Writing Letters of Application for Jobs

Writing letters of application for jobs

Purpose of application letters

1. Application letters are written for official purposes, such as job applications.
2. These letters are sometimes called official business or formal letters.
3. Application letters should always be concise, complete, logically planned, clearly expressed, and polite, written in grammatically correct and good English or language.

Format of an application letter

• Writer's/Sender's address: Written on the top right-hand corner. This part is also called the letterhead.
• Date: Written below the sender's address. It shows the date the letter was written.
• Reference number: Located on the right-hand side, below the date.
• Receiver's/Recipient's address: Written on the left-hand corner/side. It consists of the name or title of the person, place of business, or any place where the letter is intended to reach.
• Salutation: This is the greeting that begins the letter. Use "Dear Sir/Madam" if you are writing to someone whose name you don't know (i.e., the recipient is unknown to you).
• Heading: It should be brief, starting with "RE:" or "REF:". The heading should convey the message or theme of the letter. It should be in capital letters and underlined if handwritten, but do not underline if typed. Bold the heading if typed.
• Body/Message: This contains the message or the information of the letter. It is the most important part, requiring a good flow of ideas and proper punctuation.
• Complementary close: It consists of words of respect, showing the writer's feelings towards the recipient of the letter. It should relate to the salutation.
• Signature of the writer: The writer signs the letter.
• Full name and the name of the company/office/firm: The writer's full name is written, followed by the name of the company, office, or firm they represent. This may be written at the extreme end of the letter, or sometimes, the company name may be written above the letter.