A writer must try in an application letter to highlight those qualifications that make him/her a particularly good candidate for a specific job with a specific organization and to demonstrate a real interest in becoming a member of the organization. The application letter is written, always keep in mind, from one real person to another, and an employer wants to know why an applicant is interested in working for him/her especially. So reasons for applying for a specific position at a particular organization should be included to specify and personalize the application. Make sure that the job objective provided on the resume (if there is one) lines up in a general way with the job applied for. If the job objective is something like "Part-time retail sales position requiring customer service, management, and sales skills," then I would expect the accompanying letter to be written for a specific sales position.

There are a number of options students may take to fulfill this assignment. If a student is graduating within a term or two, then he/she may look for an appropriate entry-level job that might be of interest upon graduation. Students who are not near graduation must be realistic and find announcements for part-time or full-time work they are qualified for now, internships, or co-ops. Other options include applications/essays for graduate school and law school. If a student knows of an opening that is unannounced, a brief description of the position must be included with the application letter. Otherwise, students must include with their letters a copy of the announcement or a copy of the graduate school question to which they have responded. Local jobs can be found online.

Here are a few words of advice on the application letter in terms of SCAMP:

• Style: Although these are hard words to define, application letters should sound real and natural; they should not sound as if they were written by someone just filling in a form: "My education and work experience qualify me for your position." That's bland. Try to state simply, honestly, and briefly why the job means something to you: "Because of my interest in travel and working with people of all kinds in a stimulating and unconventional environment, I am applying for a cruise staff position with your firm"; "I was particularly attracted to your position because of my interest in international affairs and travel as well as the opportunity to use my language skills and international work experience." In no particular order, here are some other stylistic pointers:
  • Be totally correct; don't rely on the spellchecker.
  • When describing your duties and accomplishments in past jobs, use active, energetic verbs: "organized," "revised," "implemented," etc.
  • Use a formal, polite style (no contractions, no slang, for example), but also be natural. Don't try too hard to impress with polysyllabic words.
  • Watch that you don't start off every sentence with I. Try to cut down on the number of times you use the first-person pronoun. Rewrite sentences like this: "After I held the position of cashier for a year, I took a job as a receptionist for Dr. Walter Smith, a position in which I further enhanced my communication skills and in which I gained valuable experience with computers." Too wordy and too many Is. Try "After a year as a cashier, I took a job as a receptionist for Dr. Walter Smith, a position which required excellent communication and computer skills."
  • Describe your qualifications, skills, and experiences confidently; don't be apologetic. Never write, "Although I have no experience with X"; just say what you do have experience with. On the other hand, don't boast.
  • Show what you have done rather than just tell about it. That is, instead of just claiming that you exercised a tremendous amount of responsibility, cite how many employees you supervised and describe a major project you managed to completion.
  • Use specific details in your descriptions: name names, quote figures, be exact.

• Chunking: Application letters have introductions, bodies, and conclusions:
  • Introduction: State your purpose ("I am writing to apply for . . ."). Supply some context (name your contact or mention what announcement you are responding to and, most importantly, state the position you are interested in). Briefly summarize your qualifications ("In May of this year I will receive a BBA in Economics . . ."). And reveal, if at all possible, why you are attracted to this position and organization. This revelation will get the attention of the audience (the first A of the sales letter), establish good will, and provide a unifying theme/thesis for the letter. Here's a mock-up:

    I am writing to apply for the technical writing position advertised on your company's web site. My qualifications include a BA in English--Professional Writing, a minor in computer science, and experience with web page design. Your announcement especially interests me because I have the expertise in HTML, NT, and editing that you are looking for.

  • Body paragraphs: Organize paragraphs around single topics, such as your education in your major, experience at job X, specific skill Y, specific accomplishment Z, etc. Ideally, these topics will match qualities asked for in the job announcement. Reread the announcement carefully to pick out exactly what qualifications the employer is most interested in. Use general topic sentences to begin paragraphs in order to make your letter readable and memorable. You will have space for just two or three brief body paragraphs. Disregard advice that the application letter must be a certain number of paragraphs. For this class, create a letter of a full page.

    The body paragraphs should accomplish the second two As of the sales letter: appeal to the values/interests of the audience and show how your experience, education, and skills apply to the announced position.

  • Conclusion: Directly or indirectly ask for an interview (ask for action--the fourth A) and supply information of how/when/where the employer can contact you.

• Audience: As was stated in the instructions for the resume, an employer wants to know what you can do for him/her rather than what he/she can do for you. If at all possible, do some research on the employer and demonstrate that you know about and are interested in its operations. Such research may not possible in all cases, but do it when you are especially interested in a position.

  Also, try to address the application to an individual. In case you respond to a "blind" advertisement and there is no way for you to find out who your reader is, use a subject line beneath the inside address: "Subject: Application for Position of . . ." In that case, there is no salutation. Do not use "Dear Sir or Madam" or "To whom it may concern."

• Message: The basic message of an application letter is two-fold: the applicant is qualified or excellently qualified and he/she knows something about and is interested in the employer. The employer normally gives the applicant some help with the first part of the message by listing some of the skills and experiences an applicant should possess. The application letter, of course, should respond to the requisites listed in the announcement. If computer skills are called for, the applicant should include relevant details about experience and education concerning computers. Those details could form a separate paragraph or a portion of a paragraph.

  The application letter is not the resume in paragraph form; applicants must pick and choose a few of their most outstanding qualifications to highlight in the letter. Refer to the enclosed resume somewhere in the letter: "As the enclosed resume indicates, I have extensive computer skills."

• Purpose: The purpose of the resume and application letter is to obtain an interview. The conclusion of the letter is especially devoted to your expressing a desire to meet with the employer. This expression can be more or less aggressive depending on your personality and the conventions of your field. Ask people in your field how interviews are regularly arranged and how aggressively job candidates pursue interviews. Certainly include in the conclusion all information that makes it easy for the employer to get in touch with you.

Just for fun, here's a fictional application for medical school. It does have some positive features, including unique specific details and parallelism, e.g., "I am an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru."

I am a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I have been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I translate ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, I write award-winning operas, and I manage time efficiently. Occasionally, I tread water for three days in a row. I woo the opposite sex with my sensuous and godlike trombone playing, I can pilot bicycles up severe inclines with unflagging speed, and I cook Thirty-Minute Brownies in twenty minutes. I am an expert in stucco, a veteran in love, and an outlaw in Peru. Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I once single-handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. I play bluegrass cello, I was scouted by the Mets, and I am the subject of numerous documentaries. When I'm bored, I build large suspension bridges in my yard. I enjoy urban hang gliding. On Wednesdays, after school, I repair electrical appliances free of charge. I am an abstract artist and a ruthless bookie. Critics worldwide swoon over my original line of corduroy eveningwear. I don't perspire. I am a private citizen, yet I receive fan mail. I have been caller number nine and have won the weekend passes. Last summer I toured New Jersey with a traveling centrifugal-force demonstration. I bat .400. My deft floral arrangements have earned me fame in international botany circles. Children trust me. I can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with accuracy. I once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick, and David Copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. I know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I have performed several covert operations for the CIA. I sleep once a week; when I do sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, I successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a small bakery. The laws of physics do not apply to me. I balance, I weave, I dodge, I frolic, and my bills are all paid. On weekends, to let off steam, I participate in full-contact origami. Years ago I discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down. I have made extraordinary four course meals using only a mouli and a toaster oven. I breed prize winning clams. I have won bullfights in San Juan, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka, and spelling bees at the Kremlin. I have played Hamlet, I have performed emergency open-heart surgery, and I have spoken with Elvis. But I have yet to get an MD.