Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Definition & Examples of Application Letter, Inquiry Letter, Complain Letter, and Purchase Order Letter

1.    Application Letter

A.    Definition
An application letter is a formally written one-page letter that accompanies a resume and other requested documentation in application for a job or academic program. Application letters are often synonymous with cover letters, and in addition to describing what materials are included in the application, an application letter should also take time to highlight the qualifications that prepare the writer for acceptance into the job or academic program.
Application letters typically begin with an introductory paragraph that states the position being applied to, reveals how the minimum qualifications for the position are met and asks the reader to continue reading to learn more about the applicant's qualifications.
Paragraphs that follow the introduction paragraph typically highlight the top reasons the applicant should be considered. For experienced applicants, these paragraphs typically highlight work experience and workplace projects of significance. For less experienced applicants and new graduates, these paragraphs might highlight academic experience, such as classes taken that would be useful in this position or any particular academic projects or honors received.
An application letter should also include a concluding paragraph that express appreciation to the receiver for taking the time to consider the application. The final sentence should convey that the applicant looks toward the future by asking for a formal interview in-person, online or by phone.

B.     Parts of Application Letter
The applicant includes an address and contact information on the upper right-hand corner of the letter in the indented format. The addressee's name, title, department, company name and address are on the left part below the applicant's address.
The opening paragraph must state the reason for applying the job. The second and third sections form the main body of the letter. The applicant sells himself to the addresses in these paragraphs. In this part, an applicant cites the highest qualification and the reason for changing jobs. In the third section, an applicant matches the skills and experience with those required by the potential employer. The closing paragraph must indicate the applicant's desire to be invited for an interview.
It is important to write about availability and willingness to work with the company. The application letter shows the applicant's enthusiasm and passion for the job.

C.    Example

Room 354, Block 6
Model Village
North Point
Hong Kong
Phone: 24862893
Mobile: 95427415
E-mail: wwm654@hkinternet.com
30 December 2015

Mr William Chan
Personnel Manager
Wong And Lim Consulting
PO Box 583
Kwai Chung
Kowloon
Dear Mr Chan
Application for the Post of Management Trainee
I am writing to apply for the post of Management Trainee, which was advertised on the Student Affairs Office notice board of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University on 30 December 2015.
My working experience at Lucky Star Garment Manufactory Limited improved my leadership skills, communication skills and ability to work in a team environment. I have fluent spoken and written English. I also have fluent spoken and written Mandarin, and can therefore work in mainland China.
Currently I am studying a B.A. in Management at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, graduating in 2016. Subjects which I am studying that are relevant to the post of Management Trainee include Operations Management, Human Resources Management, Accounting, Marketing and Strategic Management.
My final year project is entitled Knowledge Management Practices in HK. Carrying out this project has improved my communication skills, my leadership skills and my ability to lead and supervise subordinates effectively. I have also learned how to run a project from the planning stage to its completion.
During my studies I have held the post of Executive in the Management Society. While leading and organising Management Society activities I have improved my ability to lead and supervise subordinates effectively, ability to work under pressure and ability to work in a team environment.
Working for Wong And Lim Consulting appeals to me because it has a good reputation and it provides excellent training. Your organisation produces a high-quality service, and I can contribute to this with my leadership skills and my ability to work under pressure.
I am available for interview at any time. I can be contacted most easily on the mobile phone number given above. I look forward to meeting you.
Yours sincerely

Wong Wai Man Wilfred
Encl: Resume

















2.     Inquiry Letters

A.    Definition
The letters that are written for collecting information about job seekers, prices, products, and services before awarding jobs, granting credit, making contracts and giving promotions are known as letters of inquiry. These letters are written to a third party seeking information about either a job or a company that wishes to make business relationship.
Quible and others defined, “Letters of inquiry are a type of business message that asks the recipient for information or assistance.”
Prospective employers and business organizations usually write inquiry letters for obtaining desired information. Prospective employers write this letter to the referees mentioned in the job application to obtain information about the applicant’s personal and family background, ability, skills, honesty, character, integrity, quality of performance, fitness for job etc. on the other hand, business enterprises write inquiry letters to third parties referred by the customers to know about their business dealings, financial capabilities and goodwill to determine whether to establish business relationships with those enterprises.

