The mission of Nerdify has always been helping students to achieve more during their academic years at College or University. However, apart from helping students from all over the world, Nerdify is pioneering a new way to advance education through technology (Nerdy Bot Scholarship Competition is a great example of that).

On September 6th, 2016 Nerdify has launched one of the first AI educational bot for Facebook Messenger on ProductHunt – NerdyBot. The launch was a massive success – NerdyBot became a product of the year and won a Golden Kitty from ProductHunt.

We’ve decided to expand our success with Nerdybot and, on January 1st, 2018, launched a Nerdybot Scholarship – a worldwide competition, where any student could submit a 500-word essay on the following topic – “How can Artificial Intelligence help you with your studies?”

Students had 2 months to submit their essays (last day was on February 28th, 2018) and top 3 essays would get the following rewards – $1000, $600, $400 respectively.

We’ve been amazed by the number of essays we’ve got from you, guys! More than 1000 submissions from all over the world (and we mean literally from all over the world, just check out the countries we’ve had submissions from USA, Canada, Brazil, UK, Australia, South Korea, Spain, France, Bulgaria, Hungary, Uganda, Nigeria, India, Philippines, Romania, Ghana, Barbados, Netherlands, Vietnam)

We are so very grateful to each and every one of you. Seeing that level of participation, is really what keeps Nerdify team pushing the boundaries of education 🙂

Today we are going to announce the winners of the Nerdy Bot Scholarship Competition! 🙂

And the winners are……

First Place: Dora M. Donnelly (USA).

Second Place: Marisa Araujo Goncalves (Brazil).

Third Place: Zeeshan Azhar Sankaran (India).

We would like to congratulate our winners that have done an amazing job and we would also like to share with you our winner’s essay: “Nerdy Bot Scholarship Essay by Dora M. Donnelly”

A few words about our winner: Dora is a Bachelor student in US pursuing a Nursing degree. We’ve conducted a very short interview with the winner:

1. Dora, tell us 2-3 interesting facts about yourself?

• I am an avid traveler – love visiting other countries and studying different cultures
• I love technology – it’s amazing to me, how it keeps on changing the lives of ordinary people
• I am a foodie, so I love cooking and trying different cuisines 🙂

1. What is your dream?

• My dream is to become a Nurse and later on open up my own practice. I really love helping other people, this is what makes me wake up every morning 🙂

1. Where will you spend $1000 scholarship?

• I strongly believe that education is an essential part of a one’s personal development. Therefore I will allocate my prize money towards my sister’s education. She is only 12 now, but it’s important to start saving up as early as possible, since education is very expensive in the US (I am looking forward to see how tech companies will disrupt the conventional education industry by offering affordable, good quality education to the mass market).

We were very impressed by Dora, such an inspiring student 🙂

We would like to congratulate all participants and thank them for taking part in our Nerdy Bot Scholarship competition. All winners should receive their winnings within the next 5 business days.

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook and stay tuned! There will be more challenges and competitions that you can participate in, later this year!

Greetings, Nerdify fans! Did you know that a motivation letter is as important as your CV?

What’s that? Well, a job motivation letter is simply like your average cover letter. Like the latter, you have a few seconds to impress (and persuade) your recruiter with your skills, experiences, and achievements. It also requires you to demonstrate your knowledge about the company you are applying. Most importantly, you have to justify why you are the perfect candidate for the job.

• A powerful letter will surely be a ticket to your desired position in the company.
• It is one of the main requirements of the job application process. However, this depends on the company. Some firms require you to submit a motivation letter along with your resume (or C.V.).
• Hence, it is best to read the list of requirements before submitting your documents.

What Should I Include in my Motivation Letter?

• Your full name
• Your contact information (Ex: Phone number or email address)
• Address
• Name and address of the company
• Content
• Salutations (Ex: Dear sir, /Dear ma’am,)
• Complimentary close (Ex: Sincerely)
• Your signature (If needed)

Note: There’s no set number of paragraphs you can write. The ball is in your court as long as you stick to the introduction, body, and conclusion template. Stick to writing a one-page motivation letter.  

How do I Write a Motivation Letter?

1. Introspect!

Excited to apply for a job? Make a list of your skills. It can range from researching, marketing, to graphic design. Since you have no job experience, you can write about:

• Volunteer experience (School or extra-curricular activity )
• Internship

Oh yes! You should also list your core achievements and significant contributions too! As early as now, you have to tailor your motivation letter to your preferred job position. It’s just like writing a resume.

2. Look for a job (obviously)!

Read the job description and requirements carefully. Some companies accept applicants who have no work experience. Don’t apply for a job if you think you don’t have anything to market to the hiring manager. Oh yes, don’t forget to take note of the deadline.

3. Research!

Just like academic essays, you have to research the company first before drafting your motivation letter.

• What does the company do?
• What are its core tenets and values?

You can even look for reviews or company press releases if that helps you gain more knowledge about the company. You can begin drafting your motivation letter once you have an idea. Remember, recruiters, are looking for people who contribute.

4. Introduce yourself!

• Express your interest to apply for the position.
• You may tell the recruiter how you found out about the opportunity.
• State your degree, personal values, or career goals. It is best if the company’s goals align with yours.

Depending on the structure of your letter, the length of the introduction should be at least one to two paragraphs long.

• Avoid saying, “I would like to express my interest to apply for this position because I have siblings to feed.” You are begging!

5. Market!

Make yourself the solution and contributor! Narrate how your experiences and skills will be a huge help to the company. Ask yourself:

• How will my volunteer experience/internship as an events manager (or any position) be a huge advantage?

