How To Write A Letter Of Inquiry (With Examples)

If you’re job searching for the career of your dreams, writing a letter of inquiry, also often called an LOI or a job inquiry letter, can be a great way to stand out, network with professionals in your field, find qualifying open positions, and, eventually, get hired to do work you love.

Generally, writing a letter of inquiry tends to be a more proactive way for job seekers to establish a positive professional relationship with individuals, teams, and companies they’re interested in working with.

Instead of waiting for job advertisements to be posted online or on public job boards, a letter of inquiry goes right to the source and can be a great method of finding your next career job before the competition. Moreover, writing a job inquiry letter will also allow you to express interest in any future job openings in a business.

A letter of inquiry is especially important if you’re looking to work at a specific company or in a specific role. Being proactive and notifying an employer, hiring manager, or corporation of your interest through a job inquiry letter can greatly benefit you during your job search and throughout the onboarding and hiring processes.

Suppose you’re interested in career growth and development. In that case, chances are you’ll need to write a great job inquiry letter emphasizing your interest, previous experience, relevant education, and top-notch skills and qualifications. Writing a perfect letter of inquiry will bring you one step closer to landing your dream job.

The letter of inquiry template and tips outlined in this article can prove instrumental in writing a professional job inquiry letter and landing a top-paying and rewarding career for job-seekers searching for occupations in specific fields or at a specified business or corporation.

What Is a Letter of Inquiry?

A letter of inquiry refers to a professional document sent by a job seeker to an employer or hiring manager which references an individual’s professional skills and qualifications and explicitly asks if there are any job openings within the company.

A job inquiry letter is a great platform for both highlighting your professional expertise and explaining how you could benefit the company you’re inquiring with. Similar to a cover letter, in a letter of inquiry, job seekers should aim to tell hiring managers why they’re the best-suited candidate for any potential job openings.

Unlike a cover letter, which is typically sent to an employer along with a formal job application for a position that is already posted on their website or a public job site, a letter of inquiry is sent before a position becomes vacant or a company begins accepting applicants for open roles.

The purpose of a letter of inquiry is to contact employers who may be hiring but don’t necessarily have active job postings, so it’s important to put your best foot forward and use your LOI to stand out and, hopefully, be considered for employment.

The best letters of inquiry reiterate the qualifications and experiences listed on your resume and serve to convey your personality, work style, and professional goals while explaining your enthusiasm and excitement at the opportunity to work in a specific role or at a specific company.

When to Send a Letter of Inquiry

Figuring out when to send a letter of inquiry is almost as important as sending the letter itself.

Depending on the field you’re seeking employment in, where you are in your career, or the company you’re inquiring with, there can be a right and wrong time to send a job inquiry letter.

If you work in a field where hiring typically occurs around a specific time each year, like a teacher, camp counselor, or seasonal employee, it’s usually best to send your letter of inquiry a few weeks before that hiring season.

Likewise, if you’re graduating college, high school, or any other professional certification course, it’s also a great idea to send your inquiry letters out a few weeks before graduating.

For most other careers, where hiring doesn’t necessarily happen on a specific schedule, it may be a good idea to research the company and its employees and check out their competition to predict when they may start hiring and send your inquiry letter out accordingly.

How to Write a Letter of Inquiry

Just like a professional office letter, your letter of inquiry should be clean, concise, and professional. An effective job inquiry letter will bring your skills, qualifications, and previous relevant experience to life and successfully summarize and capture your enthusiasm and passion.

Generally, your job inquiry letter should be a one-page correspondence that highlights your key qualifications and explains how you could benefit the business or organization. The trick to writing a perfect inquiry letter is properly structuring the professional document so that it is both easy to read and informative.

A great letter of inquiry is typically composed of:

• A professional header in which you professionally address the hiring manager, supervisor, or employer.

• A compelling and memorable introduction paragraph in which you clearly express your interest in employment.

• A dense body paragraph that focuses on your skills and qualifications, interest in the company, and how you could benefit the business.

• A conclusion that offers a proposal or asks for a job interview.

• A professional salutation and signature which includes your best contact information.

In addition to following this professional outline, job-seekers writing inquiry letters should always double-check their LOI before submitting it to a company. Proofreading will help eliminate typos and grammatical errors and ensure you put your best foot forward and make a lasting first impression.

Generally, job inquiry letters, like professional cover letters, should be between three and four paragraphs long — and less than one page. The business document should also be formatted with standard one-inch page margins and written in a generic font.