B.     Types of inquiry letter

Based on purpose, there are two most common types of inquiry letters such as (1) personal status inquiry letter and (2) business status inquiry letter.
§  Personal status inquiry letter: The letters that are written by prospective employers for obtaining information about job applicants are called personal status inquiry letter. Employers write this letter to obtain information relating to the applicant’s personal and family background, ability, skills, honesty, character, integrity, quality of performance, fitness for job etc. generally this letter is written to the referees mentioned by the concerned applicant. In response to this letter, the referees write a reply letter to the employer. This response letter may be favorable, unfavorable or neutral to the applicant.
§  Business status inquiry letter: When a business enterprise writes letter to another business enterprise for collecting information about a prospective customer, it is known as business status inquiry letter. This letter is usually written for collecting information about financial capability, goodwill, nature of business dealings, honesty etc. of a business enterprise to determine whether to establish business transactions with it. Responses of this letter may be either favorable or unfavorable.

An enquiry letter may consist all or few of the below mentioned parts:
  • Introduction
  • Description
  • Statement
  • Methodology
  • Final Summary
The inclusion or exclusion of certain components depends on the scope of your letter. Business letters will tend to have all mentioned while those on a smaller platform will include few. Not to forget that these letter are formal letters and will follow the rules pertaining to these. These rules refer to the common styles of writing a business letter, i.e. Full Block Style, Modified Block Style and others.
An example of letter of inquiry or a letter of inquiry format is sufficient. To add to it the writing tips provide efficiency. Thus, it is advisable to go through the format, tips, examples and the templates.









C.    Example
Fund Inquiry Letter
People for Animals (PFA)
# 11, Sector 11 A
Chandigarh – 160011
Tel: 7442000, 9324329
Fax: 7442099
Email: support@pfa.com
December 22nd2012
Pai Tailon
Managing Director
International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)
290 Summer Street
Yarmouth Port, MA 02675
United States
Dear Mr. Tailon:
People for Animals (PFA) seeks support of $ 6,000 from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) for medicinesfood itemsmaintenanceproject supportpublications suppor tetc. for our ongoing ‘Dog Sterilisation Campaign’.
We are grateful for the support we received from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) in the year 2000 for ‘Save the Sparrows Campaign’ and PFA considers the ‘Dog Sterilisation Campaign’ may be of comparable interest to your foundation. As conservation supporter all over the world, the campaign is very much aligned with IFAW’s consistent mission in preserving and saving the natural world through education, project funding, preventing poaching by generating jobs for those dependent on forests and many other which deserve a credible applause.
PFA was established in 1997 and has been actively promoting welfare activities for animals in almost all states of India.
Some of our activities include:
  • Sterilisation
  • Rehabilitation
  • Endangered Animal Protection and Breeding
  • Treatment of Sick and Injured Animals
  • Organising Awareness Campaigns
  • Animal Shelter
  • Animal Hospital
Some of our Achievements
  • Number 1 NGO for Animals in India 2011
  • Recognition from WSPCA for outstanding achievement 2009, 2010
  • 3rd Popular Animal Welfare Organisation in Asia (wildlife weekly 2010)
The campaign for which we request funds will benefit both the Dogs and People of Tricity - Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula.
Benefits
  • Prevention of increase in Dog Bites among the residents of Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula
  • Control of booming Dog population
  • Decrease in cruelty towards Dogs
  • Maintain harmony among humans and dogs
  • Maintaining a proper record of dog population
  • Dog behaviour awareness through school visits, college visits and community through various audio-visual means
The campaign has been projected for a span of 3 years and requires 50,000$ to fully achieve the above mentioned benefits. We are short of exactly 18,000$ for which we have requested other organisations. While we expect 6,000$ from your side but would be highly obliged if granted the whole amount.
We invite you to visit our office or call us at 7442000, 9324329 between 8AM to 5 PM within a week from the receiving date of this letter. We will arrange for your visit, stay and food without any charges. We will be glad to submit a full proposal with additional information for your further review.
Thanking you.
Sincerely,
Maenka Mishra
Founder & Manager
People for Animals (PFA)

