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.
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
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.
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.
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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!
·
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
-
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
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