1. After receiving an application or cover letter, your response should assure the sender that you have received the resume and that you will consider it carefully.
2. When extending an invitation for an interview or making a job offer, your letter should be direct and encouraging, but not overbearing.
3. All the details that have been agreed upon in a phone conversation job offer should be formalized in writing. Include, for example, important information such as the agreed-upon start date for employment, job title and additional details about responsibilities, job location, and starting salary.
4. A written job offer eliminates misunderstandings and clarifies important details. Use this opportunity to make the applicant feel positive about employment with you. In discussing the offer, be careful not to imply more than you are sure you can deliver. Also, you may want to use this letter to ask your reader to provide proof of legal employment eligibility.
5. As you write the letter, be thorough, but concise. Omit irrelevant details and communicate the facts. On the other hand, make sure that the information you send is clear and complete so that you do not have to answer a barrage of questions later.
6. When offering a position to someone who has not applied for the job, remember that this can be a sensitive task, especially if that person is already employed by someone else. For this to be an effective letter, you must convince your prospective employee that a position with your company would be much better than his or her current job.
7. When accepting a job offer, begin by identifying the position. Express sincere appreciation for the offer, and indicate the enthusiasm you have for the new position.
8. If you wish to include conditions in your response letter to a job offer, be certain that they are important enough to you that you are willing to jeopardize the offer rather than accept it as it is written. Be positive and respectful, and make sure that the reader realizes that you would like to accept the offer.
9. If you are sincerely interested in a position, but need more time to make your decision, express your appreciation for the job offer, and specify the amount of additional time you are requesting. You may wish to include some of the details of the offer, if you need to clarify anything. Before closing your letter, indicate the date by which you will respond with a decision.
10. When writing a letter to decline a job offer, promotion, transfer, or similar opportunity, express your appreciation and decline the offer graciously.
11. If you decide not to hire a job applicant, it is a nice gesture to write a letter informing the person of that fact. It is best to write this courtesy letter as soon as you have decided not to hire the applicant(s).
12. If you want to follow up with an employer during a job search after a lapse of time, a letter will remind the person of your name and qualifications, as well as you interest in securing the position.

Giving up smoking, starting a new diet, or going to the gym have always been popular resolutions to make on New Year’s Eve. This year, however, according to a survey of over 300 people commissioned by language software provider Rosetta Stone, learning a new language is a top priority, with 66% listing it as a resolution they plan to make. Being able to communicate while travelling (38%) and improved job prospects (29%) were the biggest motivating factors cited by those planning to learn a new language in 2007.

French topped the list - with 23% claiming it is the language they would most like to learn, followed by Spanish at 20%. Chinese (Mandarin) came in third at 15%. This is no surprise, with trade between the UK and China on the rise, and the Beijing Olympics on the horizon for 2008.

Having more than one language has been shown to improve one’s career prospects: 75% of bilingual people surveyed by Rosetta Stone at the Language Show in London this November claimed that knowing an additional language had helped further their careers.

Michael Lefante, spokesperson for Rosetta Stone EMEA says: “More people are realising the many benefits that come with being able to speak a second language. In addition to improving communication, learning a language can increase mental agility, develop problem solving skills and enhance cultural understanding. With advances in technology making language learning easier than ever before, it is a resolution worth making.”

Despite good intentions, many people regularly fail to stick to their New Year’s resolutions. Certain methods could be employed to improve one’s chance of success.

5 top resolution keeping tips

1. Choose a resolution that’s meaningful. Resolve comes easier when it is focused on something specific. For example, instead of choosing ten goals to work on, select just two that are most meaningful and that you are more likely to complete. This will help you stay on task.

2. Be realistic. Everyone has setbacks, so don’t give up if you break your resolution during the transitional period. Give yourself time to change, and treat yourself fairly. It takes time to incorporate new habits into your lifestyle. If you have a setback, stop and think about what may have caused you to slip, and then plan a way to get back on track. Change doesn’t happen instantly—it’s a process.

3. Make resolutions as a family. Having a common goal allows family members to support one another in keeping the resolution, and gain quality together time in the process. For example, if your family resolves to learn Spanish before a holiday to Spain, carve out some fun time by preparing a Spanish tapas-style meal together while speaking the new language.

4. Have a buddy. Recruit a friend or co-worker, beyond a family member, who can offer additional support when the going gets tough. Having a buddy also means you have another person who is aware of your goal, which can be a motivating factor as well.

5. Focus on what your life will be like when you have met your goal. Motivation comes from envisioning how you will benefit from the change. When the going gets tough, think about how your life will be better. For example, will you be living in France? Will you have an exciting new job? Use this vision to spur yourself on towards your goal.

Lord Dearing’s policy review of language teaching in schools is long overdue says specialist multi lingual recruiter Euro London Appointments – and probably doesn’t go far enough. According to the recruiter, modern European languages are only part of the picture as there is also a real shortage of Asian and emerging market language skills such as those associated with the booming economies of China and India – and without them UK workers are running a real risk of falling behind in the global economy.

