Employment Letters

While job hunting, you'll need to write a variety of letters. Some, like the cover letter must be individually modified for the job. Others, like the follow-up letter are fairly standard but still must demonstrate your professionalism.

70% said that e-mailing thank-you notes was appropriate

Especially to acknowledge a small gift or gesture according to a survey by the Emily Post Institute.

Thank-you notes are mandatory and are expected in some situations. A recent survey by CareerBuilder.com found that:

• Nearly 15 percent of hiring managers would reject a job candidate who neglected to send a thank-you letter after the interview

• 32 percent said they would still consider the thankless prospect but that their opinion of him or her would diminish

• Nearly a quarter (23 percent) of managers prefer handwritten thank-you letters, 21 percent seek a typed hard copy, and 19 percent want an e-mailed thank-you letter followed up with a snail-mailed letter

According to Business Letters for Busy People, 'in a study of 800 letters written by the top chief executive officers in the US, all 800 letters were found to be short, clear and personal.

By the time these people became CEOs, they had learned never to send out a letter that didn't reflect those three basic principles of good writing.'