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current – is not used when the words vacancy and opening are in the singular; instead, one would say: “We currently have an opening / vacancy.” But if used in the plural, the collocations are valid: “I am writing to find out whether you have any current openings / vacancies in your department.”

high- / low-paying – with the word opening can only be used in the phrase: “an / the opening for a high- / low-paying position”

to quit one’s job – means that you left your job on your own initiative, not the company’s one. When used in anger in the heat of the moment, when you decide to tell your boss, the aspect of the verb is “I quit!” and not “I’m quitting”. “I’m quitting” implies that you have made a rational decision after deliberation and planning, while the simple tense implies marked “resultativeness”.

be made redundant – to end someone’s employment because his work is no longer needed

trade – no article can be used with “trade” (similar to “employment”)

salaried – adj., receiving a salary

downsizing – most currently popular business term for staff reduction in the US

freelance – here adverb, but the word has other uses: e.g.: verb: to freelance for an employer, e.g.: “What do you do for a living?” – “I freelance for a small newspaper in Ohio”; adjective: to go freelance (meaning “to start working freelance”), e.g.: I’ve gone freelance because it is more convenient for me now.

white collar – do not use articles with this idiom

make cold calls – to make unprepared calls

network contact – anyone who knows you and can help you find job

lead – something that serves as a clue

take pains – to be very careful, to take great care

appealing – attractive, interesting

is after – to want, to seek

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Unit 2 Writing Effective Letters

READING AND WRITING

Text 1

1.Answer the questions before reading the text. Are there any standard parts of a letter?

2.Read the text. Which part of a letter conveys the message?

UNDERSTANDING THE ELEMENTS OF A LETTER

No job-search campaign is complete without writing business letters offering oneself to prospective employers. Letters typically have six (or seven) standard parts, from top to bottom:

Heading, Outside Address, Salutation, Body, Complimentary Close, Signature Block (and

Enclosure Line if necessary). The text of most letters includes (1) a brief introduction paragraph that identifies you and your purpose; (2) one or more body paragraphs with the details of your message; (3) a concluding paragraph that summarizes and encourages action. In your job search you may apply for advertised jobs (called solicited applications), or you may write letters to companies that have not advertised but might need someone with your qualifications (unsolicited applications). Each letter should be tailored to the situation.

Business letters have several formats that you can follow. The three most common styles are: 1) Block, 2) Block with Paragraph Indentation, 3) Semi-block. In any Block form, all the conventional parts of the letter are included, but everything is lined up along the left-hand margin. Paragraphs may either be indented* or begin flush* with the left margin. The least formal of the three patterns is Semi-block form: Heading, Date, Close, and Signature are moved to the right, and the beginning of each paragraph is indented five spaces from the left margin. For job-hunt letters these three forms are suggested as the best all-round styles. Type your letter on only one side of the paper, single-spacing the body of the letter and double spacing between paragraphs. The elements of the letter are discussed in the order they would ordinarily appear.

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Heading: We have assumed that you do not have letterhead* stationery (a logo) of your own. So, when typing on blank paper, use your return address (without your name) and the date as the Heading. The elements of the return address should appear single spaced as separate lines. In the two block styles mentioned above the Heading is flush left, while in the semi-block style it is flush right. Do not abbreviate words like street, road, or boulevard; write them out in full. Write the date double spaced below the return address as March 3, 20XX. Do not abbreviate the month, nor add -st, -nd, etc. to the number of the day (NOT: 1st, 2nd).

Outside Address: The Outside Address is your reader’s full name, position / title, company, and mailing address (street, city, state, and ZIP code). It is placed two to eight lines below the date and flush with the left margin in all the formats discussed. The number of lines between the date and the Outside Address varies so that the letter can be attractively centered on the page. Use the first line for the name and position of the person to whom you are writing. If the position title can fit conveniently on the same line, place it immediately after the name, separated by a comma. If it does not fit on the same line, place it on the next line by itself. One more line contains the name of organization to which you are applying. The following line will be the reader’s street address. The last line is for the city, state, and ZIP code. If you are writing an unsolicited* letter, address it to the person most likely in charge of hiring. Consult the business directory for the names of the company officers. You can also call the company and ask the operator to give you the name of the individual in charge of hiring. The usual courtesy titles used before the name are: Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr., Colonel, and Professor. Spell the name of the person the way the person wants it (Edward S. Green, E. S. Green, or E. Samuel Green). The same applies to the name of the organization. Follow exactly the name used by the company you are writing to.

Salutation: The Salutation, or greeting, appears two lines below the Outside Address and is either placed flush left or indented 5 spaces from the left margin. The traditional salutation is Dear followed by the reader’s courtesy title and the last name. Address men as Mr. and women as Ms., unless a woman specifically indicates that she prefers Miss or Mrs. Be sure to use a name when one is available to use. When you are writing a company blindly* and have no name to use, you may tailor the Salutation by using the name of the department (Dear Operations Department:). Never use salutations like Dear Sir or Madam: or Dear Sir / Madam:, Dear Madam / Sir: except when you are responding to an ad with a box number. Nevertheless, Dear Personnel Director: or Dear Hiring Manager: are quite acceptable. Whatever you do, write to someone by name. Do not send To Whom It May Concern on your job hunt. It is a wasted effort. In business letters, the salutation is always followed by a colon, not a comma.

Body: The Body is the substance of the letter. The first paragraph introduces the subject of the letter, the second paragraph elaborates the message, and the third concludes it. The Body of a letter is single-spaced, and double-spaced between paragraphs. Avoid splitting words between lines. Never split a date or a person’s name between two lines. If you are going to have a continuation page, the last paragraph on the preceding page should contain at least two lines. Although word processors can end the lines evenly, most people prefer to see correspondence with an uneven right margin. It is believed that unjustified (uneven) margins imply an individual message to a specific person.

