Letters and Emails Part 1
Writing for more information and covering letters... GENERAL POINTS FOR ALL LETTERS • if you are writing to a named person, finish your letter with ‘Yours sincerely’ • if you do not know the name of the person you are writing to, start the letter with ‘Dear Sir/Madam’ and end with ‘Yours faithfully’ • keep the language clear and simple – don’t use long or difficult words if that isn’t how you speak in everyday life • always include your full address • at the end of the letter print your name and sign it • use the same quality paper and font as your CV • keep a copy of any letter or email you send, add it to your job search file. GENERAL POINTS FOR ALL EMAILS • check that you have the right email address. If you spell it slightly wrong, the email will not arrive! • don’t use ‘text speak’, all capitals or abbreviations • if your email does not have a spell checker, draft it out in a word processor first • use the subject line to describe the email content – for example ‘Job Application’ • never just send a blank email with a CV attached, at the very least you need to write an explanatory email about why you have sent it and mention the job you are applying for – you should aim to write your email to the same high standards as a letter • if you attach anything to the email – for example your CV – make sure you save it in a ‘compatible’ version of a well-known word processing program so it can be opened by most computers. TIPS FOR MANAGING YOUR JOBSEARCH EMAILS It is a good idea to set up an email address that you keep only for your applications or for registering on the National Apprenticeship site (www.apprenticeships.org.uk) and which is different to your ‘social’ email because: • you probably have dozens of emails in your social account including plenty of spam items that you never read or delete – this makes it really difficult to pick out replies to applications • you should always make sure that the email address you use for jobsearch is suitable for employers or training providers. Don’t make a bad impression with ‘lazy@provider.co.uk, fluffybunny@provider.co.uk, carthief@provider.co.uk’ etc! 11 | P a g e