Business Letter Format - Types of Business Letters

The Business Letter is a writing message for a specific purpose: to sell, buy, thank claim, charge, etc. One comes across various types of business letters written for specific purposes. It is very important to know how to write such business letters as the business letter formats for each of them vary and most professional business letters can be categorized broadly into three main types based on their usage. These categories of business letters are as follows.

The Client to Business Letter Format

This form of business letter is written by clients, employees, job seekers or simply a junior authority within or outside the organisation and is addressed to a superior requesting action on any matter of personal or company interest. The tone of a client to business type letter is formal and assertive at the same time. Many a time’s job seekers have only this one opportunity to present themselves and impress their potential employer or on the other hand announce their intention to move on. Examples of this type of Business Letter include Application Letters, Statement of Purpose, Resumes, Cover Letters, Curriculum Vitae, Letter of Reference, etc. These types of business letters also include resignation letter and last day thank you mails. The format of Business Letters of this type can be found here.

The Business to Business Letter Format

Business to business type of letters are written for company to company communication and are more formally drafted than others and sometimes may be drafted ay an attorney on behalf of the company. These letters are written to make a sale, invite bidders, ask for critical information, to express interest in some of the companies work, request quotation, or simply terminate an agreement. Such letters are often written by Managers of senior executives of companies and require considerable deliberation and preparation for writing a business letter. The formats for such business letters can be found here.

The Business to Client Letter Format

An Example of Business to Client letter would be anything from an appointment letter confirming the appointment of the client or the new recruit, a recommendation letter from your university, Letter of Appreciation from the benevolent boss, a thank you letter written to a business team member or an associate, acknowledgment letter or letter of recognition for one’s contribution to the team. Such business letters are somewhat less formal and intended to please the client. However a really harsh termination letter or a critically drafted scrutiny letter or memo can also come under this type. Get more Business letter templates of this type here.

This site has made a sincere effort at providing you with all the information needed for you to write your business letters with style. Read more about the most commonly used Block format of writing business letters and check out the ready-made Business LetterTemplates on this site.

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Sample Application Letter for a Sabbatical Leave

A Sabbatical leave is a temporary break from employment where you continue to be an employee of the organization but are moved out of the payroll. Many organization provide its employers an option to take a sabbatical leave for a duration ranging from anywhere between 2 weeks to a year. During this period you are not entitled to any benefits or compensation and nor can you represent your organization in any capacity. The period of sabbatical does not add up to your experience.

Many professionals these days apply for a sabbatical leave to pursue an entrepreneurial venture, explore a hobby, travel or work for a social cause. You will have to simply put in your Application or a sabbatical leave in accordance with your organization’s policies. In India Teach of India is one such social initiative inviting young people to dedicate a year to educating children.

Following is a sample application letter for sabbatical leave to pursue a social cause.

Adityan Kannan

89 Mangesh Street,

Chennai

Tamil Nadu

  

To,

Radhesham Tiwari

MLL Financial Corporation

Padur,  

Chennai,

Tamil Nadu

India

Date: 02 December, 2015

Subject: Application for sabbatical leave

Dear Mr. Williams,

I am writing this letter to request a one month sabbatical leave, beginning from 09 January 2016. My date of return will be 10 February 2017. As per my employment contract, I am giving one month prior notice and will do my best for smooth handover of my ongoing project.

I am looking forward to use this time to work with social entrepreneurs at Aastha NGO network to apply my skills and knowledge for social service by enrolling into “Teach India” program. The program is aimed at teaching poor children. I am also looking forward to return with renewed inspiration and energy.

Thank you for your support. Please do not hesitate contact me if you require further information.

Hope to see you all soon!

Warm Regards!

Adityan Kannan

Business Analyst

Also check out how to apply for a Maternity Leave.  

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The Difference between a Resume, a CV and a Biodata

As a business student currently facing the placement season, I sometimes feel that people expect me to know a lot more than I actually do especially when it comes to resumes or CVs and applying to jobs. While that is true most of the times, there have been times where some very basic and simple questions have stunned me into silence. For instance, when asked the difference between a resume, a CV and a biodata, for the world of me I could not think of any differences! 

I am sure many of you too must have been in this spot where you were completely stumped because you had no answer. Somewhere deep inside you know these are different types of letters, but you just can’t articulate what it is. Well, there is quite a bit of difference among the three and this article is dedicated to ensure no one is ever in this spot again!

Resume: The word “resume” is French for “summary” or “summarized” and a resume is quite literally just that – a summary of one’s work experience, education and skills. A resume is generally about a page long. It is said that a resume helps in getting one till an interview while it is the C.V. that aids one through the interview. We will talk about the C.V. after this. Since a resume is short, one tends to highlight specific skills and experience that would be relevant to the job they are applying to.

C.V.: C.V. is short for curriculum vitae. It is a Latin word meaning “course of life”. While the resume was a terse description of one’s education, skills and experience, a C.V. is a more detailed description of the same. It is generally 2-3 pages long and can even be longer – there is no word or page limit for a C.V.

