same meaning of application letter

Are Cover Letter and Application Letter the Same?

While cover and application letters are usually used in the same contexts, every job seeker has to know the significant differences between these two documents.

Nowadays, application and cover letters are sent via email, so, it’s also important to familiarize oneself with the writing trends and standards of online documents.

So, What’s the Difference?

The main difference between applications and cover letters are:

• Application documents are considered to contain in-depth information about candidate skills and qualities while cover letters are merely used for submitting the documents.
• Cover letters carry out simpler functions and only define your professional capacity as a sender, a recipient, and the purpose of the letter. Application letters perform three main functions: to draw the attention of the potential recruiter, to reflect you as the perfect fit for the position, and to secure the interview.
• Application letters highlight qualifications, skills, strengths, and previous jobs to which this information should relate to the job applied. Done properly, it will showcase you as a good fit for the position. A cover letter can omit specific details, though it must include contact information and motivate why you’re applying for the position and why you’re good for it.
• Cover letters are shorter as they don’t include detailed information. Applicant documents shouldn’t exceed one page. In terms of improving career opportunities, wherever possible your letter should consist of three paragraphs in which you introduce yourself and your objective in the first paragraph. You should present your strengths in the second paragraph and propose an interview in the third paragraph.
• Cover letters aren’t considered the decisive element of an application package. Application letters usually accompany resumes in most cases, as they can offer more about your professional candidacy. Or you can always check some of the best companies that will help you with writing your cover letter on Linkedin .

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What is the difference between a solicited application letter & an unsolicited letter.

Job seekers create application letters , also called cover letters, to send to prospective employers in an attempt to get an interview. If a job is advertised and available, the person sends a solicited application letter. If the job was not announced, the person sends an unsolicited letter hoping there might be an open position within a company.

The main difference between a solicited application letter and an unsolicited one is whether a company receiving the letter announced a job opening or not. If a company announced an opening, the letter is considered solicited because it was requested. However, if a company had not asked for applications, the letter is considered unsolicited.

The goal of a solicited application letter is to obtain an interview for a specific job position which the writer mentions in the letter. For example, the writer states that she is applying for the accounts payable clerk position that is open. When a person writes an unsolicited letter, she hopes that the company has any position, within a certain area, available. This letter is more general and the writer states that she is applying, for example, to any type of managerial position within the company.

Considerations

A person writing a solicited application letter often includes where he heard about the opening. A person writing an unsolicited letter often states where he heard about the company. Both types of letters are used to state details about the writer’s qualifications, background and skill. An unsolicited letter should also include some company information, such as an interesting fact or two the writer has learned about the company.

When writing a solicited letter, address the main point of the letter immediately without spending too much time on unnecessary details. An unsolicited letter must immediately catch the reader’s interest. Employers expect solicited letters when a job opening was announced, however, if no opening was posted, employers generally are not expecting to receive application letters. Therefore, an unsolicited letter must focus on benefiting the reader and the company. An unsolicited letter must also take action by the writer stating his intentions to call the company for a follow-up discussion regarding the application.

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The 2 Classes of Application Letters →

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What Is a Letter of Interest When Applying for a Job? →

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What is a Letter of Request? →

• IO: Application Letters
• DePauw University Writing Center: Application Letter/Personal Statement Writing

Jennifer VanBaren started her professional online writing career in 2010. She taught college-level accounting, math and business classes for five years. Her writing highlights include publishing articles about music, business, gardening and home organization. She holds a Bachelor of Science in accounting and finance from St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Ind.

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Personal statements & application letters, personal statements and application letters.

The process of applying for jobs, internships, and graduate/professional programs often requires a personal statement or application letter. This type of writing asks writers to outline their strengths confidently and concisely, which can be challenging.

Though the requirements differ from application to application, the purpose of this type of writing is to represent your goals, experiences and qualifications in the best possible light, and to demonstrate your writing ability. Your personal statement or application letter introduces you to your potential employer or program director, so it is essential that you allow yourself enough time to craft a polished piece of writing.

1) PREPARE YOUR MATERIALS

Before you sit down to write, do some preparation in order to avoid frustration during the actual writing process. Obtain copies of documents such as transcripts, resumes and the application form itself; keeping them in front of you will make your job of writing much easier. Make a list of important information, in particular names and exact titles of former employers and supervisors, titles of jobs you have held, companies you have worked for, dates of appropriate work or volunteer experiences, the duties involved etc. In this way, you will be able to refer to these materials while writing in order to include as much specific detail as possible.

