Letter is a means of communication used by a sender to keep in touch with a receiver. In other words, writing letter means holding a conversation. Nowadays, letter takes a very great role on almost all business activities.
Business correspondence belongs to one of the writing forms of business communication.
Good business letters are seldom written in easily and quickly. In composing business letter, you must have a clear idea of what you want to say. You must know the purpose of the letter you are writing and the logic arrangement of ides into different paragraphs. A good business letter should be clear, courteous, concise, correct and complete. Adopt the “you” point of view or the “you” attitude which means your letter should be written from reader’s point of view which in turn means that you show your consideration for the reader’s need. A business letter may be written in various styles: the full block, semi block, indented style etc. it is recommendable that you stick to one style for the sake uniformity.
Business letters are mainly used for external communication of a company. Business letters may be divided into two categories: commercial and secretarial. Commercial correspondence deals with profit making letters whereas secretarial correspondence deals with social business letters or non profit making letters.
I. What is Application Letter?
Application Letter is a communicative tool used by an applicant to keep in touch with an employer or the owner. In other words, an applicant holds a conversation with an employer dealing with applying for a job vacancy. Generally, an applicant or job seeker can be an undergraduate, graduate or even a post-graduate.
II. Types of Application Letter
There are three types of application letter. First, application which is sent as a reply to advertisement. It means, a job seeker gets job vacancy from newspaper, radio, TV or website. Most working people get jobs through this way. Second, Application Letter which is based on recommendation. Recommendation could be given by relatives, families or working people. Some employers prefer recommended Application Letter to a reply to advertisement. Third, Application Letter which is sent by initiative of an applicant without advertisement nor recommendation. In other words, a job seeker may send Application Letter anytime he wants even though the employer does not publish a job vacancy. That is why, a job seeker does not have any reason not to send Application Letter.
III. Parts Of Letters : Letterhead, Reference Number, Dateline, Inside Address, Salutation, Subject Line, Body, Complimentary Close, Signature, Enclosures and Carbon Copies.
IV Business Letter must have Letter Head, Reference Number whereas Application Letter does not have both of them, including Carbon Copies.
IV. Some essential Notes about Application Letter
A. There are three important elements of Application Letter. They are the quality of paper, tone and content.. It should be kept in mind that the employer will make judgment upon them.
B. Basically, Application letter is not applying the job, but asking a job interview. That is why the content of Application Letter must be able to convince the employer that you are the right candidate to face job interview.
C. It is suggested that Application Letter ideally consists of one page only. The reason is very simple. Employer is very busy. Therefore, s/he does not have enough time to read long application letter. In short, s/he is not interested to learn long application letter.
D. It is less polite to say thanks at the end of Application Letter. Remember, English people will say thanks if they get something. Sending Application Letter does not get something. We had better say thanks after receiving invitation for job interview from the employer.
V. Examples of application (Let you learn your module pages 26, 27)
VI. Writing CV or Resume
CV or Resume is an item that is usually enclosed on application letter. CV is recognized as British English whereas Resume as American English. There are four important elements on it namely: personal details, educational background, work experience and other qualities. In other words, CV is source of information Moreover, CV can be more than one page. In order to make your CV look interesting it better you design by yourself rather than apply the general form.