Don’t forget to mention your major achievements or contributions! There’s no need to mention everything.

6. Close with style!

Be enthusiastic even as you end your motivation letter.

• Thank the recruiter for his or her time.
• You can say that you would contact them in a week (or any day you prefer) for a follow-up.
• If you want, you can even state that you are willing to be interviewed by the recruiter.

How Should I Structure my Motivation Letter?

There are many templates you can choose to mimic or download online. This is the basic format of a motivation letter:

September 20, 2018

Ella Emerson

54 Junior Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia

404-610-0182

ella-emerson@mail.com

Felicia G. Reinoso

Hiring Manager

Company A

143 Kuhl Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia

Dear Ms. Reinoso,

Company A’s dedication to research about women’s rights and gender equality has sparked my interest to apply as a junior researcher.

As a graduate of Women’s Studies in University A, this position would not only advance my career but to also to achieve my goal of assisting marginalized populations.

I have worked as an intern for Company C, wherein I was tasked to conduct surveys, analyze data, write reports, and research solutions for our partner community. My achievements prove that I can be of value to the company:

• Researched and created an effective framework to foster gender-sensitive education and teacher training in the community’s public school.
• Educated the community by conducting a focus group discussion to further raise awareness of gender discrimination and misconceptions about feminism to the community members.
• Produced a monthly research report that demonstrates the effectivity of our framework to create a more gender equal society.

I am also equipped with excellent interpersonal and intercultural skills to reach to with the members of the community. My skills and goals are respectively aligned with Company A’s core values of cultural sensitivity and gender equality.  

I would love to have an opportunity to join Company A to further improve my skills and help people. I will call you next Thursday to follow up on my application. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Ella Emerson

Of course, you should have someone proofread your letter before submitting it to the recruiter. Nerdify wishes you all the best in your career. Good luck!

It’s 2018 and it seems like there is literally an app for everything! Everything except for the one thing needful for college students, right? Wrong! Well, to be fair, it’s the one thing needful in your parent’s estimation. There’s nothing more important to a college student than studying, right? Obviously! *nervous laughter*

To cheer you up from those bad college grade blues, Nerdify reviews top helpful apps and here’s a countdown list of them. Check these apps out. They certainly put the STUD back in studying.

5. SIMPLEMIND PRO 

Struggling to organize those brilliant ideas into legible concepts? Simplemind Pro helps sweep out those brain cobwebs and translate them into digital spider diagrams! Brainstorming for that boring English has never been so fun and effective as you can add media to your mind maps as well!

4. EXAM COUNTDOWN LITE

Tired of missing important deadlines and arriving late for exams? This easy-to-use app is absolutely free on both IOS and Android and helps to keep track of important tests, exams and best of all – lunch breaks!

3. DRAGON ANYWHERE

Tired of having to keep a pen and paper handy for all your spontaneous bright ideas and important vocal notes? Dragon Anywhere acts like a personal fire-breathing dragon, except, it doesn’t breathe fire, it dictates and edits notes and documents. This app works exactly like a pocket-recorder. All this is done using only the voice. At only $15 per month you can continue talking to yourself, I mean thinking out loud and not look like a crazy person!

2. MYSCRIPT CALCULATOR

This one is for the maths gurus who realize that it’s now the 21^st century and it’s time to go digital, but still, want that 1820’s feel to it. Mathematical equations are solved by hand in order to help cram, I mean learn equations and formulas. This requires a once off fee of $1.99.

Before revealing the number one spot. A few honorable mentions must go to SOUNDNOTE (Ipad)- which allows for lecture recording, in both visual and audio format. Now you get to hear the sound of your lecturer all day long, without taking too much memory space. Alternatively, it serves as good lullaby material as well when student insomnia comes knocking on the door.

For those of us who still enjoy the flash card system that our grandma’s used to use. GOCONQR is the perfect app. Assisting with the organization of information into charts, notes, mind-maps, and quizzes.

Ever sighed with relief as you finished a paper only to have to spend what feels like 33 additional hours referencing the sources. Well, no more confusions with commas, full stops, and publishing dates. EASYBIB the answer to your prayers. Find the academic reference to a book simply by scanning in the barcode. Take a photograph or simply type in the title of the book. It coughs up the relevant reference in MLA, APA and Chicago style formats.

Suppose you are a night owl. You enjoy spending long nights revising at the library, on campus and sometimes cannot avoid walking alone late at night all by yourself. You are nervous for that mid-term exam, but anxious and worried that you won’t make it to the testing dates due to all the ferocities that occur on a daily. CIRCLE OF 6 allows the student to keep in touch with 6 close friends. The whereabouts of the user are known by the six chosen contacts with only just a simple click. This ensures safety whilst studying- or embarking on other late night “errands.”

Finally the number one spot:

1. EVERNOTE

#1 in our Nerdify reviews list! Voted as the best app by our Nerds, Evernote, helps students sync notes across devices, streamlined and organized. You are even able to search for text inside images. Link audio attachments and checklists. All this free, outside of the yearly amount of only $34.99. Oh, come on! It’s less than the average amount of booze the average college student spends in just a week, it may as well go towards your education, right?

Keep on the lookout for more trendy, fun and practical updates on our blog. But certainly, check out these apps to take the DYING out of studying. Remember that if there’s a simpler way to do something, there’s an app for it, you just haven’t discovered it yet!

Best of luck with college marathon and always remember to keep it hAPPening with Nerdify reviews.