2) WRITE A FIRST DRAFT

After you have collected and reviewed these materials, it is time to start writing. The following is a list of concerns that writers should keep in mind when writing a personal statement/application letter.

Answer the Question: A major problem for all writers can be the issue of actually answering the question being asked. For example, an application might want you to discuss the reason you are applying to a particular program or company. If you spend your entire essay or letter detailing your qualifications with no mention of what attracted you to the company or department, your statement will probably not be successful. To avoid this problem, read the question or assignment carefully both as you prepare and again just prior to writing. Keep the question in front of you as you write, and refer to it often. Consider The "I" Problem: This is a personal statement; using the first person pronoun "I" is acceptable. Writers often feel rather self-conscious about using first person excessively, either because they are modest or because they have learned to avoid first and second person ("you") in any type of formal writing. Yet in this type of writing using first person is essential because it makes your prose more lively. Using third person can result in a vague and overly wordy essay. While starting every sentence with "I" is not advisable, remember that you and your experiences are the subject of the essay. Avoid Unnecessary Duplication: Sometimes a writer has a tendency to repeat information in his or her personal statement that is already included in other parts of the application packet (resume, transcript, application form, etc.). For example, it is not necessary to mention your exact GPA or specific grades and course titles in your personal statement or application letter. It is more efficient and more effective to simply mention academic progress briefly ("I was on the Dean's List"; or "I have taken numerous courses in the field of nutrition") and then move on to discuss appropriate work or volunteer experiences in more detail. Make Your Statement Distinctive: Many writers want to make their personal statements unique or distinctive in some way as a means of distinguishing their application from the many others received by the company or program. One way to do this is to include at least one detailed example or anecdote that is specific to your own experience—perhaps a description of an important family member or personal moment that influenced your decision to pursue a particular career or degree. This strategy makes your statement distinctive and memorable. Keep It Brief: Usually, personal statements are limited to 250–500 words or one typed page, so write concisely while still being detailed. Making sure that each paragraph is tightly focused on a single idea (one paragraph on the strengths of the program, one on your research experience, one on your extracurricular activities, etc.) helps keep the essay from becoming too long. Also, spending a little time working on word choice by utilizing a dictionary and a thesaurus and by including adjectives should result in less repetition and more precise writing.

Personal Statement Format

As mentioned before, the requirements for personal statements differ, but generally a personal statement includes certain information and can follow this format (see following model).

Introduction Many personal statements begin with a catchy opening, often the distinctive personal example mentioned earlier, as a way of gaining the reader’s attention. From there you can connect the example to the actual program/position for which you are applying. Mention the specific name of the program or company, as well as the title of the position or degree you are seeking, in the first paragraph. Detailed Supporting Paragraphs Subsequent paragraphs should address any specific questions from the application, which might deal with the strengths of the program/position, your own qualifications, your compatibility with the program/position, your long-term goals or some combination thereof. Each paragraph should be focused and should have a topic sentence that informs the reader of the paragraph’s emphasis. You need to remember, however, that the examples from your experience must be relevant and should support your argument about your qualifications. Conclusion Tie together the various issues that you have raised in the essay, and reiterate your interest in this specific program or position. You might also mention how this job or degree is a step towards a long-term goal in a closing paragraph. An application letter contains many of the same elements as a personal statement, but it is presented in a business letter format and can sometimes be even shorter and more specific than a personal statement. An application letter may not contain the catchy opening of the personal statement but instead includes detailed information about the program or position and how you found out about it. Your application letter usually refers to your resume at some point. Another difference between a personal statement and an application letter is in the conclusion, which in an application letter asks for an interview.

3) REVISING THE PERSONAL STATEMENT/APPLICATION LETTER

Because this piece of writing is designed to either get you an interview or a place in a graduate school program, it is vital that you allow yourself enough time to revise your piece of writing thoroughly. This revision needs to occur on both the content level (did you address the question? is there enough detail?) and the sentence level (is the writing clear? are the mechanics and punctuation correct?). While tools such as spell-checks and grammar-checks are helpful during revision, they should not be used exclusively; you should read over your draft yourself and/or have others do so.