Letter of Inquiry Tips

When writing a well-formatted, clean, and concise letter of inquiry, it’s important to stay professional and on track, structure your letter appropriately, be bold and confident, and send your letter to the best-suited individual at the company you’re inquiring with.

To help you ace your letter of inquiry and bring you one step closer to getting hired, we’ve rounded up some of the top tips you should follow when writing your job inquiry letter.

Here are the top five tips you should follow when writing a letter of inquiry:

1. Find the best person in the company to send your letter of inquiry. When sending a professional letter of inquiry, it’s essential to address the document to an individual at the company, rather than addressing it to “hiring manager” or “whom it may concern.”

   Addressing your inquiry letter to a team member, employer, supervisor, or human resources professional will ensure that the letter reaches the intended individual and has the biggest impact. Researching the company before sending your letter is imperative.

   Depending on the type of role you’re inquiring about, it may be a good idea to send your letter of inquiry to a team leader, department supervisor, or the company’s recruiter or human resources director. Once you determine who to send your letter to, be sure to professionally address them using the correct title and their full first and last name.

2. Structure your letter appropriately. Appropriately structuring your job inquiry letter is the best way of making a lasting first impression and eliciting the intended response. Just like a cover letter, you would include in a formal job application, a letter of inquiry should be composed similarly to a professional business letter.

   As such, a letter of inquiry should be formatted with standard one-inch page margins, written in a generic font, like Times New Roman, and organized into well-structured and grammatically correct sentences and paragraphs.

   When structuring your letter of inquiry, it’s important to include a professional header, a compelling and memorable first paragraph, an introduction, a dense body paragraph focusing on your qualifications and interest in the company.

   It will also need a conclusion that offers a proposal, asks for a job interview, or shows interest, an appropriate salutation, and, finally, a professional signature that includes your best contact information.

3. Stay on track. It’s important to stay focused and remember your primary goal for inquiring with a specific company when composing a letter of inquiry. Staying on track will ensure that your inquiry letter is clear, concise, and to the point, which, in turn, will have the biggest impact on hiring managers and prospective employers.

   One of the best ways to stay on track when writing a letter of inquiry is to explicitly explain why you’re interested in the company and ask if there are any upcoming job openings that you may be a good fit for.

   Clearly highlighting your qualifications and briefly explaining your professional abilities and industry experience is also a great way of illustrating your work style and skill level, which can help you make a great first impression and bring you one step closer to getting hired.

4. Be bold, confident, and professional. The perfect letter of inquiry should be bold and exude confidence and professionalism. Explicitly asking for an interview and clearly explaining how you would benefit the company by referencing your top-notch skills and qualifications will ensure your inquiry letter is sharp, distinct, and eye-catching.

   Conveying confidence in your skills and abilities and remaining professional throughout your inquiry letter by appropriately structuring the document and addressing the hiring manager, supervisor, or employer will help you get notices and make a lasting first impression.

5. Don’t be afraid to follow up. Sometimes, even the best letters of inquiry go unanswered. But, just as you were proactive when writing and sending your inquiry letter, it’s important to be proactive afterward as well.

   If you don’t hear back from a company after sending an inquiry letter, don’t be afraid to follow up with them to ensure they received your letter and further express your interest in working with them.

   Generally, following up after sending a job inquiry letter only increases your chances of securing an interview as it shows your commitment and enthusiasm for the company. If you don’t hear back from a company after inquiring with them, sending an email or making a quick phone call a few weeks after sending your letter may be a good idea.

Example of a Letter of Inquiry

If you’re on the hunt for a rewarding career in your field of expertise, writing a professional letter of inquiry is a great way of networking with industry professionals and finding your dream job.

Using a letter of inquiry template when composing and submitting your LOI could help you get hired by companies across nearly professional industries.

Here’s a great example of a professional and properly formatted letter of inquiry:

Final Thoughts

Writing a perfectly formatted, grammatically correct, and compelling letter of inquiry can prove essential in getting noticed by professionals in your field and eventually getting hired by the company of your dreams.

Clearly communicating your interest and noting your most desirable professional and technical skills and qualifications in your letter of inquiry will help you make a positive and lasting first impression on hiring managers and prospective employers and can ultimately bring you one step closer to landing your dream position.

By using the tips and template provided in this article, you’ll be well on your way to crafting a perfect job inquiry letter.

Author

Elsie Boskamp

Elsie is an experienced writer, reporter, and content creator. As a leader in her field, Elsie is best known for her work as a Reporter for The Southampton Press, but she can also be credited with contributions to Long Island Pulse Magazine and Hamptons Online. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from Stony Brook University and currently resides in Franklin, Tennessee.