Help & Advice About Application Letters

When the employer receives a letter of application they must decide if they are to short list the applicant. You need to know how important this letter is. Will your letter give you a chance? Below is a list of things that should be included in a letter of application. This exercise will help you write a letter, remember it well, as you may have to write a number of such letters in the future!

Your letter should include: Your address in full. Date. Name and address of the person/company you are writing to. Greeting (if you don't know the person's name use Dear Sir / Madam) The work experience job applied for. Dates of the work experience. School attending. Subjects studying. Experience and interests. Personal qualities. Why should you be considered? A formal closing, if Sir / Madam then close with 'Yours faithfully', if writing

to a named person then it should be 'Yours sincerely'. Your signature.

Points to consider: Your letter should be polite, clear and to the point. Use good quality paper and write in ink or type it. Your letter should be clean and neat. All words should be spelt correctly. Write out your letter in rough first. Keep a copy of the letter so that you can remember what you wrote.

The following letter is an example of how you could layout your application letter:

ManagerBungitin Meat PackingVeal RoadEastfieldBirminghamB89 6FG

34 Longway RoadSouthfield

BirminghamWest Midlands

B99 8GH

20th September 2002Dear Sir / Madam,

I am a year 10 student at Bartley Green School in Birmingham and as part of my development I have to organise my own work experience placement.

I would be grateful if you could consider me for a placement at your company between Monday 21st April to Friday 2nd May 2008.

I am interested in working in your main office doing various administrative duties. I am studying Information technology to G.N.V.Q, which means that I am good on computers. I have good keyboard skills and know my way around a number of office programmes including excel and databases. I am reasonably good at English and I have a good grasp of Mathematics. I am also studying History, Graphic design, French and Science.

I enjoy many sports and I play for the School Basketball team. I like listening to music and I will sometimes baby-sit for my younger sister. I worked as a paperboy for a year but resigned to spend more time on my studies.

I am a hard worker, I have an excellent punctuality and attendance record, I am easy to get on with and am very keen to learn new skills.

I would be pleased to attend an interview at your convenience.

Yours faithfully

Fred Bloggs