Cover Letter

Han Kunyang

21 Lower Kent Ridge Road

Singapore 119077

(+65)9…

a0002882@nus.edu.sg

10^th September 2012

Graduate Recruitment

ICAP

10 Marina Boulevard #21-01

Marina Bay Financial Tower 2

Singapore 018983

Dear Sir/Madam,

ICAP Internship Programme

I am enclosing my resume in response to your advertisement for the above internship programme which appeared on National University of Singapore’s eJobCentre website on 7^th September 2012.

I am currently an undergraduate in the National University of Singapore, studying for a Bachelor of Science, with Major in Quantitative Finance. Besides my core courses, I have taken a diverse range of electives that have honed my ability to listen, comprehend and compose coherent arguments, and to be comfortable communicating in a professional environment.

Before my enrollment into university, I worked part-time as a real estate telemarketer and as a nightclub waiter. My diverse job experience in the service sector had allowed me to pick up many skills that are useful and relevant for an internship at ICAP. These stints trained my ability to multi-task in a fast-paced job environment, to maintain a calm professionalism, and to work unsupervised even under immense pressure.

During my enrolment in university, I was heavily involved in organizing and facilitating co-curricular activities such as an overseas community service project and freshman orientation projects. These experiences trained my communication skills and sense of teamwork. Therefore, I am comfortable around foreign environments, I can interact well with strangers and colleagues, and I am a perceptive, motivated team player.

I have an objective-oriented work personality, and I have a strong, personal, desire to continuously explore, improve and learn. I am interested in finance and I have a particularly keen interest for the workings in your Research division. An internship with ICAP would be an amazing opportunity for me, and I hope to learn by observing and contributing to the company’s operations.

I hope you will look favourably at my application. I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

 

Han Kunyang

Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

This happened when I was serving my full-time conscription, while I was in an 18-day outdoor leadership training course. Nearing the final week, I was thoroughly strung out, homesick and fatigued. Making matters worse, my course mates and I had just spent the last 3 days out at sea, kayaking around Singapore, rain or shine. For many of us, it was our first time witnessing and surmounting waves that were taller than a grown man, with an uncanny similarity to scenes from the movie ‘The Perfect Storm’.
 
Understandably, the sense of relief and achievement was palpable when we neared the final stretch of the sea expedition, a strait crossing*. The air was thick with anticipation and excitement for one, last, mad dash for the finishing point.

As luck would have it, I was assigned to lead the group that day with a fellow course mate, whom I was on good terms with, in another kayak. We knew that the adrenaline-driven, reckless overzealousness would string out the kayaks over a large area, making strait crossings very dangerous. We had agreed from the night before that we would make the extra effort to keep the group in a tight bunch.

Imagine my horror when my co-leader rushed out ahead of the pack, signalled for the group to follow him, and proceeded to string out the expedition group as they tried to follow his pace. This wasn’t in the plan!

Fortunately the team reached the checkpoint safely. Upon catching up, I ranted out at my fellow co-leader loudly, which was witnessed by a few other kayaks. Do note that technically the two of us had hierarchially equal roles that day. Looking back, I feel like I was driven by a combination of a bruised ego, misplaced sense of injustice and frustration. Naturally, the two of us were fuming mad all the way back to home port and we didn’t exchange a single word afterwards, ending the sea expedition on a very bitter note.

After the damage was done, what could I do to salvage the situation and the friendship? How could I have handled the original incident better?

Thank you for reading!

 

*In nautical terms, a strait is a designated sea expressway. Heavy cargo ships travel very quickly along straits and take very long to make an emergency stop. Small boats trying to cross a strait must move fast or risk becoming sitting ducks.