Job Application Letter

Writing to an employer that hasn't advertised the job you want is a cold approach, and the letter decides whether it gets filed away or passed to someone who can hire. Many applicants send a resume with a one-line note, or paste in a cover letter written for some other posting. Neither gives anyone a reason to reply.

The letter has two common uses. The first is writing to a company that has not posted an opening, often a local business you would like to work for. The second is answering a posting that asks for "a letter of application", which is common for school, college and government jobs and usually means a fuller letter that works through the job's requirements one by one.

What to Include

• The kind of work you want, named plainly. "Bookkeeping help for tax season" gives the reader something to act on.
• One fact about the business that made you write to it.
• Two or three pieces of proof from your work history, each with a result.
• Your availability: when you could start, and whether you want full-time, part-time or seasonal work.
• A next step you will take yourself, such as a phone call on a named day.
• If you are answering a posting, the job title, any reference number and a short paragraph for each requirement it lists.

Job Application Letter Example (Unadvertised Job)

How it differs from a cover letter

People use the two names loosely, and plenty of employers treat them as the same thing. An application letter differs from a cover letter in that nobody may be expecting it, so it has to explain why you are writing before it can sell anything. It also has to stand on its own, with your skills, experience and availability in the letter itself, as it may reach someone who never opens your resume.

When the posting asks for a letter of application

Read the posting twice before you start. Many postings list their requirements in order, and the people scoring applications tend to work down that list, so give each requirement a short paragraph in the same order and open it with the posting's own words.

For example, if the posting asks for "experience maintaining student records," start that paragraph with the records you kept, for whom and for how long. The letter can run to a full page, and in school or university hiring it sometimes runs longer, as long as every paragraph answers something the posting asked for.

Following up

Once you've sent an unadvertised letter, note the date and follow up by phone or email about a week later. Keep the call short. Say who you are, mention the letter and ask when would be a good time to talk. If nothing is open, ask whether you can check in again in a few months, and thank them for their time.

Tips

• Address a real person. Small business websites usually name the owner or office manager, and a call to the front desk of a larger company can get you the right name.
• Keep an unadvertised letter to one page. The reader didn't ask for it, so every paragraph has to earn its place.
• Say what you can take off their plate. "I can handle your monthly reconciliations during tax season" tells a busy owner more than a list of your strengths.
• Write each letter from scratch where it counts, which is the opening and your reason for choosing that employer. The middle paragraphs can carry over from letter to letter.
• If you send it by email, put the kind of work in the subject line, such as "Inquiry about bookkeeping work", and attach your resume as a PDF.
• Keep a simple list of who you wrote to, the date and the day you plan to call, so nobody gets forgotten or called twice.