By Maore Ithula

Employers have embarked on new recruitment methods. One of the new tactics is a requirement for jobseekers to write a statement of interest alongside the application letter and the CV.

This requirement is so new few local managers and experts appreciate it.

Dr Kennedy Mutundu the founding director for Kenyatta University’s Centre for Career Development and Attachment Programme says this document gives the recruiting organisation a graphic impression of the applicant.

The write-up is also referred to as statement of purpose and abbreviated as SOI.

Trends changing

SOIs was coined and reserved by American universities in the last quarter of the previous century whenever they floated scholarships for students wishing to pursue PhD programmes.

Mr Moses Onderi, a human resources officer with Care International says today, trends have changed because writing an SOI is a compulsory requirement even for junior job applications.

But how technical is it to write a statement of interest/purpose and does it add value to job seekers chances of securing employment or scholarship?

Onderi says: "An SOI is a definitive statement of who you are, what you’re about, why you want to serve in the organisation and why you think you have the background to do so successfully."

It is a chance to make a good impression before an interview panel meets an applicant face to face.

To write an impressive SOI, says Mutundu, you must include as much information about yourself and your career progress as possible.

Organised

An SOI, says Onderi, should never be more than a page or two.

"In many cases an applicant will be provided with a space in which to state his/her interest.

But experts advice that an applicant should never exceed the provided space.

A good and effective SOI, says Mutundu, should be concise, smoothly flowing, grammatically correct, well organised, logical, effective and persuasive.

In many occasions candidates with superior credentials will lose opportunities to those with inferior ones because through their SOIs the former might be seen to expect so much when so little is available.

There are a few don’ts when writing an SOI, says Onderi.

Some of them include, avoiding getting off topic, telling the panel how well-rounded you are.

Instead, if must do that, do so through examples.

All applicants must avoid communicating their desires to travel and learn foreign languages or get fortunes and/or fame.

Avoid handwriting your SOI. This is unprofessional.