Sample cover letter for Full Time position at IFC

Re: Vacancy 131827 Investment Analyst

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to apply for the Investment analyst position at IFC’s Moscow office.

My aspiration for a career at IFC is based on my educational and professional background as well as my personal motivations. I grew extremely interested in emerging markets growth opportunities, worked with companies from Russia, CIS, Turkey, Peru and Sub-Saharan Africa and hope to step-up my experience further by working at IFC. Having a BA degree in international relations and oriental studies as well as a degree in financial economics I hope to be able to use the knowledge of the MENA region as an analyst with IFC. Besides when doing research I have seen several times that IFC’s activities have really helped shape the market economy in Russia (in the financial sector particularly) and other countries and I really aspire to become a part of a team that makes impact through its investments.

Over the past two years I have had a considerable exposure to CIS, African and Latin American markets working with the Investment Department of [xxx] and the investment banking team at [xxx].

At [xxx] I am involved into several mining projects around Russia that are the main focus of the group working closely with sector specialists and provide regular updates on diversified manufacturing, agriculture and transportation sectors in Russia and CIS. I have been preparing materials for weekly investment committee meetings, including presentations and summary financial models of new investment opportunities. Furthermore I am actively involved into TMT projects in [xxx] and [xxx], both owned by [xxx] and several other investors that are aimed at bridging the digital divide.

Back at [xxx] I covered Russian, CIS, Turkey and Sub-Sahara African markets with a focus on financial institutions, real estate and metals & mining sectors. [xxx] investment banking team has a wide client base in Russia and CIS and managed to successfully enter the Turkish market during 2012. [xxx] was also an outstanding experience for me since my senior teammates had rich background in emerging markets operations. I was also lucky enough to work directly with [xxx], the EMEA regional director, participated in a private placement of a South African REIT and was a part of [xxx] FIG team for several months working with the management team of one of Kenya's retail banks.

At University I majored in international relations as a BA student, was actively involved with UN Association of Russia and was looking forward to a career in diplomacy. However my intentions changed following a disappointed internship at the Russia’s Foreign affairs ministry so I have started preparing for the entrance exams at the Higher School of Economics for an MA program in Financial Economics. I chose investment banking as the fastest way to gain experience in financial sector and [xxx] became my top choice since I believed that my knowledge of the Turkish language and the region of MENA that I studied profoundly back at [xxx] would be give me an additional edge as an analyst. Working at [xxx] enabled me to look at the buy-side of capital markets in Russia and emerging markets and work closely with portfolio companies' management and sector specialists.

However I have always felt that my role is extremely narrow-aimed and longed for a wider-world-view experience with an international financial group aimed not only at revenue-making (which is a focus of all IB and PE activities), but at making a social and economic impact as well. That is my main motivation for my application for an Investment Analyst position at IFC.