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Letter Writing Guide

Learn how to write dynamic and effective job applications, cover letters for advertised positions, cold calling, networking, or for any other employment situation that requires written communication,  read all 5 sections on letter writing.

 

Job Applications - letters

Resume  Cover letter -Content for Employment Letters *****invaluable  

Job application letter - using marketing techniques**** a must read

Sample Job Application Letter

 

It is strongly recommend that you look at what is in The Resource Centre - includes free unique job search information aimed to assist you to get that job of  your choice.

 

Letter Writing Guide   

Any type of employment letter must conform to  the layout and format of a standard business letter.

 

Job application letters are an integral part of your job search marketing strategy. You will write letters with different content in the course of your job search journey. They will all require to be set out in the same way, using traditional business letter format.

This guide will assist you to write  job application letters required in many different employment situations, - from formal letters applying for a job to prospecting letters used for cold calling (cold canvassing) and networking.

Reading principles

Reading principles are also very important in any marketing document. A good letter, or any document, will follow reading principles. Unless reading Sanskrit, the reader starts in the top left hand corner and ends in the bottom right in the shape of a fan panel. The exception is speed readers, who read down the middle. So keep these principles in mind at all times.  If you have to start writing your letter too far down the page you lose the advantage of reading principles.

For this reason, justifying the sentence so it ends neatly in a line on the right, is not recommended.  Many people find it very difficult to skim a justified letter.

Nor should you start sentences right over to the right of the page and leave gaping white spaces on the left. This is against reading principles.

This is set out in the sample letter How to write an application for an advertised position

 

Guide to English comprehension and grammar

 

Common Errors in English

This is an excellent free resource and easy to use.

 

How to set out a letter

 

You may want to consider creating you own business letterhead  as it will give you more room for the content.  If not, use this format. However it may interfere with reading principles as stated above.

 

 

Follow the employer's instructions

 

Ensure you job application cover letter is addressed as stated in the advertisement.  The exception is when they do not give a name. Ring and find out. Under no circumstances use Dear Sir/Madam.  Jimmy, from Amazing cover letter software, provides advice on how to get around this when you cannot get a name. --> See More

 

 

Professional business letter format

 

There is no need to put full stops in the address in this format which was developed for word processing when PC's  first came out.  An exception is when a full stop can separate words that usually have a full stop, like your postal box. Put full stops in the rest of the text.

 

The Beginning

 

James Bond

27 The Rise

Thornleigh Heights WA 6111

Ph:  9423 1796

 

2 line spacing

 

27 October 2006

 

 2 line spacing

 

Mr A Whittaker                                                       

Whittaker and Sands Pty Ltd                                

87 Mosman Road

Perth WA 6000

 

2 line spacing

 

Dear Mr Whittaker   

 

The salutation (name of the person who you are writing to) must be personalised to the recruitment person which will need to be researched if not given.  Never Sir/Madam.  Attn: Recruitment Officer is better than Sir/Madam if you cannot get a name, but still not good, so persist until you get a name.

 

2 line spacing before the subject Job title. Centre the text. Use upper and lower case and bolded.

 

Accounts Clerk

 

 

 

The end 

  

Yours faithfully or Yours sincerely?

 

 

Golden Rule is:-

 

Yours faithfully is used when the person’s name is not known

 

Yours sincerely is used when the person’s name is known

Always in lower case

 

However, it is becoming more popular to use a less formal salutation such as “regards” or "kind regards."

 

Sign your name with a BLUE pen - never use your signature created by the computer unless you are emailing the application.

 

Leave about 2 lines after the sign off above the line below.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

4-5 lines

 

 

______________________

John Smith

Type your name.  Not you full name and use the name you are known by  i.e.

Margaret (Maggie)  Fergusson

 

If the letter is unbalanced centre it on the page.


 

Your Signature - Colour of ink is important .   In his "Instant Cover letters" software, Jimmy Sweeny states that the colour of the ink you choose to write your signature is important.

"It has been shown, believe it or not, that the color of your pen can improve the response to your Cover Letter. If possible, you should always sign your letter by hand using a blue or green felt-tip pen. We don't recommend using a black pen."  See how this software can make your letters sizzle!


 

Guide to the use of capital letters 

·        The first word of a sentence

·        All proper names of people 

·        Names of governments and government departments 

·        Official titles 

·        Titles of Statutes   i.e. laws, bills, acts of Parliament and “The”

          before these titles 

·        Races and cultures 

·        Languages 

·        Geographical places 

·        Names of holidays and other public events 

·        Trading names  

·        Main words of the title of: -

      Courses                     Films

      Books                          Plays

      Reports                       Poems

      Chapters                     Works of art


 

Guide to letter format and presentation

  • Use a business letter format.

  • Document should be typed and printed out on a quality printer.

  • Use only white paper and black ink.

  • Single line spacing in paragraphs.

  • Leave two lines between paragraphs. However, this can take up a lot of rooms. A solution is to manually adjust the line spacing by placing the cursor between the line and put in size such as size 8 - two spaces. Be consistent.

  • Font and font size. -Times new Roman or Arial 11 or maybe 10 if it has a lot of criteria. Use same font as resume if it is Times New Roman or Arial.