“We recruit multi lingual personnel into several sectors including banking & finance, marketing, customer service, IT and office support, and there are nowhere near enough UK nationals with the necessary linguistic abilities to fill the roles available”, says Director Steve Shacklock. British candidates who speak a foreign language ‘fluently’ are rarely as fluent as foreign nationals are in English – mainly because British nationals tend to speak another language only if they have studied it.

If you take a landlocked country like Luxembourg, you will find candidates who will speak three or four languages – including English - as a matter of course – it’s just part of their culture. And that’s important as in some sectors, we are finding an increase in demand for candidates with more than one additional language. The customer service sector is a good example of this. Whereas a year ago a centre may have employed two English/French speakers and two English/German speakers, the need to review costs and efficiency levels has meant that they will now ask for three people with multilingual capabilities so that they can provide cover for each other.

“We are also finding that those UK nationals who can speak more than one language see it as a special skill which should command a premium in salary terms – other European nationals see languages as a natural part of their skill set – and do not expect to get paid extra for it.”

And it’s not just modern European languages that are in demand says Shacklock. “The ever evolving restrictions on listing on US exchanges means that many companies are opting for the European option as an alternative. Consequently some of the major exchanges are now promoting themselves into new markets leading to the need for languages such as Russian, Mandarin and Cantonese. Many of the candidates with those sorts of language skills tend to be nationals with perfect English rather than the other way round.”

“We live in a shrinking world, says Shacklock, “where businesses of all sizes can operate in global markets. The challenge that comes with this opportunity is being able to understand the needs, aims, motivations of a potential cusotmner base that spans the world. And for the business leaders of tomorrow that can only mean that languages will become even more important. The message is clear - learn a language – get a job!”

According to a snapshot survey by events, marketing and office support recruiter Regan & Dean, over a quarter of all employers have witnessed examples of bad manners during interviews. “As recruiters, we obviously interview many candidates oursleves – and have witnessed various lapses of office etiquette”, says Narelle Lester, Managing Director of Regan & Dean.

“Take, for example, the candidate who chewed gum all the way through her interview or the candidate who turned up at a client interview and immediately walked out saying that she wouldn’t be staying as she had bad karma about the aura of the establishment.”

Candidates who don’t apologies for being late are also a no – no, says Lester, as are candidates who assume they can dress down for an interview without checking on the culture of the company. And there are many more examples– candidates who have eaten during interviews ( yes really!), answered calls on their mobile, used bad language, looked bored throughout their interview, asked the interviewer “why should I work here?” The list goes on and on.

“Over confidence can also often come across as rudeness”, says Lester. “We had a candidate who interviewed with a large agency for a position as a PA in the events management team. She had only had limited experience but commented negatively about one of the case studies on the company’s website – the interviewer had been a member of that very events team and obviously took the comments very personally.

“At the end of the day, good manners really do matter – and could make the difference between gaining the respect of superiors and peers – or being looked upon with disdain. If you do make a slip up – being late, forgetting to turn off your phone in a meeting, interrupting someone etc – then how you deal with it – and how you apologise - will make all the difference to how you, as a person and employee, are perceived.

“Phone calls and e-mails should be responded to within 24 hours and business e-mails should be written as a business letter- beware of over familiarity, spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. Good manners are empowering and all employers know that while civility will get you a long way – bad manners are also very bad for business!”

A whopping 6000 women are missing from the 33,000 top spots in the workplace according to the Equal Opportunities Commission Sex and Power: Who Runs Britain? 2007 report.

A lack of flexibility at the top is blamed; senior women are too often forced to choose between work and family/leisure, resulting in a female exodus in search of an acceptable work/life balance.

So where are the missing female achievers? Statistics suggest that they are going it alone: over one million women in the UK are self-employed, and the figure has risen steadily by 18% in the last five years.

However if we want to maximise the use of our country’s female entrepreneurial talent we need to support them in their quests. A recent report by women’s enterprise group Prowess, identifies female mentoring and financial aid as being crucial to helping women entrepreneurs start-up and succeed in business.

Female led creative businesses have a tendency to try and grow organically from a low capital base. Businesses run in this way don’t tend to flourish; a business needs cash to blossom. Male entrepreneurs are well versed in the ways and means of funding a new business whilst women aren’t exposed to the mechanics of accessing finance. They also face tougher challenges when trying to raise it.

Claire Collins, founder of Violet May, the new beautiful business accessories brand, has first-hand experience of the difficulties facing a female run start-up. As a result the Violet May brand is passionate about fulfilling women’s needs.

“Women everywhere are crying out for inspiration and support to chase a dream and unleash the entrepreneurial spirit within. I believe that it is part of my responsibility as a woman in business to support young female entrepreneurs,” says Claire. “That’s why every time Violet May sell one of their luxury laptop bags or laptop sleeves, a percentage of profits will go into the Violet May Creative Seed Fund. Each year a budding female entrepreneur will be awarded these funds and mentoring support to help build her new creative business.”

By encouraging more companies and organisations to offer support and inspiration to the ‘6000 missing women’, perhaps they will no longer be classed as missing from existing top spots in the workplace but instead found sitting in their own top spots.