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Complimentary Close: In the block styles, place the Complimentary Close flush left. In the semi-block style, the Close appears just to the right of the center of the page aligned with the Heading. The most common formal closing expressions are as follows: Sincerely, Sincerely yours, Yours sincerely, Yours truly, Yours very truly, Very truly yours. Today, all the phrases are interchangeable.

When writing an informal letter, you may use one of these: Thanks for helping,

Thanks for your help, With great thanks, Many thanks, With good wishes, Your friend, In friendship, Best regards, Warm regards, Regards, Warmly, etc. Capitalize only the first word of the closing expressions and place a comma after the Close.

Signature Block: The Signature Block begins on the fourth line below the Complimentary Close and includes the writer’s typed name (with any title typed directly underneath) and handwritten signature. Sign your name immediately in the four-line space between the Close and typed name. The letter may be signed with your first name, middle initial, and the last name, or you may use your first two initials and the last name, or your first initial, middle name and the last name (John M. Carson; J. M. Carson; J. Martin Carson, respectively). In any case, your signature and your typed name should agree. In the two versions of the block style the signature is flush left, while in the semi-block form it is aligned with the Heading.

Enclosure Line: The Enclosure Line begins two lines below the Signature Block and flush with the left margin. It indicates that the additional material (e.g. resume) has been enclosed with the basic letter. Use either the abbreviation or the whole word to identify the number of enclosures: Enc.(1), Enc (1), or Enclosure (1) – for one enclosure; Encs.(3), Encs (3), or Enclosures (3) – for more than one enclosures; or Enc: Resume – giving the name of the enclosure. In determining the number of enclosures, only separate items are counted, not the number of pages (i.e., a two-page resume constitutes only one enclosure).

Addressing Envelopes: Writing the address on the envelope correctly is just as important as the letter itself because it makes sure your letter will get where you want it to go. The Return Address should appear in the upper left-hand corner single-spaced and without any courtesy title before your name. The Outside Address should be put in the center of the envelope. First line gives the name of the person you are writing to (be sure to address the person you are writing as Mr., Mrs., Miss or Ms.), the second line is for the street address, and the last line is for the city, state, and ZIP code. Remember to capitalize all proper nouns and use a comma between city and state. Sometimes special mailing directions are required, so one of the following designations is added to the envelope:

Held for Arrival – the person you are writing to may be away on business or vacation and you want to make sure that the letter finds him / her on the return. This notation will ensure that your letter is not returned or thrown away.

Personal or (Strictly) Confidential – indicates that only the person to whom you are writing should read the letter.

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All such special instructions are placed at the top left, 2 spaces below the Return Address.

C/o – in care of – indicates that the person to whom the letter is addressed should forward it to another person. This instruction usually gets its own line in the address directly below the name of the person to whom you are mailing.

The format and the elements of the letter have been chosen to meet the needs of writing job hunt letters only. The sample letters in Exs. 7–8 illustrate the proper placement of each part of a letter. Follow the above rules and you will be able to produce an acceptable letter on your own, which you will find quite a necessary skill when you go job hunting.

EXERCISES

3. Do you agree with the statements below? If you do not agree, explain the mistakes.

SI don’t know who will receive my letter, so I’ll send it “To Whom It May Concern”. Business letters go to a company, not to a person.

SWhy should I verify names, titles, and addresses? People do not move so often.

SAddressing letters Dear Sir / Dear Sirs: is all right, as half of the readers today are men.

SPeople don’t mind receiving mail addressed to someone else, even their predecessors.

SI needn’t sign the letter in my own handwriting because I type my name at the end.

SI never proofread my letters, I always use word processing spell checkers instead.

SI’d rather handwrite my business correspondence to give it a personal touch.

SI am too busy to write a real letter, so I’d better mail a form letter filling in the blanks.

SI like writing long. I believe you can’t say well in one page what you can say in a long letter.

SI prefer to justify right margins. It looks neat.

4.Replace the words or phrases in italics by those from the text.

1)In any Block form, all the customary parts of the letter are included. 2) Paragraphs may begin so as to be level with the left margin. 3) The beginning of each paragraph is spaced in from the regular margin. 4) When typing on paper without letterhead, use your return address

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and the date as the Heading. 5) If the position title can be placed suitably on the same line, place it immediately after the name. 6) When you are writing a company blindly, you may adjust salutation to the name of the department. 7) The first paragraph introduces the subject of the letter, the second paragraph works out the message in greater detail. 8) Avoid dividing words between lines. 9) Although word processor can end the lines regularly, most people prefer to see correspondence with uneven right margin. 10) The Close appears just to the right of the center of the page lined up with the Heading. 11) Today, all the phrases can be equally used. 12) It indicates that the additional material has been put in an envelope along with the letter.

5. Practice writing the Heading for your letter using the models given below:

Model:

a) in two block styles:

6. Write the Outside Address for your letter according to the model:

Model:

Ms. Sally Baker

Senior Vice President

Standard Electric Corporation

38 Main Street

Chicago, Illinois 60672

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7.Below is a skeleton letter which follows the block format. Analyze the placement of its parts. What changes should be introduced to make it follow the block with indentation format? the semi-block format?

2 spaces

8.Here is a sample of a semi-block letter. Analyze the placement of its parts. Suggest changes to make it a block-type letter.

Model:

2056 Main Street

Philadelphia, PA 19653

February 17, 20XX

408 Industrial Drive

Mr. Steven Rossman

Hiring Manager

R & B Corporation

Wilmington, DE 20831

Dear Mr. Rossman:

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Sincerely yours, (signature) Ellen B. Hardy

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