  • Margins to fit with reading principles. - Left 3cm and right can be 2.5cm-3.

  • Do not justify the margins (see reading principles).

  • After salutation put in the job title and if a job number is given put that in too.  Centre  the title. (see  Job Applications - Letters)

  • Salutation - Use the name of the person you are writing to. Get spelling right.

  • Hand sign your letter in blue inked pen if posting your letter.

  • Alert the reader to attachments. i.e. "enclosed, resume and references". Put this in after your signature.

  • Check thoroughly for grammatical mistakes and typing errors. Have it  proofread by another person - even two people.

 

 Letter should be planned and contain a beginning, middle and an end (See Resume Cover letter-marketing techniques)

 

Letter writing style

 

For job search, the tone needs to be professional but not too formal, It should be genuine, positive and enthusiastic.

 

·         Use your own language style (within application and these guidelines).

·         Strike a balance between your own verbal communication style and a professional approach.

·         Avoid using jargon, smart comments and clichés.

·         Use job related keywords where possible. See Resume Writing

·         Eliminate negative words.

·         Personalise your letter. Follow the Job letter application principles

·         Use bullet points in the middle of the letter.

·         Be concise. Take out all fillers.

·         Leave for one day if possible before you send  so that you can look at it again with a fresh eye.

·         Use good marketing techniques and do not boast or come on too strong, arrogant or smart.

 

 

Content of an employment or application letter

 

·         Research or analyse the job advertisement. Address the employers needs. See Job Applications  Remain focused on the employers requirements. Do not deviate from the employer's needs by concentrating on your needs -  as I have seen thousands of times.

·         Address the letter to a person by name not title. The most important part of your application letter is to get it to the person who is hiring. If applying for an advertised job find out who to address it to. Use a name NEVER Sir/Madam. (yes again)

·         Do not just regurgitate your resume content.  Find new ways of saying the same thing.

·         Make the content interesting and precise.

·         Don't forget to put in the title of the position you are applying for and any reference number.

·         Don't use acronyms (abbreviations using letters). When you write the full title and in brackets you can use the acronym.

·         Show your resume and other document are enclosed, for example,  enc. resume and trade papers. This goes under you signature - leave three lines if possible.

·         In marketing letters the well proven success of a letter is to ad a P.S. This should be meaningful. and relate to the job, but not to the criteria or value adds. For example, "I have just seen this month's sales figures and it look as though they may achieve the 12 month sales target within 7 months".  or you may say. " Just forgot to mention I have completed a 2 week course on workplace safety."

·         Referees and references. Referees are people who will provide a verbal  reference. References are written documents.

Sending your resume through the post

    Most job seekers should be aware that cv's or  resumes can go astray in the

    employer's office  en-route.  

 

    They also get chewed up by machinery in the post office.  Yes, truly, I found        out first hand and on more than one occasion, and this has been confirmed.

    by an employee in the sorting office.

   

     Further, the resumes will probably be scanned so here are some tips                

     to ensure you do not hinder the process. 

    

     It is wise to follow these rules. 

·         Your name and page number must appear on your resume, preferably in a footer.

·         Do not put your resume in a folder.

·         Do not use staples – use modern silver clips, not the old paper clips. They are expensive but worth it. The employer will want to scan your resume or make additional copies. They will not be happy if they have to un-staple it.  On the other hand, they do not want it lose.

·         Another reason for not using staples, as mentioned, is that as your resume may get eaten by postal sorting machines.

·         If making a contact through networking, you may use parchment paper and/or a folder if you insist.

·         A folder, and an additional master copy may be appropriate for executive positions where the company is the main contact point and if applying for jobs where there is less competition. Also a folder is appropriate if the jobseeker as been headhunted.

·         Put “do not bend” on the envelope.

·         You must use the envelope that has the postcode on the right bottom corner.  If it doesn't it could be held up for days because it will have to be manually sorted.

·         Don't fold your resume.

·         Ensure your envelope is directed to the appropriate person or shows a position number if requested.

·         Make sure you have your return address on the envelope.

·         If cold calling do not assume the address is the same as in the phone book.   1) The company may have a private box and letters can get lost. 2) Sometimes the company has moved premises, although they use the same phone number.   This happens quite a lot.  (See information on Spam)

 

Note

lf you are embedding your resume into a data base it needs to be set out in plain text formatting and may need reconstruction.  See How to submit your resume online 


    

http://www.proactivehrm.com/JobSearch/Letter_Writing.html

© Copyright Pro-Active Human Resource Management 1992-2008

 

On this page

Reading principles

Guide to English comprehension and grammar

How to set out a letter

Your signature

Guide to the  use of capital letters

Should be planned with a  beginning middle and end.

Guide to format and presentation

Letter writing style

Content of an employment letter

Sending your resume through the post

Instant cover letters


JOB SEARCH

Resource Centre Index
Employment Opportunities
How to Find a Job
Recruitment Methods
Develop an Action Plan
Job Applications - Letters
Application Letter - Using Marketing Techniques
Resume Cover Letter
Sample Job Applications
Networking
Cold Calling
Job Interview Tips
Job Interview Techniques
Job Search Resources
Job Search Articles
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Writing Selection Criteria
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