In this blog post, we’ll share some tips on how to effectively highlight your personality strengths that are relevant to financial sales in your cover letter.
Your background
“I’m a kid who always puts what I learn into practice!”
Since I was a child, I have been a child with strong execution skills. I was a child who had to practice what I learned and act on what I knew. When I was young, I was said to be a tomboy who was full of energy. After receiving education on sexual assault, I realized the dangers of sexual violence and told the neighborhood children and kindergarteners about it, which caused trouble for the adults. When I received violence prevention education at school, I went to the junior high and high school boys in my neighborhood and lectured them. The neighbors all called me a know-it-all. My mother must have found it troublesome, but she encouraged me, saying that a child like me would grow up to be a great person. Because of this, I grew up as a child who was not easily discouraged, but experienced many things, learned, and put what I learned into practice. Once I started something, I had to see it through until I satisfied my curiosity. If there was something I wanted to learn, I learned it, and I worked hard until I mastered it. In elementary school, I loved bread so much that I started learning how to bake, and in high school, I even got a certificate. After obtaining the certification, I gained experience at various bakeries, but then I realized that if I wanted to start my own business, I needed capital, so I suddenly started studying. While others invested three years, I invested eight months and achieved good results, which allowed me to enter the economics department of the university I wanted to attend. After entering university, I became deeply interested in money. People cry and laugh because of money. Thanks to money, some people save their lives, while others lose their lives because of it. Seeing this, I realized the dangers and importance of money, and as I actually earned money, I came to understand its dual nature. While studying economics, I learned about the larger scale of money, and I felt a strong interest and responsibility toward it, so I decided to choose a career that would allow me to participate in that flow. Therefore, I obtained financial management and fund consulting qualifications, and while preparing to find employment at a corporate bank, I decided to apply for a position in financial sales.
Important events in my life
“Selling Japanese bags in Australia.”
I thought language skills were important. I also thought that there were limits to what I could learn in Korea to become proficient in English. So, I decided to go to Australia to study English, but it was too expensive, so I decided to go on a working holiday instead. That was the turning point in my life. I had to do everything by myself and take responsibility for everything, but I was able to become stronger through many painful experiences. In addition, I gained confidence in sales and in myself as I was recognized at work. In Australia, I worked at a bag store selling Japanese brands. Everyone who came to the store was attracted by the durability of Japanese bags, and many wanted to hear about the details. At first, I didn’t know what to do because I couldn’t speak English. However, my natural curiosity and competitive spirit, especially the fact that my salary depended on my sales, made me want to succeed. From then on, I memorized the entire bag description, learned the language, acquired information about the bags, and started talking to customers. At first, I was too shy and afraid to speak, but I grew through trial and error, and when I returned to South Korea, I was even offered a job to continue working there. At that time, I gained confidence in my ability to persuade people, my perseverance, and my communication skills. With the same spirit I had when I started sales in Australia, a country I knew nothing about, I want to work at Industrial Bank of Korea with a more professional and sophisticated mindset.
Motivation and aspirations
“A place where I can enjoy my work and grow”
As an economics major, many of my seniors found jobs in the banking industry. Looking at them, I realized that a company’s vision, culture, and values are not just superficial. Therefore, when choosing a company, I decided to go where the happiest people I knew were, and that is why I chose Industrial Bank of Korea. Everyone I know praises the enjoyable culture at Industrial Bank of Korea. Seeing them up close, I realized that the atmosphere and corporate culture at IBK are not just for show, but are genuine, and I came to respect the company for that. I believe that being able to work at a company that I respect would be the greatest blessing and opportunity of my life. I also believe that I will be able to work most efficiently when I am working at a place that I love.
If I join your company, the first thing I will do is memorize everything. I will not look up information and show it to you, or search for products and tell you about them. I will memorize everything and provide you with information that I have completely internalized. Based on that, I will grow to become the person with the best performance. I want to enjoy my work, share my joy with my colleagues, create synergy, grow as a person, and become someone who achieves the best results.
Other
“Tomorrow will be better than today.”
I like the saying, “Three days of determination.” Once I make up my mind, I can keep going for at least three days, and I admire how amazing that is. Also, since you only have to make up your mind once every three days, I don’t think there is anything you can’t do. Unfortunately, I don’t seem to be able to stick to my decisions for more than three days. That’s why I make a resolution once a day. I think about what I did today and what I need to do tomorrow. Furthermore, I think about what I am doing now to achieve my goals. I try to motivate myself by checking my short-term and long-term plans alternately. My biggest goal right now is to become a financial expert. Currently, effective money management is desperately needed, but surprisingly, many people lack knowledge about money and are unable to manage their finances properly, resulting in financial loss. However, nowadays, losing money is tantamount to missing opportunities. That is why I want to become the best expert who can help people efficiently propose and effectively implement Industrial Bank of Korea’s products. I will check my progress every day toward that dream and become a person who checks myself from both short-term and long-term perspectives to see if I am on the right track to achieve my dream.
