VI correspondence

6.1. Common letter components

Presented here are the standard letter components.

Heading: The heading contains the addressee's address in the upper left corner, writer's address and the date of the letter in the upper right cor­ner.

Subject or reference line: The subject line announces the main aim of the letter.

Salutation: The salutation directly addresses the recipient of the let­ter and is followed by a colon (except when a friendly, familiar, sociable tone is intended, in which case a comma is used). If you don't know whether the recipient is a man or woman, to avoid this problem, use salutations such as "Dear Sir or Madam," "Dear Ladies and Gentlemen," "Dear Friends,". "To Whom It May Concern" is an often solution, too.

Body of the letter: The actual message is contained in the body of the letter, the paragraphs between the salutation and the complimentary close.

Complementary close: The "Sincerely yours" element of the busi­ness letter is called the complimentary close. Other common ones are "Sin­cerely yours," "Cordially," "Respectfully," or "Respectfully yours." You can design your own, but be careful not to create florid or wordy ones. Only the first letter is capitalised, and it is always followed by a comma.

Signature block: Usually, you type your name four lines below the complimentary close, and sign your name in between. If you are a woman and want to make your marital status clear, use Miss, Ms, or Mrs, in paren­theses before the typed version of your first name. Whenever possible, in­clude your title or the name of the position you hold just below your name.

End notations: Just below the signature block are often several ab­breviations or phrases that have important functions.

Enclosures: To make sure that the recipient knows that some items accompany the letter in the same envelope, use such indications as "Enclo­sure," "Encl.," "Enclosures (2)." For example, if you send a resume and writing sample with your application letter, you would write this: "Encl.: Resume and Writing Sample." If the enclosure is lost, the recipient will know.

Copies: If you send copies of a letter to others, indicate this fact among the end notations also.

Sample letter of common kind

Faculty of Electronic Engineering SENDER'S ADDRESS

Aleksandra Medvedeva 14

PO box 73 DATE

18000 Niš

Serbia

Subject: Information on postgraduate studies

Dear Sir/Madam,

My name is ____________________ and I have graduated from the faculty of _________. My major is ____________. Now I am interested in enroll­ing on a postgraduate course. I find the courses that your faculty offers par­ticularly challenging. Would you be so kind as to direct me further as to what are the entrance requirements?

Sincerely yours,

(sender's signature)

Sender's name - typed.

6.2. Types of correspondence

Apart from actual expertise work, most engineers are often faced with the need to write some forms of technical or business correspondence (J.D.Bates 1980). It has a significant importance in promoting their work in diverse ways. These are the most common types of technical correspondence:

- technical cooperation;

- technical visits abroad;

- technical visits from abroad;

- technical training;

- requesting information;

- application letters;

- letters of recommendation;

- complaint and adjustment letters;

- thank you letters;

- resume/CV;

- cover letters;

- memorandums;

- emails.