LETTER-WRITING GUIDE

FIVE POINT EFFECTIVE LETTER-WRITING PLAN:

o Be brief. Keep your letter short and to the point.

o Be factual. Identify yourself. Give any details you may know.

o Be polite. Take care not to express yourself in a way that may appear aggressive or offensive. Tact
and diplomacy are especially important when dealing with individuals from other cultures.

o Be positive. Write on the basis that the organization concerned is open to reason and to discussion.

o Be non-political. Avoid using political jargon or advancing political or religious opinion. Stress
that you are concerned with the upholding of specific cause.

1
HOW TO BEGIN & END LETTERS

There are no hard and fast rules as to how to address important personages or officials. Practice may vary from
country to country, however, the following suggestions may be helpful as a general guide.

ADDRESSEE: BEGIN WITH: FINISH WITH:

Kings, Queens & Other Monarchs Your Majesty Yours respectfully & sincerely
Presidents, Governors, Generals &
Your Excellency Yours respectfully & sincerely
Colonels (Chiefs of State)
President of the Pakistan Dear Mr President Yours respectfully & sincerely
Prime Minister Dear Prime Minister Yours respectfully & sincerely
Other Ministers(outside country) Your Excellency Yours respectfully & sincerely
(inside country) Dear Sir Yours faithfully
Your Excellency or Dear
Ambassadors & High Commissioners Yours sincerely & respectfully
Ambassador
Representatives to the United Nations Your Excellency Yours respectfully & sincerely
MPs (in own country) Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms/Miss Yours sincerely
Directors of prisons, camps, police Dear Sir/Admiral/
Yours faithfully
chiefs & local officials General/Colonel/ Captain
including military personnel & judges
Your Honour Yours faithfully

Archbishops (Religious leader/priest) Your Grace Yours sincerely

Cardinals (Chief reverend) Your Eminence Yours sincerely

Cover Letters

Initial Considerations

Cover Letter Form

2
Modified block with paragraph indentations. Examples of this format can be seen below.

Introductory Paragraph
• Legitimate name dropping (if possible)
• Mention who, where, when and how you found out about the position
• State the exact position you want (what does the ad mention?)
• Restate the qualifications their ad mentions
• State your qualifications
• State what you will contribute to the position/institution

Education Paragraph
• Mention special, relevant and advanced courses and describe what skills, ideas, concepts you
learned (the course title itself won't do!);
• Mention special projects (senior design projects, independent studies);
• Point out what you have learned (or should have learned) in the classroom that relates to the
position (refer to course descriptions (available on-line) to help you detail the skills, ideas, and
concepts you learned);
• Mention other courses which provided related skills (other languages, oral and written
communication, computer, technical);
• Mention any clubs, professional organizations you are in that relate to the job (again consider
related skills).

Work and/or Skills Paragraph

• Mention related position held while in college; refer to high school positions if they relate to the
position you now seek
• In describing positions include:
• Name of the position
• Duties performed
• Skills acquired (i.e., organizational skills, public relations, money handling, working
collaboratively)
• Responsibilities assumed (strong verbs - "I supervised/directed/created/advanced...")

Concluding Paragraph
• Politely request an interview at the employer's convenience;
• Indicate what supplementary material is being sent and offer to provide additional information and
explain how it can be obtained;
• Reiterate your enthusiasm for the position and your unique qualifications;
• Thank the reader for their consideration;
• Indicate that you are looking forward to hearing from them.

Style

Style is a distinctive set of definite, marked, recognizable features. A writer's style is the product of an
individual personality interacting with the world; it is the result of how a writer characteristically makes sense
of things. Style is composed of deliberate, conscious choices the writer makes - it is "... the direct attainment
of a foreseen end, simply and without waste." (Alfred North Whitehead).

Two problems typically encountered in cover letters:

3
 • Repetitive sentence structure.
• Weak verb forms.
Here's an example of the last two paragraphs in a cover letter:

I have acquired communications skills essential in dealing with the public by working in many retail positions. I
have also made numerous contacts through my involvement in several professional organizations. I have
gained valuable hands-on experience in community relations between homeowners and the construction
industry through volunteer work in a local home repair organization.

I would welcome the opportunity to discuss my credentials with you. I will be at (540) 953-0000 should you
desire to contact me. I will call your office early next week to see whether we might arrange a meeting.

TRANSITION WORDS AND PHRASES

Transitional words and phrases can create powerful links between ideas in your paper and can help your
reader understand the logic of your paper. However, these words all have different meanings, nuances, and
connotations. Before using a particular transitional word in your paper, be sure you understand its meaning
and usage completely and be sure that it's the right match for the logic in your paper.

Addition:
furthermore, moreover, too
also, in the second place, again
in addition, even more, next
further, last, lastly, finally
besides, and, or, nor
first, second, secondly, etc.

Time:
while, immediately, never
after, later, earlier, always
when, soon, whenever
meanwhile, sometimes, in the meantime
during, afterwards, now, until now
next, following, once
then, at length, simultaneously
so far, this time, subsequently

Place:
here, beyond, adjacent to
there, wherever, neighboring on
nearby, opposite to, above, below

Exemplification or Illustration:
to illustrate, as an illustration, to demonstrate
e.g., (for example), specifically, for example
for instance

Comparison:
in the same way, in like manner

4
by the same token, likewise
similarly, in similar fashion

Contrast:
yet, on the contrary, but
and yet, in contrast, however
nevertheless, notwithstanding, though
nonetheless, on the other hand, otherwise
after all, at the same time

Clarification:
that is to say, to clarify
in other words, to rephrase it
to explain, to put it another way
i.e., (that is)

Cause:
because, on account of
since, for that reason

Effect:
therefore, thus
consequently, hence
accordingly, as a result

Purpose:
in order that, to that end, to this end
so that, for this purpose

Qualification:
almost, perhaps, never
nearly, maybe, always
probably, although, frequently

Intensification:
indeed, undoubtedly, doubtedly
to repeat, in fact, certainly
by all means, surely, without doubt
of course, in fact, yes, no

Concession:
to be sure, granted, of course, it is true

Summary:
to summarize, in short, in brief
in sum, in summary, to sum up

Conclusion:
in conclusion, to conclude, finally

5
Demonstratives act as transitions: "this," "these," "those," "that".

Pronouns serve as links if they clearly refer to a specific word or phrase:

"his," "her," "it," "its," "they," "their," "theirs," "our," "your".

A possible revision of our sample:

By working in many retail positions, I have acquired communications skills essential in dealing with the public.
Moreover, I have made numerous contacts through my involvement in several professional organizations.
Finally, I have gained valuable hands-on experience in community relations between homeowners and the
construction industry through volunteer work in a local home repair organization.

I would welcome the opportunity to discuss my credentials with you. Subsequently, I will be at (540) 953-
0000 should you desire to contact me. Early next week I will call your office to see whether we might arrange
a meeting.

Still lacks flow. Look at the verb forms -- 'have acquired', 'have made' -- 'have' is a helping verb, which
diffuses the action. Another revision.

By working in many retail positions, I acquired communications skills essential in dealing with the public.
Moreover, I made numerous contacts through my involvement in several professional organizations. Finally, I
gained valuable hands-on experience in community relations between homeowners and the construction
industry through volunteer work in a local home repair organization.

I welcome the opportunity to discuss my credentials with you. Subsequently, I will be at (540) 953-0000
should you desire to contact me. Early next week I will call your office to see whether we might arrange a
meeting.

It's necessary for the last two sentences to keep the same construction (in this instance) -- and the sample
could still use some work -- but you see the point.