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 Reynold, I am Paul Strang, and I am lucky enough to have been introduced to you just a few days ago. I am not sure whetherNot sure if you will remember me, but I spoke with youhad an opportunity to talk with you about two weeks ago when we were both flyingwe both were travelling by air from Boston to Dallas. I sat next to youwas sitting next to you, and after we introduced ourselveswe got introduced, we had an interesting conversationsome interesting conversations. You were kind enough to suggest thatsuggest to me that I should contact you for a possible positionpossible job position at one of your restaurants. I am therefore writingSo, here I am, sir, as I would like to apply for a managerial position at one of your restaurantsat your restaurant. I think that I would be a very suitable candidate for such a position in one of your restaurantsthe managerial position in one of your restaurants because I have already worked as an Assistant Human ResourcesResource and Payroll Manager for a large and busy residential hotel in my hometown. I have learned a great deal about customers’ needs in the service industry. In addition, IBesides, I also have a postgraduatepost-graduate diploma in human resource management. ThereforeSo, based on my credentials and experience, I believe I couldI think, I should be able to contribute effectively to your businessrender excellent service to your company. I would very much like to work for your company. I hope you will give meI am hoping that you would give me an opportunity to prove my worth. Yours sincerely, Paul Strang
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter covers all three requirements convincingly, especially by identifying the Boston-to-Dallas flight and linking relevant hotel-management experience and qualifications to the requested managerial role. Its main limitation is presentation: the entire letter forms one block, while conversational phrases and several awkward collocations weaken the professional register. The priority is to organise the response into clear functional paragraphs and make the application language more natural.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The meeting is clearly recalled, the desired managerial position is specified, and suitability is supported with relevant experience and a qualification, though the tone occasionally becomes too conversational.
Replace informal appeals such as ‘here I am, sir’ and ‘prove my worth’ with a concise, professional request for consideration.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas progress logically from the meeting reminder to the application and supporting credentials, but the single-block format and some repetition weaken cohesion.
Separate the reminder, target role, evidence of suitability, and closing request into distinct paragraphs.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary range supports a detailed employment application, but phrases such as ‘got introduced’, ‘possible job position’, and ‘render excellent service’ sound awkward.
Prefer natural professional wording such as ‘met’, ‘vacancy’, ‘management experience’, and ‘contribute effectively’.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
There is a useful range of complex structures, but fragments, comma placement, and awkward verb patterns create noticeable non-impeding errors.
Turn ‘Not sure if you will remember me’ into a complete sentence and review verb complements and unnecessary parenthetical commas.
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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.