Job Packet Assignment #3: Letter of application

Length and genre: 1 page rletter of application in business letter form.

Due date: A complete draft (at least 1 full page) is due in class on February 13, 2002. Final job packet is due in class on February 18, 2003.

Your third assignment for this unit is to write a letter of application. Because the specifics of your audience and purpose will determine many things—like length and format—you'll need to decide those issues on your own. But there are two criteria you need to keep in mind so that your document will fit this assignment.

1. The letter needs to be between one and three pages in length. (A cover letter for job application will usually be up to a page, but a letter of application to a graduate school could be longer.) Please do not choose to fulfill this assignment with a letter that is longer than three pages or one that is less than three-quarters of a page long without talking to me first.
2. Even if the actual application or help-wanted notice to which you are responding asks for additional information: application form, resume, vitae, etc. this assignment is concerned only with the letter that would accompany (or "cover") everything else. You are writing a business letter.

Purpose: A good letter of application is both informative and persuasive. It must deliver important information about its writer in a way that persuades its reader to respond positively. A positive response, in this case, would be an invitation to interview, the offer of employment, or the fellowship or a place in graduate program. In class we'll be approaching this assignment as a logical argument—that is, the information you will include is support for your argument. We'll talk about this more in class, but this need supercedes some of the advice about cover letters included in our book—some of that advice is for non-professional jobs. Professional jobs demand that you demonstrate professional level thinking and writing skills; the place to do that is in a cover letter.

Audience: You'll determine your audience by deciding where you would realistically be interested in applying. While you do not actually have to mail off the letter of application (and the accompanying materials), you will probably find the assignment easier and more interesting if you choose something related to your field. Though most students apply for a job, you could choose a graduate school, a fellowship program, an internship program, etc.) Some hints to determine your audience:

• decide where you are applying (and for what)
• glean all the information about the audience you can from the help-wanted ad, college catalogue, or internship application, etc. If the information seems too thin,
• call the place you are applying and ask for information

The more you know about your audience the more likely you are to be able to write a successful letter of application. We'll work together in class to complete an audience analysis to get you started.

Planning and Drafting: As you begin writing, remember the things we've been discussing in class:

1. address the letter to a specific person whose name is correctly spelled.
2. be sure to say specifically (mirroring the wording of the ad or grad program) what you are applying for: If the ad wants a swine inseminator, say that and not hog handler or pig breeder.
3. use specific examples to describe your qualifications, and tie those to the specific requirements of the job or program to which you are applying
4. try to separate yourself from all the other applicants (with excellent thinking and writing skills)
5. show what you know about the company or program—and why this makes you interested
6. refer to your resume, vitae, or other enclosed materials
7. ask for an interview or request follow up

Evaluation Criteria: Letter

• reflects rhetorical choices based on careful thought to audience, purpose, and situation
• employs the "reader-centered" readability guidelines we've been discussing
• shows attention to visual choices that help make the document readable and aesthetically pleasing
• fits the assignment guidelines

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