2. STRUCTURING YOUR LETTER

It must consist of 3 paragraphs :

YOU Why does company interest me? Why did the advertisement catch my attention ?
ME What can I bring to the company (experience, achievements) ?
WE Proposing cooperation, an interview

YOU
Why write to this company :
Do not waste a paragraph citing the advertisement to which you are replying. Place the reference in a subject line at the top, such as "Re" or "Subject". For example: "Re": the position of financial analyst advertised in ....... on .......... In this way, you start by getting straight to the point: why does company X interest you? Why would working in that economic branch stimulate you (if the company name is not given) ?

ME
The skills you can bring to it :
Those being sought. Reformulate (not repeat) the responsibilities of the post to show that you have understood what the company needs. Highlight your experience that matches what is being sought. Outline your plan and show that the company is in line with what you are hoping for. Demonstrate rather than list your qualities. - for example: instead of saying "I am independent", use an explanatory sentence: "Being capable of working independently, I am personally responsible for the laboratory's work plan and report to my director only once per week on my activities."
Additional skills you have, but which are not mentioned in the advert. Bring them into play! That will set your application apart from the rest. For example: "In addition to fully mastering the WinWord and WordPerfect word processing programmes, I am also quite conversant with Excel and Lotus spreadsheets and with English stenography".

WE
The proposal to meet :
If your letter has been patterned on what the company wants and your profile is an 80 per cent match, you cannot fail to be called in. So propose a meeting to the recruiting officer. Instead of the hackneyed formula "In the hope that my CV will merit your attention", write: "I shall be contacting you within the next week in order to set an appointment", and, of course, do not forget to do so! close with a traditional letter ending.

If the advert asks about the salary expected, what should you do ?

Propose to the recruiter to discuss the matter at the interview. For example: "Regarding the expected salary, we shall have the opportunity to discuss it during the interview, based on the responsibilities of the position and on its potential for advancement." Do you risk being eliminated by an impatient recruiting officer who would have preferred more precise information straightaway? Of course, but this risk would seem much less than that of being eliminated on account of overly unrealistic expectations.