enterprises are still incognitas.

Interests - Great variety, but mainly travelling, nature/wildlife, sport and images/photography

Content skills - I'm good at teaching people, motivating them to be organized, to be disciplined, to feel better and to meet their objectives.

Finally, from the top 10 achievements I feel proud of, I may say that I've done a lot of different things that I hadn't thought of. However, where I feel really proud when I'm able to change somebody's behaviour or myself's to meet desired objectives.

Good night

Assignment1: Creating my brand

My first original MBA assignment was "Create Your Brand". So, where should I start?
I should start by introducing myself, my brand. My brand was created in 1980 and its creators were a hippie Canadian man and a beautiful Portuguese woman, who accidently fell in love in the streets of Montreal. From this mix of latin roots, I was born. Ironically, my brand's name conveys my passions: Terra (the Earth, in Portuguese) and LaVita (Life, in Italian).
I grew up sustained by four pillars: family, friends, career and travelling. When one pillars starts to collapse the other three pull it up. Last year, the career pillar was starting to have some cracks. I had been working in the research area for too long and my career was stagnant. I needed to change. I was advised by my family and friends to apply for an MBA. I had identified the need to have a broader view of the business world and to adquire tools that would allow me to pursue my goals. Here I am. The first week was tough. Too much information, too many assignments, very little sleep, a lot of new faces, but at the end of the day I went back home, tired, but happy and motivated. I had gone back to school and I was learning again!
Concerning the four courses I have, and unexpectedly, the one I most enjoy is Marketing, which is an art where creativity is at its best.
These first two weeks have been crucial concerning my self-awareness process in this MyBrand creation. The EGOS forum was fascinating in the way that created a structure in my brain concerning personality profiles of the people with whom I interact and mainly of myself. It was a great starting point for all of us.
Secondly, the survey I completed today in the CRC site. Today, I was forced to really think in what and where I want to work in. I believe I've made a realistic and balanced decision. From now on I just have to keep on track.