Sample Letters of Application: The Importance of Style
Compare the cultural differences between the two following
versions of the same letter (by a fictitious writer). These differences will help
demonstrate what is unique about “American-style” letters of application, and
what conventions help people get jobs in America:
(an
American employer would very likely disregard this letter)
Blida, 17th
October, 1999
Prof. Popat C. Patel, Ph.D.
Maître de Conférences,
Institute of Industrial Chemistry,
University of Blida, B-p. 270
9000 Blida,
ALGERIA
To
Professor Nathan B. Harrison
Department of Chemistry
Sam Houston State University
Huntsville, Texas – 75281
U.S.A. Subject/
Request for Teaching & Research position or
Post-doctoral
position.
Dear Professor Harrison:
I, the undersigned, nationality INDIAN have an honour
to send you my upto-date CURRICULUM VITA for exploring the possibility
of securing either a Teaching and Reasearch position or Post-Doctoral position
to work in your laboratory. I hope that
you have an opening now or in the near future. \.
Please note that it is an inquiry only and not any sort of
obligation.
I did work in the research laboratories in INDIA:
National Chemical Laboratory, Poona for 13 years as Scientific Assistants (Jr.
& Sr.) initially but as a Scientist finally (1975-1988) and in FRANCE:
(1º) Univ. Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg (1986-1987) as Associate Assistant – a
teaching & Research position.
Also I taught Organic Chemistry in FRANCE (Univ. du
Maine, Le Mans: 1988-89) and since then I am teaching in the ALGERIAN
Universities (10 years) in the capacity of Associate Professor (Maître
de Conférences: 8 years). Currently I
teach Heterocyclic & Medicinal organic chemistry to the Graduate Students
of Blida University.
Please see my enclosed C.V. in which you will observe that I
have an U.K. and INDIAN PATENT on synthesis of a new Pyrethroid; INDOTHRENE
(named by us) and an independent publication on synthesis of ISO. D.
Curcumene (Bull. Soc. Chim. France II, (7-8), 1998, 429) in my credit, also I
can teach in French language and obviously in English language.
However, I am now interested to do research in U.S.A. if
possible and therefore I am applying for a possibility to you and also many
other professors in U.S.A.
If you have an opening now or in the near future and if you
find my candidature of any interest to you, please don’t hesitate to help me. If nothing is available with you at present,
then please recommend my candidature to someone who is looking a person of my
experience and qualification.
Thanking you in anticipation.
With high
regards. yours
sincerely,
Encl/
my C.V.
P. C. Patel
(Assoc. Professor)
Institute
of Industrial Chemistry
9000
Blida, Algeria
Tel.
090.84221
FAX 090.47620
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(an
American employer would probably read this letter favorably)
Popat C. Patel
12 Rue des Blancs
9000 Blida, Algeria
17 October 1999
Tel. 090.32015, email: <pcp1699@ublida.ag>
Nathan B. Harrison, Chair,
Search
Committee
Department of Chemistry
Sam Houston State University
Hunstville, Texas 75281
Dear Professor Harrison:
On October
16, I contacted our mutual colleague Professor Naranyan to discuss the possibility
of meeting with him at this year’s Pacifichem International Congress at
Honolulu. During our conversation, he
urged me to respond to your advertisement for an Assistant Professor of Organic
Chemistry that appears in the October 15 issue of the Chronicle of Higher
Education. I am very interested in
the position because it closely reflects the duties I now perform.
In addition
to my laboratory research in the Institute of Industrial Chemistry at the
University of Blida, I teach heterocyclic and medicinal organic chemistry to
graduate students. I have recently
acquired a patent in the United Kingdom and India on the synthesis of a new
pyrethroid, Indothrene. An article on
my latest research—the establishment of C-1 configuration in 1,2-dimethyl-5
(S)-isopropenyl-cyclohex-2en1 (S)- 01—will appear in the 2000 issue of the Indian
Journal of Chemistry. Other patents
and publications appear in my curriculum vita. Furthermore, I have served as Maître de Conférences at the
Institute for eight years, during which time—in spite of very limited
university support—I have coordinated six regional and two international
symposia.
I earned
my Ph.D. in organic chemistry at the University of Poona, India. Upon completing my degree, I was offered a
position as a scientific assistant at the National Chemical Laboratory. After four years, I was promoted to the
position of scientist. Altogether, I
worked 13 years at the National Chemical Laboratory before I took an offer for
a year-long position as a Post-Doctoral Fellow in organic chemistry at the
Louis Pasteur University in Strasbourg.
I sought the position above all because it included teaching duties,
along with research opportunities.
After this appointment, my continuing interest in the combination of
teaching and research led to a year at the University du Maine, Le Mans, as an
Associate Assistant.
Although I
have had a productive tenure at the University of Blida, I now want to find a
position in the politically stable environment of the United States, where I
might take advantage of the best opportunities to continue my teaching and
research interests. In addition to the
referees I list at the end of my C.V., Professor Naranyan has kindly offered to
comment personally on my work—particularly on the research I’ve done in the
synthesis of optically active substituted Indanes.
I look
forward to hearing from you and the Search Committee, in hopes that my
qualifications will strongly match what the Department of Chemistry at Sam
Houston State University seeks. My
professional dossier with letters of recommendation will arrive under separate
cover.
Sincerely,
Popat
C. Patel