It essentially captures everything a person has undergone and achieved be it education (like courses taken, honours or awards won for excelling at a particular subject, research papers written) employment (positions held, projects undertaken, appreciation for excellent work received) or skills (highlighting particular skills or talent that would help in doing well in the job). A C.V. generally also includes personal information like parent’s name, date of birth, address etc.

While both C.V.s and resume are used for applying to new jobs or job switch, the C.V. is also used for academic purpose in European countries, especially the UK and in the USA as well. While the UK C.V.s are generally shorter and more like the resumes, in USA C.V.s are expected to be longer and more detailed. In India, resumes and C.V.s are essentially the same. They are used as synonyms. Both resumes and C.V.s are typically used to screen applicants for a potential job opening.

Biodata: Biodata stands for “biographical data” and is an Indian concept especially used especially during marriage proposal talks. It includes anything and everything under the sun about the applicant – starting from personal information like age, gender, height, weight, religion etc, to education, employment, salary etc. While biodata is often used for application for Government jobs, it is not popular in the international circle where personal information about the candidate is not required.

Well, I hope this article cleared the eternal confusion of Resume vs CV vs Biodata!

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Block Format for Business Letters

The style and format for writing business letters has evolved over the past several decades and has adjusted itself to more or less the corporate culture of its times. The most commonly followed and universally accepted business letter format of the present times is the Block format of writing business letters.

Apart from the Block Format there are also two more formats namely the Modified Block Format and the Semi-Block Format. But we recommend that you follow the block format of business letters unless specified otherwise by your organisation.

Business Letter Format – The Block Format

The block format is the simplest format to follow and specifies that all the content of the business letter should be left aligned and justified. Note that you don’t indent at all in the block format or block style. Have a look at the following sample business letter to understand the different elements of the block format of business letters.

2130 Fairmount Ave

Philadelphia, PA 19130                                                  I – Return Address

United States

Single space

June 21, 2015                                                                II – Current Date

Two to three spaces

Mrs. Katie Ross                                                             

The Admissions Dept, Rockefeller College

61 Nassau St                                                                  III – Inside Address

Princeton, NJ 08542

United States

Double space

Dear Mrs Katie Ross:                                                     IV – Salutation

Double space

Subject: Application for scholarship                                V – Subject Line       

Double space

I write to you to know the status of my application for admission into the prestigious fellowship program at Rockefeller College....................

Double space

The details of my application are as follows................... VI - Body 

Double space

Please update me with the status as soon as possible. I have also enclosed a copy of my application for reference......

Double space

Sincerely yours,                                                              VII – Closing

                       Four to five spaces for signature           VIII – Signature

Jonathan Webb                                                              IX – Printed Name

Student

Double space

Enclosures (2)

1.    Application Letter

2.    Application Form                                                       X - Enclosures

Double space

Reference Initials                                                           XI – Reference Initials

Margins and Paper: A Business Letter is always written on a standard 8”x 11”A4 size paper with 1” to 1.5” margin on the each side of the paper. Official letters are printed on a bond paper of good quality. The font has to a standard font out of Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman or Verdana. 

I – Return Address: The address of the sender is written without the name of the sender. There is no heading or any indent and the address line starts on the left.

II – Current Date: The date is written after a single space starting with the month eg. January 10, 2015 or starting with the day followed by the month eg. 10 January, 2015. The comma is always placed before the year.

Refer to the sample above for line spacing mentioned in italics wherever applicable.

III – Inside Address: The address of the recipient with the Name and designation of the recipient. If you are not sure of the designation it’s better to leave it blank. Note that both the return address and the inside address do not have any commas or full stops.

IV – Salutation: The salutation starts with a Dear followed by Mr. / Mrs. / Miss followed by full name and ends with a colon. Some organisation prefer to leave out the word dear and simply address the recipient with Mr./ Mrs/ Miss. A doctor should be addressed as Dr.

V – Subject Line: The subject line is very important and should be as concise as possible yet give the full context of the letter. Read more about how to write a professional business letter to get this right. The above sample is a type application letter.

VI – Body: The main content of the letter is written mainly in three to four paragraphs. The first paragraph is the introduction followed by the details and third and fourth paragraphs are action points and conclusion respectively. Double line spaces are left after each paragraph. The body changes as per the different types of business letters and needs to be modified accordingly.

VII – Closing: The closing of the letter is used to establish your position with respect to the recipient. It tells the reader that you have finished and is usually written as ‘Sincerely yours’ or ‘Thanking you’. Notice that only the first letter is capitalised and not each letter. Keep this short to two to three words.

VIII – Signature: This is where you sign. Leave enough space of four to five lines so that you signature is just above your printed name.

IX – Printed Name: Your printed name along with your designation. Again there are no commas or full stops in here too.

X – Enclosure/s: If there is only one enclosure mention it in front of the word <Enclosure:>. If you have more than one enclosures the mention the number of enclosures other than the letter itself in the brackets as shown above. Then write the document names and reference numbers of each enclosure in a ordered list below it.

XI – Reference Initials: (Optional) if you have marked cc or bcc to any other department mention it here.

This is about it! Congratulations! You can now draft those perfect professional business letters in the block format. However it’s always good to have a look at some business letter templates or application letters and understand the process of drafting good quality business letters.

Found this article useful or feel there is something we left out? Let us know through the comments section below.

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