During a recent plane journey, you sat next to a businessman who owns a chain of restaurants. You talked to him and he suggested that you should contact him about a possible job in one of his restaurants. Write a letter to this businessman. In your letter: - remind him when and where you met - tell him what kind of job you are interested in - say why you think you would be suitable for the job
Sample Response
Dear Mr. Adam,
My name is Owen Clarke, and I am writingI am Owen Clarke, writing to follow up on our conversation during our flight from Toronto to New York on 1212th March. We had a pleasant discussion about the hospitality industry, and you mentioned how your restaurantsrestaurants and hotels have been serving local residents and touristsmany locals and tourists in Toronto for the last five years. During our conversation, you kindly suggested that I contact you regarding a potential positionpotential job opportunities at one of your restaurants.
I am particularly interested in a restaurant managermanagement position within your chain. With five years of experience in the hospitality sector, including my recent role as an assistant manager at a fine-dining restaurant, I have developed strong skills in team leadership, customer service, and business operations. I am passionate about delivering exceptional dining experiences and ensuring smooth restaurant operationsseamless restaurant management.
Given my experience and enthusiasm for the industry, I believe I would be a valuable addition to your team. I would welcomelove the opportunity to discuss this further at your convenience. Please let me know a suitable time for a meeting.
Yours sincerely,
Owen Clarke
Why this response received Band 8.0
The letter is direct, professional, and complete: it clearly recalls the flight, identifies the desired management role, and supports suitability with specific experience and skills. Its strongest feature is the economical development of relevant evidence in an appropriately courteous register. The main improvement is to remove the minor reference to hotels, which is not part of the restaurant opportunity, and sharpen the requested next step with proposed availability.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are fully addressed with specific, relevant detail and a clear request for further discussion.
Keep the reminder focused on the restaurant conversation and offer one or two possible meeting times to make the follow-up even more actionable.
Coherence and Cohesion
The three focused paragraphs create an effortless progression from shared context to job interest, suitability, and next action.
Preserve this concise structure and remove the small hotel-related aside from the opening paragraph.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is precise, varied, and professionally appropriate, especially in describing hospitality experience and management skills.
Avoid slight repetition of "restaurant management" by varying the second instance with "daily operations" or another exact responsibility.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex sentences, participial phrases, and coordination are handled accurately with strong punctuation control.
As a refinement, shorten the first paragraph’s longest sentence so the reminder and invitation to apply remain equally prominent.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
During a recent plane journey, you sat next to a businessman who owns a chain of restaurants. You talked to him and he suggested that you should contact him about a possible job in one of his restaurants. Write a letter to this businessman. In your letter:
- remind him when and where you met
- tell him what kind of job you are interested in
- say why you think you would be suitable for the job
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.