Personal Contact – 097239856
msihmaneka@pfa.com
3.     Complain Letters

A.    Definition

Complaint letter definition can be described in many ways. A complaint letter is the part of written communication. In general word complaint letter means a letter which is written to submit a complaint to the authority. And it is generally done when other way of complaint are failure like phone, email etc. However here we provide complaint letter definition in formal way.
A Complaint letter is a request for an adjustment. In other words, it is a letter that describes about the damage; errors or mistakes happened to the delivered goods and therefore claims for compensation is known to be a complaint letter.
In modern age, the chain of business is not limited within the boundary of country. As business is expanding, its complexities are also increasing. So, mistake or fault is not a strange matter in the arena of business. There may be wrong delivery of goods shipment of obsolete, poor quality or underweight goods, faulty packing, delivery after the specified date and other damages to the goods shipped. In the above cases, buyer is supposed to suffer financial loss and therefore he has every reason to complaint to the seller demanding compensation. Hence a letter is used to serve such purpose is called complaint letter.
To draft such a letter, buyer must have valid grounds to explain that he has suffered financial loss or otherwise there will be misunderstanding which may damage business relation buyer requires special care with the art of convincing the seller. Clarity and courtesy are the important factors to write a letter of complaint. The complaint should be made politely without showing any sign of anger.






B.     Parts of Complaint Letter
Letters of complaint usually include the following stages:
1.     Background
2.      Problem - cause and effect
3.      Solution
4.      Warning (optional)
5.      Closing
1.      Background
This section describes the situation; e.g.
§  I am writing to inform you that the goods we ordered from your company have not been supplied correctly.
§  I attended your exhibition Sound Systems 2015 at the Fortune Hotel (22-25 January) and found it informative and interesting. Unfortunately, my enjoyment of the event was spoiled by a number of organisational problems.
§  I am a shareholder of Sunshine Bank and I am very concerned regarding recent newspaper reports on the financial situation of the bank. Your company is listed as the auditor in the latest annual report of the bank, so I am writing to you to ask for an explanation of the following issues.
§  I am writing to inform you of my dissatisfaction with the food and drinks at the 'European Restaurant' on 18 January this year.
§  On 21 December 2015 we placed an order with your firm for 12,000 ultra super long-life batteries. The consignment arrived yesterday but contained only 1,200 batteries.
§  Firstly, I had difficulty in registering to attend the event. You set up an on-line registration facility, but I found the facility totally unworkable.
§  You sent us an invoice for $10,532, but did not deduct our usual 10% discount.
§  We have found 16 spelling errors and 2 mis-labelled diagrams in the sample book. 
  Effect:
§  This error put our firm in a difficult position, as we had to make some emergency purchases to fulfil our commitments to all our customers. This caused us considerable inconvenience.
§  Even after spending several wasted hours trying to register in this way, the computer would not accept my application.
§  I am therefore returning the invoice to you for correction.
§  This large number of errors is unacceptable to our customers, and we are therefore unable to sell these books.
§  I am writing to ask you to please make up the shortfall immediately and to ensure that such errors do not happen again.
§  Could I please ask you to look into these matters.
§  Please send us a corrected invoice for $9,479
§  I enclose a copy of the book with the errors highlighted. Please re-print the book and send it to us by next Friday.
 
§  Otherwise, we may have to look elsewhere for our supplies.
§  I'm afraid that if these conditions are not met, we may be forced to take legal action.
§  If the outstanding fees are not paid by Wednesday, 6 January 2016, you will incur a 10% late payment fee.
  
§  I look forward to receiving your explanation of these matters.
§  I look forward to receiving your payment.
§  I look forward to hearing from you shortly.
Politeness
The tone of complaint letters should not be aggressive or insulting, as this would annoy the reader and not encourage them to solve the problem. In addition, questions such as 'Why can't you get this right?' should not be included.
Content
    • The content should contain enough details so that the receiver does not have to write back requesting more.
    • Legal action is not normally threatened in the first letter of complaint, unless the situation is very serious.


