When you send your CV to apply for a position, you should also include a short letter. This letter is called A covering letter sent with a CV/resume is also called a letter of application. Your letter of application is a sales letter. The product it is selling is your CV.

The reader may be busy and unwilling to waste time on unnecessary details. You should therefore design your letter to be easy to read.

short concise relevant

complicated too formal

confirm that you are applying for the position say where you learned about the position say why you want the position say why you would be a benefit to the company request an interview confirm that you are applying for the position say where you learned about the position say why you want the position say why you would be a benefit to the company request an interview

Address Body of the letter at the top on the right in the middle in 'block' format each line starting on the left

1 YOUR ADDRESS TELEPHONE-FAX- 1 YOUR ADDRESS TELEPHONE FAX Put your address and your telephone number, fax and/or address in the centre or on the right. Do NOT put your name here. at the top

2 DATE Do not write the date as numbers only: impolite All-number dates are written differently in British English 31/12/99 American English 12/31/99 too official

3 Destination name and address the name of the person to whom you are writing, his/her job title, the company name and address (the same as on the envelope) 4 Reference the reference number or code given by the employer in their advertisement or previous letter. Write the employer's reference in the form: 'Your ref: If you wish to include your own reference: 'My ref: 56789'.

Dear Sir Dear Madam Dear Mr Smith Dear Mrs Smith Dear Miss Smith Dear Ms Smith 5 Salutation

6 Subject normally the Job Title 7 Body The letter itself, in 3 to 6 paragraphs: 1. Intro 2. Sell your experience 3. Sell your education 4. Conclusion 8 Ending Yours sincerely Yours faithfully Yours truly

9 Your signature Sign in black or blue ink with a fountain pen. 10 Your name Your first name and surname 11 (Your title) If you are using company headed paper, write your Job Title here. If you are using personal paper, write nothing here 12 Enclosures Indicate that one or more documents are enclosed by writing 'Enc: 2' (e.g. for two documents)