Monday 20 February 2012

Design and market. Week 17. Getting in touch. Approach letter.

Before I started contacting companies I researched how to approach them in an appropriate manner. Since English is not my first language I needed to look closely how to write a formal approach letter. I found the Stanford University website very helpful which clearly explained the whole process together with clear examples.







What a good approach letter should contain:

1. Start with a personal statement which connects you to the reader. If you lack a personal referral,
you might open with: “I am writing to you because of your position as...” or “Because of your experience
in...”, or “We have a common interest in...”’ or “Since we are both alumni of_________________ I
thought...” If you have a referral, you might start with: “Mr., Mrs., Dr., suggested that I contact you...”
2. Orient the reader to your purpose. Explain that you do not expect the reader to know of any current
job openings, but you would like his or her help, advice, suggestions, or guidance. Stress your purpose(
s): to get his or her advice on your career plans, obtain occupational information, or discuss future
work possibilities. Explain your current situation.
3. Close your letter by requesting a brief meeting at a mutually convenient time. Indicate that you
will call in a few days to arrange a meeting.
4. Be clear. Have a specific purpose in mind before writing this letter.
5. Always address the letter to a name, never to a position or title.
6. Make the letter brief, unless there are special reasons for going into detail.
7. Make your letters warm and personal. Avoid boastful, aggressive and stereotyped phrases.
8. Carefully proofread for grammatical, spelling or typing errors.
9. Neatly type your letter. Leave wide margins.
10. Type on good quality bond stationery. Never use erasable, copy machine or onion-skin paper. 
11. Keep copies of all correspondence in an efficient filing system for follow-up purposes.


I also sent my letter to friends so they could proofread it. A big thank you to Ania, Andy, Jon and Lee for helping me with this.

In addition to my research I was also looking at Polish etiquette of writing those type of letters.
And yes some things are done in different way to make me even more confusion

Since I was also contacting a Polish company it was interesting for me to compare the different approaches to writing a formal business letter.


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