As a child I often accompanied my father to his small coin shop and spent hours watching him work. When I was older, I sometimes set up displays, waited on customers, and even balanced the books. This experience instilled in me the desire to own and manage my own business someday, yet I understand that the business world today is more complex. This complexity requires more education, and with that in mind, I am applying to the Master's of Business Administration program at Indiana University Bloomington (IUB). In addition to my helping out in my father’s business, I have had numerous other work experiences that further enhance my qualifications for this program. My resume enumerates the various positions I have held at Kerasotes Theaters, Chili's restaurants, and Indiana University's new Student Recreational Sports Center (SRSC), and what all of these positions have in common is an emphasis on serving the public effectively. Further, as an assistant manager at the Showplace 11 and a staff coordinator at the SRSC, I have gained valuable expertise in managing employees and creating work schedules. Both of these positions have allowed me to develop my sales and people skills, which are extremely important in an increasingly service-driven marketplace. Not all of my work experience has been as a paid employee. Part of my volunteering experience at Middleway House, the local battered women's shelter, involved extensive work on computers, including word processing, organizing databases and creating spreadsheets. Also, I recently participated in an internship program for academic credit with the Eli Lilly corporation in the personnel division. As a management intern, I was able to watch the workings of a major corporation up close and would like the opportunity to combine my experiences with the theoretical background available in the MBA program at IUB, with its emphasis on computers, marketing and human resources. My successful internship is one element of my overall academic success as an undergraduate here at IUB, yet I have also made time for a variety of extracurricular activities, including working for my sorority and competing in intramural basketball. My positive experiences here have resulted in my desire to stay in Bloomington to continue my academic endeavors; furthermore, continuing my education here would allow me to make important business contacts, with the career goal of opening my own computer consulting firm in the Midwest.

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Meaning of application letter in English

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Application Letter: Definition, Types and How to write it

We are all familiar with writing the application of leave of absence at least once in our lives. If you can’t relate, there are countless other times application letters are written. It can be for a job, asking for permission to host a football competition on the school grounds, asking for a transfer certificate after your dad gets posted somewhere else, etc. Here, I will tell you how you will write a general application letter.

What is an Application Letter?

If you’ve been following, the letter you write when you request for something, ask permission for something or apply for something, is an application letter. It is usually a one-page letter. It can be written for domestic or professional purposes. It can also accompany documents sometimes, like job application letters. So to say, application letters encompass more than cover letters; they can be an inquiry and a request letter too.

Types of Application Letters:

Following this thread, application letters can be classified into 3 broad groups . They include:

• Job Application Letter ( sample )
• Academic Application Letter ( sample )
• Personal Application Letter

Examples of job application letters include:

See cover letters

Examples of academic application letters include:

• Application letter seeking permission
• Scholarship application letter
• Application for leave of absence/in advance
• Application for a seat in the hostel
• Application for a testimonial, etc.

Examples of personal application letters include:

• Loan application letter
• Rental application letter
• Application letter for a deduction of fine
• Application withdrawal letter
• Internship application letter
• Transfer application letter
• Application letter for a travel grant, etc.

Note that these personal letters can be written person-to-person or person-to-business.

Steps on How to Write An Application Letter:

Like any other basic letter writing, the application letter starts with planning. Plan on the content, enquire about the recipient, think through about the details to include, keep things simple and short, and et voilà!

Let’s break things down.

Suppose you are writing an application to your college professor for the retake of your Microeconomics exam. Here’s how you draft your piece:

• Start with the date.
• Include the name of the professor, his post, department, and name of the university. Your professor can be an external or internal faculty. If he is an external faculty, mention this and the name of your university. If not, you still should include it to make things more precise. Add his contact information.
• Follow this up with the date. Proceed to the subject line, here, application for the retake on an exam is the subject.
• In the first paragraph, introduce yourself. Mention your name, batch, and program, followed by the course name. Now state why you are writing, which is to apply for the retake of your Microeconomics exam.
• Next paragraph should mention the reasons for you to skip the exam. Make sure they are valid grounds. If you had been sick, attach prescriptions or documents from the appointment. If you had been away for personal issues, give brief details of the event.
• In the closing paragraph, ask him/her to excuse you on these grounds and to retake your exam and say how it will be beneficial to you.
• Close with your details. Don’t forget to add your contact information like the mailing ID here.

Tips to Remember:

• Take care of the readability and white space in your letter.
• Make sure your pints connect with each other. Don’t include irrelevant information since an application is to be concise by format.
• Take care of grammatical and spelling errors.
• Be sure of the dates you are writing in the letter.

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