In this blog post, I’ll show you how to use my hands-on experience in heavy equipment sales to effectively convey the expertise and drive required for an export job in a cover letter.
Background
Growing up, one of my favorite things to look up to and admire were the “giant robots” that were always on TV and in movies. They were giants who could shake the ground as they walked, uproot trees with a swing of their arms, and fight valiantly while firing beams of light or rocket punches at will. As a kid who grew up admiring animals and dinosaurs in natural science books, many of which required me to look up at heights and scopes that I couldn’t quite reach, I used to feel a sense of pride whenever I saw the majesty of giant robots in the human world, built with the best of science and technology. It was a similar feeling to the first time I climbed to the top of a jungle gym and looked out over the sky and earth, or looked down on the world from an observation deck. I loved all the gigantic beings that expanded my tiny, weak human vision of the vastness of the world.
My desire to escape the frailty of human existence led me to aspire to a career working with large mammals, such as elephants and whales, at one point in my life, because I wanted to work with creatures or machines that were under so much pressure that I could barely look up. I can still remember watching movies about dinosaurs, and lamenting their now-extinct absence, but their place in the midst of civilization was far too small and insignificant to be in the company of beings as grand as I would have liked, so I soon grew frustrated and turned my attention to architecture and machines. My desire to overcome my limitations with the power of technology, to the point where I would have dreamed of being the person in the cockpit of a robot had it been commercially available, naturally led to an interest in heavy machinery, the range of machines I could get into and handle.
As a schoolboy
I was fascinated by giant trucks, buses, excavators, and the like. This is where I ended up, because I had once dreamed of a life with giant robots or animals, but as I gradually organized my dreams into something I could hold onto in the real world, I realized that technology had come too far too late to sustain my desire to ride in a robot, something I had always wanted since I was a kid. So, after trimming my hopes a bit, trimming them down to something more realistic, I started to take a slightly different path to a dream on a scale that I could manage on my own. It was also very useful for me to visit my father’s workplace, where he works in architecture, so that I could get some second-hand experience in my field of interest from time to time.
At first, I even considered becoming a “heavy equipment operator,” thinking that as long as I could get on and move those machines, that would be enough. In my imagination, I always saw myself as a pilot who could competently fly a giant robot, even if all I could do was lift and carry the weight of dirt, asphalt, and loads. While others might have thought I was full of shit, my interests and passions were what drove me to pick and choose my own career path and prepare for entrance exams, and even if I wasn’t the one operating and driving the machines, I was always trying to find a way to do my part. It’s been a challenge to carve out a path for my ambitions and livelihood at the same time, but it’s also a path that’s guaranteed to be rewarding.
personality strengths and weaknesses
I’m a person who always tries to keep my horizons wide open. I don’t want to be limited by my current environment because I don’t want to be limited by my current circumstances, just like a frog that can only do so much if it stays in a well. Just as you must always step up to see a world that is wider and taller than your height, you must always strive to gather strength in your knees and gain momentum, rather than being satisfied with your current situation. Just as my childhood memories of climbing up on a jungle gym and peering into the distance are much more colorful and exhilarating than when I was looking around at a much lower level than I do as an adult.
Some might say that my personality is one of “never being satisfied” or “being grateful for what you have,” but I believe that in order to improve yourself or expand your horizons, you need to constantly reevaluate your position and be aware that you still have a long way to go. Just as a frog that is content with lukewarm water may be dragged slowly to its death, unaware of when it will be boiled to death, I am like the frog that squats and gathers momentum without sticking its butt to the ground, ready to rise to the opportunities that come my way.
Life Creed
Keep beating your personal best in life. Just as there is a saying that my greatest and strongest enemy is “me,” so is the person I have been striving against in my life. Others who were ahead of me or at a similar level were certainly rivals I was interested in, but what motivated me more than anything else was my own minimum standard, my vow to be a much better version of myself than I had been in the past.
Time is something you can’t get back, so you should spend it sparingly and use it to fulfill and improve your life. Believing that stagnation and regression begin the moment you defeat your past self, I’ve always been a person who puts in the extra effort to grow, even if it’s just a little bit.
Career
○○I worked for a company in charge of promoting the production of heavy machinery, striving to develop steady sales. Later, as I became interested in overseas export markets, I was motivated to move to a company with a stronger foothold, so I left the company.
Motivation and post-employment aspirations
As a child, I admired robots and wished to live a life with machines that had the same wide vision and height as me, and this has been a decisive factor in determining my career path to this day, influencing my hobbies and work in general. While my parents thought my love of robots was a fleeting impulse that would grow out of me, it literally led me to my current job, where I’ve been able to fulfill my dreams without ever having to think about it. My life has been a series of realistic compromises to my dreams, and now I’m at a turning point where I’m looking to realize my dreams in the international arena.
As Korea has a fairly narrow domestic market, it is difficult to make a sufficiently large business by sticking to domestic sales, so your company’s early steps in securing a foothold in overseas markets and progressive business expansion was something that attracted me. I would like to become an employee who can respond to your company’s overseas market development with the experience and know-how that I have acquired in my life to realize my dreams. I hope that you will give me a chance, and thank you very much.