C.    Example
Fortune Goods
317 Orchard Road
Singapore

28 December 2015
Attn: Mr David Choi
Sales Manager
Everlong Batteries
171 Choi Hung Road
Hung Hom
Hong Kong
Dear Mr Choi
Re. Order No. 768197
I am writing to inform you that the goods we ordered from your company have not been supplied correctly.
On 21 December 2015 we placed an order with your firm for 12,000 ultra super long-life batteries. The consignment arrived yesterday but contained only 1,200 batteries.
This error put our firm in a difficult position, as we had to make some emergency purchases to fulfil our commitments to all our customers. This caused us considerable inconvenience.
I am writing to ask you to please make up the shortfall immediately and to ensure that such errors do not happen again. Otherwise, we may have to look elsewhere for our supplies.
I look forward to hearing from you by return.
Yours sincerely
J. Wong
Purchasing Officer


4.     Purchase Order Letters

A.    Definition
A purchase order is a written authorization from a buyer to acquire goods or services. The document authorizes a supplier to deliver to the buyer at the price, quality level, delivery date, and certain other terms specified in the agreement. A purchase order is legally binding after the supplier counter-signs it.
A purchase order is time-consuming to create. To reduce the work load, some organizations issue a master purchase order to each supplier, authorizing considerably more than is initially needed, and then issue releases against the master purchase order.
B.     Parts of Purchase Order Letters
1.      A Purchase Order Letter should be written as soon as the decision for the purchase has been made
2.      The company with whom the order is being placed should be given enough time to execute the order
3.      The letter should clearly indicate the product code or item number, the size and the quantities being ordered
4.      The date when the Purchase Order Letter is being generated is very important because that identifies when the order was placed
5.      If the order is being placed by a company then it usually should be in a Purchase Order format
6.      The Purchase Order Letter should also indicate the date by when the order is expected to be executed or delivered
7.      The mode of delivery of the material should also be identified in the letter
8.      The letter should also carry the mode of payment by which the payment will be made
9.      If any advance has already been paid against the order, it must be mentioned in the Purchase Order Letter
10. The address where the order has to be delivered should be very clearly mentioned in the letter along with any landmarks, if any, to locate the address
11. The Purchase Order Letter should give the details of the costing of the price including taxes, etc so that there is no confusion while making the payment
12. The name of the company or dealer with which the order is being placed should be clearly written on the letter to avoid any miscommunication of details
13. There is no scope for any grammatical or punctuation errors in the Purchase Order Letter
14. The contents of the letter must be carefully read through to ensure that the order details have been correctly mentioned
15. The Purchase Order Letter should ideally be typed but the signatory should personally sign it

C.    Example
Mancini Kitchen Equipment

Troy D. Mancini
4220 Straford Park
Harold, KY 41635

Dear Mr. Mancini,

We would like to purchase twenty two (22) individual stand mixers (Model #43423), all in the color red.

We would like you to charge this purchase to the preexisting account that we have with you, business account #543234.

We hope to receive this order no later than Friday, November 11th, 2009. Attached to this letter please find our preferred shipping method and receiving address.

Please confirm that you received this order by calling us at 232-231-4563 anytime during business hours, Monday to Friday.

Thank you for your cooperation

Keller Kitchen Co.






References :

http://www2.elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/jaleg.htm
http://www.ask.com/business-finance/meaning-application-letter-84d94ea80c2347eb
http://www.ask.com/business-finance/parts-application-letter-7b6e7caff33ed1b9
http://thebusinesscommunication.com/what-is-inquiry-letter-types-of-inquiry-letter/
https://targetstudy.com/letters/inquiry-letter/how-to-write-inquiry-letter.htm
https://targetstudy.com/letters/fund-inquiry-letter.html
http://www.businesscommunicationarticles.com/complaint-letter-definition/
http://www2.elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/eiw/complaint_letter_constructor.htm
http://www.accountingtools.com/purchase-order-definition
http://www.letters.org/order-letter/purchase-order-letter.html

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