standard application form curriculum vitae...

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VI. FORMAL WRITING – FORMÁLNÍ PÍSEMNÝ PROJEV

1. Introducory remarks

Formal written communicaton ranges from filling in forms , writing business letters, letters of

application of various types, cover letters, personal statements, and CV´s (résumés), to

academic writing of reports, research plans and reports, essays, papers, and contributions to

scientific journals. Each of these follows its specific layout and strategy; their aim is to

provide facts, ideas, and information. The language used , therefore, should be clear,

straightforward, and without mistakes. All require to take pains to do them well.

Standard Application Form Various institutions may provide their own applications forms , usually accompanied by

personal statements. This is a standard British form.

1. Exercise:

1) Fill in the form, paying attention to all items.

(Viz příloha 02 – Standard Application Form)

Curriculum Vitae [k ,rikjul m ´vi tai]/ résumé [´rezju, mei]

1. Introductory remarks

The CV is a summary of all your activities and professional and practical experience. It may

contain some of the facts given already in the application form /letter of application/ personal

statement. The CV usually goes together with some kind of application, is always written

with some purpose as a response to some job announcement/advertisement/job notice/job

opening announcement, and thus should always be tailored for the specific purpose, be

impressive, and provide only true statements. It will stress different facts for a business job or

for some grant or academic-related position, as below. There is not one universal format how

to write the CV, but there is one universal recommendation: take your time to write an

impressive CV.

2. How to write a CV

1) The CV should be structured and divided into sections. There are many formats how

to arrange the facts and what headings to give the sections. Often only short phrases

are preferred instead of full sentences, e.g. “studied for a PhD“ (instead of “I studied

for a PhD“ – byl jsem v doktorandském studiu), “studying for a PhD“ (instead of “ I

am studying for a PhD“ – jsem doktorandem)

2) The Personal/identification/statistical Data section includes the name, address,

telephone number (mobile, Skype), e-mail address. Information on age, sex, marital

status, number of children, etc., is not to be included.

3) The Career Goals/Objective section is often seen, suggesting where the applicant is

heading professionally. .

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4) The Qualifications/Education section is often grouped together with the writer´s

experience, being then Qualifications and Work/Professional/Educational Experience.

The ordering of information is important – it can be arranged chronologically or in the

reverse order, i.e., starting from themost recent. If the grammar/secondary technical

school background is relevant to the applicant´s higher eduation, it can be mentioned,

but not otherwise. The university, faculty, department, the master thesis topic, year of

graduation and degree obtained are important, as well as involvement in research.

Also, all kinds of honours and awards should be mentioned, as well as other out-of-

class activities relevant to the application, unless included in a special section

Honours and Activities, if of great importance.

5) The Extracurricular Activities/Interests/Additional Information/Personal skills section

, if mentioned, will give a broader view of the applicant´s scope of interests, and will

cover hobbies, special skills, specialised courses taken, language competence, etc.

6) The References section will either state that “references are available upon request“

or list the references´ (referees´) names and addresses. Before listing someone as a

reference, ask the person if he or she is willing to serve in that role.

3 . Examples of authentic CVs

1) CV of R.Healey (Viz příloha č. 3 - CV)

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2) CV of Brian D.Wylie

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3) CV of Michael Hunt

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4. Exercises :

1) Write your own detailed CV and match it to a chosen advertisement.

Letters


Formal letters include a variety of types, e.g. Letter of Complaint (stížnost), Letter of

Recommendation (doporučujícíc dopis), Letter of Application (žádost), Letter of Application

for Admission (žádost o přijetí ke studiu), Letter of Application for Employment (žádost o

místo), various types of Business Letters (obchodní korespondence).

A slightly confusing term is the Cover Letter -“průvodní dopis“ – because it may mean both

a short letter sent with something to explain what you are sending or to give extra

information, especially in business writing, and also “ žádost o místo“ – a cover letter for an

academic or business job, especially in American English. Both differ in their content. The

latter stresses academic accomplishments and is one and a half to two pages long. It may be

similar in content to Personal Statement (motivační dopis), which , in fact, is not written in

the letter layout and format at all.

All letters, however long they may be, follow their given format : introduction/opening

(usually one paragraph, but very important) , body of the letter, and closing. In electronic

letter exchange letters tend to get slightly less formal.

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2. Academic cover letters and Sample Letter – Purdue materials

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3. Examples of letters of application : 1) Re: EFL job application

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2) Letter of application for admission

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4. Exercises:

1) Read the Purdue texts and underline all phrases that may be useful for

writing your own cover letter.

2) Get acquainted with the structure and content of the letter.

3) Choose an advertisement/job notice related to your interests and apply

for the post. Follow the suggested structure and use appropriate

vocabulary and phrases.The letter will be at least 1.5 page long.

4) Attach a short letter to your article.

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5. The Basic Business Letter – Purdue materials

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6. Useful suggestions and phrases for writing a letter

1) Write your address in the upper right-hand-side corner of the sheet. However, in

academic cover letters it is often omitted, as well as in electronic communication.

