We all know that writing formal letters is a pain, but with this 3 minute post I will help you master all the boring conventions and write formally correct cover and business letters.
This is how your letter should look like
Sender
Your address (or the return address) goes in the top-right corner of the page.
Recipient
The Address of the person you are writing to should be written on the left, and slightly below your address.
Date
Write the date either on the right or on the left (not a big choice), after the address you are writing to. There are a lot of conventions on numbers and dates, this is what you need for now: if you are writing to a European use the format day-month-year “23-02-2016”, if you are writing to an American use the “month day, year” format, eg “February 23, 2016”. If you want to know more about numbers and dates click here.
Kick off: salutation and greeting
Find out the name of the person you are writing to and address him/her using the title and the family name only (eg. Dear Prof Jones, Dear Dr. White, Dear Mrs. Adams, etc). If you are writing to a woman and do not know if she is Mrs. or Miss, don’t freak out, you can use Ms., which works both for married and single women.
Content
First paragraph
Start by stating the purpose of the letter (apply for a job, request something, offer a product, make an inquiry, complaint, etc). Remember to keep it to the point.
Middle paragraphs
Use the middle paragraphs to provide with relevant reasons and explanations of your purpose. Organize this in short and logically clear paragraphs.
Last Paragraph
The last paragraph is the “call to action” where you ask the recipient to do something (consider your application, send you information, fix an appointment, refund, etc.). Do this very politely by giving your availability to provide with more information, attend to an interview. Thank for the consideration, and eventually restate your interest.
Closing
Close the letter with “Sincerely”, “Yours Sincerely” and your name.
Abbreviations
The following abbreviations are widely used and accepted in business letters:
- asap = as soon as possible. Asap is very widespread but less formal respect to the expression in full. As an alternative, you can also use “at your earliest convenience”, which is polite, formal, and less pushy.
- cc = carbon copy. It is polite to let the recipients know that you are sending a copy of a letter to more than one person.
- CV = curriculum vitae.
- enc. = enclosure, use it if you are including other papers with your letter.
- PS = post scriptum, use it if you want to add something after the end of a letter.
- RSVP = répondez s'il vous plaît, i.e. “please reply”.
Ludwig's wrap-up
- Keep it short, keep it clear
- 100% free of any grammatical or spelling mistakes. Take this advice very seriously
- Don’t use contractions, informal expressions or jargon
- Be polite, even if you’re angry and complaining
It goes without saying that if you want to be hired, you also must have something interesting to write.
