Writing Job-Application Letters
Blinn College – Bryan Writing Center
Spring 2023
The Education Paragraph
If your education paragraph is stronger than your employment paragraph, as most students’ will be, place it before your
employment paragraph. In your paragraph, consider what aspect of your education best fits the job requirements. A good
strategy is to discuss skills and knowledge gained from advanced coursework in your major. You can also discuss the range
and diversity of your courses to show your versatility, if the job you are applying for stresses this. Your business or
communication skills that you acquired in college, as well as extracurricular activities, are often valuable to mention in your
education paragraph. Employees with leadership experience and skills are of value to many companies. Be sure to mention
your college major in the education paragraph if you have not already done so in your introductory paragraph.
Here is an example of an education paragraph that develops one unified idea, rather than a series of unrelated facts:
In addition to the courses required for a biology degree at Texas A & M University, I took several business courses to
enhance my education. Because your ad mentions that the position will require a great deal of client contact, I believe that
my work in marketing would be of special value to your company. In an upper-level course, I designed a twenty-page
pamphlet describing the hospital laboratory equipment that Peterson Hospital Equipment Company manufactures.
Peterson, where I am currently employed in a work/study program, is now using this sales pamphlet to market their
equipment.
Your own education paragraph should strive for a unified idea, as this one does.
The Employment Paragraph
Begin with a topic sentence and develop a single idea. The idea might be that you have a broad background or that a
particular job has given you special skills that will help you in the job for which you are applying. This is an example of an
effective employment paragraph:
For the past three summers, I have gained valuable experience as a technical editor at Space-Age Computers. The copy
editors had no special training in computers and needed someone who could help verify that their revisions were
technically correct. Our systems analysts answered my questions for me when I did not know the answers to our copy
editors’ questions, thereby increasing my own understanding of computer systems. My position in the company provided
me with excellent training in the creation of operating manuals.
The Concluding Paragraph
The purpose of the concluding paragraph is to encourage the reader to invite you for an interview. In the earlier
paragraphs, you provided information to convince the reader to give you a second look. Your last paragraph should make it
easy for the person to contact you. The following elements are in a good concluding paragraph: a reference to your
résumé, a polite but confident request for an interview, and your phone number and e-mail address. Use the phrase “at
your convenience” when requesting an interview and state the time of day you can be reached. Below is an effective
example of a concluding paragraph:
More information about my education and work experience is provided in the enclosed résumé, but I would appreciate an
opportunity to meet with you at your convenience to discuss further skills and experience I could bring to your company.
You can reach me on Wednesdays and Fridays after 1:00 P.M. at (979)784-6595, or leave a message for me anytime on my
Source:
Markel, Mike. Technical Communication. 8th
ed., Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007, pp. 387-93.
For more information on writing job application letters and résumés, with examples of each, see Chapter 12 of the technical
writing textbook:
Tebeaux, Elizabeth, and Sam Dragga. The Essentials of Technical Communication. 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2015, pp. 344-68.