The AMA Handbook of Business Letters

A large volume of correspondence flows through the personnel department of every major business. Smaller businesses may also find their mailboxes and outboxes stuffed with personnel-related letters. Whether they are written by the business or by a prospective employee of the business, when personnel-related letters are written effectively they can do a good deal to enhance the credibility of both the business and the prospective employee.

Personnel letters may not secure business, but they will help ensure that you hire the best possible candidate for a job and maintain a good relationship with that candidate once he or she is on board. For the jobseeker, some of the letters in this chapter can be used as model letters for selling yourself to a prospective employer to get the job you want.

Many other personnel matters call for written communication, but usually not in letter form. Such issues as organizational changes, labor relations activities, changes in benefits, office closings, and other "inhouse" matters are most often addressed in memorandums distributed to employees in the workplace. Since letters are rarely sent in these cases, they are not covered here.

Sample Letters 11.1 through 11.5 were written by prospective employees to request job interviews.

Sample Letter 11.1 was written in response to an advertisement the letter writer had seen. The writer refers to the advertisement, mentions a bit about her background that is appropriate to the advertised position, asks for an interview, and gives the reader information about how to reach

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