Include the postcode (zip code), telephone number, e-mail address. In academic cover

letters the telephone/e-mail contact is given in the closing paragraph.

2) After one blank line in between – write the date : day, month, year; the US usage is

month, day, year. If possible, write the month in full. In electronic writing the date is

omitted. In the academic cover letter, if the sender´s address is not given, the date

comes before the recipient´s address.

3) On the left side of the sheet in the academic cover letter, write the date, after one blank

line in between, write the addressee´s name and address

4) After one blank line in between write the salutation: Dear Dr./Professor/Mr/Mrs/Ms/

Miss + surname; Dear Madam/Sir (to unknown person); Dear Sirs/Gentlemen (US

usage) for several people; the salutation is followed by comma (in British usage) or

colon (US usage) – note the capital letters

5) In the introductory paragraph you may say:

With reference to your advertisement in …. for…

I am writing in reply to the job notice …

I am applying for the position/post of/as ………… as advertised in ……

I with to apply for the post of …….

6) Explain why you are applying:

I feel that my qualifications match your requirements..

My qualifications are as follows..

I feel I would be a suitable candidate for …..

I wish to gain more experience in ….

Having already studied similar issues ….

7) Say that there are enclosures:

Please find enclosed / I enclose the names and addresses of referees/references

„ „ „ my curriculum vitae/résumé

8) Make reference to hearing from the institution/employer

I could come for an interview at any time which would suit you

I am available for an interview at your convenience

I would be glad to attend an interview

I look forward to hearing from you

9) To close the letter write

Yours faithfully/Faithfully yours (followed by a comma) if the salutation is Dear

Sir/Madam

Yours sincerely/Sincerely yours/Sincerely (Followed by a comma) with surnames in

the salutation

10) Please note : in English, pronoun “I“ is always capitalized, pronoun,“you“ is never

capitalized; in the salutation, words Doctor and Professor are capitalized , so are

names of institutions and posts held

Personal Statement – Motivační dopis


The term “motivační dopis“ in Czech is somewhat misleading because personal statement is

not a letter as such at all. In fact, it is a clever essay written by the applicant and submitted

(very often on request) to the school/university/employer/grant board, or some decision-

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making body. That is why it can also be referred to as Statement of Purpose or Statement of

Proposed Activity, as the case may be.

The Statement goes together with the application for admission to undergraduate or

(post)graduate (i.e., Master or PhD) programmes, for a job, for some financial support like a

scholarship, fellowship, grant, etc., and adds information about the applicant that is not

included in the CV or some application form. The Statement is always tailored for the specific

purpose and should support the application by giving detailed reasons for it. It may include

similar information as an academic cover letter.

There are two types of Statements : at first, a free essay, giving the applicant a choice

what to write , and , at second, a response to very specific questions. The latter type is usual

also with grant applications to support projects, where the questions may refer to:

- the applicant´s/grantee´s education/research background

- reasons for requested financial support

- time and cost estimates

- place of intended research

- details about the project

- multiplication effect

- language competence (for foreign grants )

Detailed strategies and examples of Statements are given in the Purdue materials.

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2. Sample personal statement and the don´ts

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3. Writing the Personal Statement (and examples) – Purdue materials

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4. Exercises:

1) Write a personal statement accompanying an application for a grant or postdoctoral fellowship (at least one page long)

Research Plan

1.Introductory remarks

Preparing research is a complex issue involving several steps.

Prior to beginning one´s research, any researcher should

1) exactly formulate the problem to be investigted (which is very difficult to do)

2) study the state of the art of the issue both at home and abroad, also get in touch with

peers (i.e., get acquainted with all the possible sources)

3) set the goals

4) design and prepare the solution (how to collect data, how to approach the problem,

who to cooperate with, check facilities for experiments, maybe design new

instruments, assess the required time and finance available, etc.

5) design the expected methodology and strategies

Research has its own ethics summarized in the Ethics Code (not included here)

Research is most often done in teams, so close cooperation and discussions are desirable.

With PhD students, guidance and supervision provided by the supervisor is the way to

teach them do research and to learn its methodology and strategies. Detailed instructions

for preparing the research plan make use of US materials, and following them, the plan

would amount to 30 pages. The outcome of any research is a report/paper/conference

contribution.

2. Exercise

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1) Read the instructions how to organize a research plan. Discuss your

own research plan with your supervisor and try to formulate it in

a written form on two pages according to the instructions

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Report on Studies


After each semester/academic year PhD students are expected to write a report on the

progress they are making and their achievements in reserach. As usual, the report follows the

usual structure :

- introduction, which is an outline of the studies, research, and other responsibilities

- body of the report , which describes what has been done and achieved

- conclusion, which summarizes in short the success or difficulties and looks ahead

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2.Exercise:

1) Write a report on your PhD training – at least 1.5 page long. Make use of

the technical and professional vocabulary from the previous parts of

these materials.

standard application form curriculum vitae...

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