Follow Up Letter

Follow-Up Letters

Follow-up letters are usually sent for two reasons: first, follow-up letters serve as an opportunity for additional contact after an initial meeting, career fair, or networking meeting; second, follow-up letters can effectively revive a job search by reconnecting a contact with whom you have not spoken in a while.

Follow-up letters can be sent by post or email. You should make your letter as formal or as informal as your relationship with the contact dictates. Use previous forms of communication with the employers as indicators.

An effective follow-up letter serves two purposes:

(1) It reminds the interviewer of your skills, knowledge and abilities; with the number of candidates they are interviewing, it can be easy to get lost in the crowd.

(2) It demonstrates that you remain interested in working for the company and that you were impressed by the organizational culture.

FOLLOW-UP LETTER GUIDE

A follow-up letter should let the reader know the following:

• That you appreciated your initial meeting
• Where you stand in your current job search
• Anything relevant that has occurred between the initial meeting and now (e.g., if you have graduated, if you have reached out to any specific contacts, etc.)
• What type of help you now need (e.g., additional contact names, job leads, etc.)

Formats Of Writing A Letter

LETTER FORMATS:

1. Full Block Form:

In a full block letter every line begins at the left margin. This is easier to type.

2. Modified Block Form:

Modified block form is used frequently in business. All parts except the date, complimentary close

and signature sections begin at the left margin. The date, complimentary close and signature area

may start at the horizontal center of the page or to the right of center.

3. Modified Block form with Paragraph Indentations:

It is like the modified block form except that its paragraphs are indented. The date complimentary

close and signature area begin at the horizontal center of the page.

4. ASM simplified form:

This form ASM been recommended by the Administrative Management Society of USA as an

important time saving step. Following are important features.

(i) Full block style and open punctuation's are used.

(ii) Salutation and complimentary close are omitted, but to personalize reader’s name is used at

least in the first sentence.

(iii) Subject line is typed in capital letters and the word “subject” is omitted.

(iv) Signer’s name and business title are typed in capital letters.

5. Hanging or Inverted Paragraph Form:

This form is commonly used in sales and advertising letters. The key words are “hanging” in the

left margin at the start of each paragraph with other lines indented. Sometimes the key words are

typed in capital letters for more emphasis.