Cover Letter

Address

Handphone: XXXX-XXXX

Email ID

21^st September 2012

Recruitment Manager

Credit Suisse,

1 Raffles Place

Singapore - 04816

Credit Suisse Summer Internship Application

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am an undergraduate student studying computer engineering in the National University of Singapore (NUS) and am extremely keen on interning at Credit Suisse as an Operations/Information Technology Analyst for the summer internship programme.

I believe that my strong background in C,C++,C#,.NET and Java provide me with a good base to quickly understand and adapt to the systems specific to Credit Suisse. My ability to analyze situations and learn swiftly would enable me to add value to my position. I have spent this summer working in the Tax and Regulatory Services department of Ernst and Young Private Limited (EYPL) India. I built an application in C# to tabulate and reconcile tax returns from different countries for expatriate clients. This automated a tedious task of preparing matching sheets based on individual treaty agreements increasing net productivity.

I am pursuing my undergraduate education at NUS on a full scholarship offered to me by Singapore Airlines and Neptune Orient Line (SIA-NOL). The highly selective SIA-NOL is awarded to individuals with extraordinary academic and extra-curricular achievements. This desire for excellence would drive me to exceed expectations at my workplace and give my best.  

I believe that creativity is essential for efficient problem solving. I have trained in classical piano for the last ten years and hold a Grade 5 certificate from the Associated Boards of the Royal School of Music (ABRSM). Music has honed my discipline and structured thinking. I have an interest in learning about the world of business and recently started participating in business plan competitions. I spearheaded a team of three and our startup idea qualified the quarter finals of the Ideas Inc. 2012 competition. . This willingness to learn new things and grow will allow me to add value to my position and improve my performance constantly I have also been selected for the School of Computing(SoC) Leadership programme to hone my skills as a student leader.

My academic records, varied interests, team-spirit and passion for my subject of computer engineering would allow me to contribute to Credit Suisse. I would be grateful if my application is considered and I can work as a summer intern at Credit Suisse. Looking forward to your reply,

Yours Sincerely,

Rohit Mukherjee

PS : Edited post based on your comments 

#2 - An Interpersonal conflict

An interpersonal conflict can be defined as a disagreement or difference in views between two individuals over a particular idea, thought or action. Very often in life, we encounter situations where we cannot bring ourselves to agree with certain people and this latent irritation and frustration manifests itself in many ways. In this post, I will talk about an interpersonal conflict that I have had in the recent past. 

Last semester, the computer engineering cohort was assigned an electrical engineering project. The task was to build an unmanned autonomous vehicle(UAV) using basic circuit elements and integrated circuits(ICs). Teams were randomly allocated and I was assigned two team members. I knew my team members as we had interacted during the first semester on several occasions. We divided tasks and began working. The project was difficult and required considerable effort. During our second lab session, I realised that one of the members of my team didn't wan't to do any work. He merely delegated tasks and did his own work while we worked continuously. He made excuses and left the lab early on almost every occasion. By the fourth week, I was frustrated and made my irritation evident by limiting my interaction with him. I assigned him certain tasks and tried to take control of the situation but he always managed to shirk off responsibility and leave early. 

Towards the end of the semester, we were supposed to get the entire vehicle functional. We were one of the most unprepared teams. Many teams who had started badly had overtaken us yet our third member frequently came late and missed class frequently. My second member and I decided that depending on him was pointless and began putting our car together. After working on it seven days a week for up to five hours a day. Our fellow computer engineering batch-mates helped us out and we somehow managed to get the vehicle working partially. Meanwhile, our third member would message us on Facebook with false concern. We asked him to attend a group meeting but he said that he had other work. We complained to our Lab tutor who was seeing what was going on. She empathized and asked us to give him a very bad peer review. 

The dreaded evaluation day came and our third member decided to turn up and claim credit for a device he knew absolutely nothing about. He tried interacting with the professors evaluating us to make a good impression but my other team member and I made sure we made it evident that we had done all the work. The car worked and as soon as our demonstration was over,out third member left immediately saying he had other work.

The question I pose to my readers is : Should we give him zero for his peer review or be considerate  and give him average marks. The harrowing situation we went through makes me want to give him a zero but I feel guilty thinking that this can affect his marks and subsequently his future. 

The Importance of communication

This is the first post on my ES2007S blog. This blog is very different from my other one, its not so much a chronicle of random thoughts and realizations but a structured attempt at personal growth as a communicator. I have a tendency to ramble but Ill defend that using this statement from Beethoven, " there was a method in his madness and a madness in his method".

Communication is the most important part of life; be it in a relationship, an act of creation or simply an idea. Communication is the link that fuels our emotions, the frame that lends shape to our thoughts, and the wings that give flight to our ideas. What I love about communication is that the language  itself does not form the greater part of it. Simple non verbals such as smiling, shaking hands and hugging can trigger feelings of happiness and comfort. Music is also an excellent way of influencing mood and therefore feeling things. Even songs without words have the ability to make you feel morose or ecstatically happy depending on the tune, rhythm and tempo.

Most listeners enjoy the feeling they get while listening rather than study the technical aspects of music. A song can lift one's mood like nothing else, it's one of the purest communication channels interconnecting the mind of the composer to the feelings of the listener. Language barely proves to be a barrier, I can prove this with an example. The feeling I get when I  listen to "Hallelujah" by Jeff Buckley is the same exultation of the soul I experience while listening to Il Divo's version in Spanish.

The very way people around you look at someone, react to his/her actions and words largely depend on their perception of the individual. This perception is largely a product of communication between your surroundings and you.

My goals for this course are as follows:

1) Communicate as effectively and appropriately as possible
2) Communicate only important elements without boring someone with details
3) Communicate in an organised manner