Have lost the art of letter writing?

[StevieBee]

....and does it matter?

Just recruited a team of 10 and out of 22 applicants (required to send a CV and covering letter), only 4 applicants provided a letter laid out in what I'd call 'proper' fashion; their address top right, my address to the left, date, appropriate salutation, etc.

The others were just a block of text.

At the end of the day, it's the content that matters most but I can't help feeling that we're losing something. I know we need to write letters less and less but when we do, it's nice to see one written properly. Is it not?

Edited by StevieBee on Friday 7th February 15:47

[GOATever]

As it is when someone spells ‘losing’ correctly.
Stones and glass houses

[Robbo 27]

Its an old skill, one of those skills that should be taught by parents. The child being sat down and shown how to do things including letter writing, letter writing as neat as possible. This isnt a task, hopefully it can be taught as a pleasure.

One of the life skills including managing your money, punctuality, tying a tie, ironing, sewing repairs, shaving your face, DIY skills.

Its a parents job.

[Digga]

The protagonist in the novel Vernon God Little writes a letter to someone he's clearly not to pleased with, starting:

"Dear Asshole, Esq."

I think that wins.

[RC1807]

GOATever said:

As it is when someone spells ‘losing’ correctly.
Stones and glass houses

"Just recruited..."

Yes, OP. You're correct.
fk grammar, too!

[bigpriest]

There are a number of formats you can use for writing letters - fully blocked is OK and was popular at one time. The sender address to the right, receipient to the left, indented 'Dear Sir' etc. is a pretty ugly format.

[Greg_D]

i always insist on a hand written letter from applicants.

it tests spelling, grammar, application, commitment to the position (i hate all the idiots from indeed just going down the page pressing submit on all the jobs) and the ones who hand deliver it go to the top of the pile automatically...

[geeks]

Greg_D said:

i always insist on a hand written letter from applicants.

it tests spelling, grammar, application, commitment to the position (i hate all the idiots from indeed just going down the page pressing submit on all the jobs) and the ones who hand deliver it go to the top of the pile automatically...

What sort of trade would this be out of interest?

As someone with dyslexia and what can only be termed as terrible handwriting this would put me off. It's part of the reason I went into IT, no one ever has to see how bad my penmanship is

[Greg_D]

geeks said:

Greg_D said:

i always insist on a hand written letter from applicants.

it tests spelling, grammar, application, commitment to the position (i hate all the idiots from indeed just going down the page pressing submit on all the jobs) and the ones who hand deliver it go to the top of the pile automatically...

What sort of trade would this be out of interest?

As someone with dyslexia and what can only be termed as terrible handwriting this would put me off. It's part of the reason I went into IT, no one ever has to see how bad my penmanship is

recruitment - my staff need to be able to write adverts and being supported by spell and grammar checker isn't helpful in the long term.
it's done mainly to self-filter the applicants who actually want the job as opposed to those hammering 'apply' online

[Mr Pointy]

I'd suggest the OP has lost the art of writing an intelligable post heading. "Have lost the art"?

[Prohibiting]

The state of the handwriting I see these days is terrible!

[Robbo 27]

Prohibiting said:

The state of the handwriting I see these days is terrible!

A friend of mine was taking notes in a 4 hour meeting at a construction site, 8 people at the meeting, her job was to do the minutes and pass round the actions.

Her hand writing was so bad that she couldnt read what she had written.

[GetCarter]

My handwriting was never good, but I've hardly picked up a pen in the past two decades, and it's now dreadful. I had to write a cheque recently (don't ask), and the bank sent it back, considering my signature to be 'likely forged'.

Sigh.

ETA: I still write a decent eMail mind.

Edited by GetCarter on Friday 7th February 16:35

[Riley Blue]

I have half a dozen fountain pens that I use regularly in an attempt to improve my handwriting. I used to be quite proud of it as I wrote copiously and had developed a distinctive, if florid, style. Arthritis has resulted in the end of that though, there are days when gripping a pen is difficult, writing neatly is impossible. It irritates me more than just about every other aspect of ageing.

[AlexC1981]

Robbo 27 said:

A friend of mine was taking notes in a 4 hour meeting at a construction site, 8 people at the meeting, her job was to do the minutes and pass round the actions.

Her hand writing was so bad that she couldnt read what she had written.

I took an admin temping job at a power station when I was straight out of college. I had to take minutes at a meeting and I found it horrendous. Too many people speaking fast about things I didn't have a clue about and using all sorts of jargon. I had no idea what was important to write down and what wasn't. Plus I kept forgetting people's names I laugh now, but it was very embarrassing looking back.

My mother used to be a shorthand typist and could have done a better job. Another lost art!

[g3org3y]

Robbo 27 said:

Prohibiting said:

The state of the handwriting I see these days is terrible!

A friend of mine was taking notes in a 4 hour meeting at a construction site, 8 people at the meeting, her job was to do the minutes and pass round the actions.

Her hand writing was so bad that she couldn't read what she had written.

Been there, done that.

Not my fault, we had a lecture at medical school on how to write illegibly.

[untakenname]

There's no need to write by hand in this day and age for 99% of tasks so if someone does (outside of personal letters/invitations etc...) and is under the age of 35-40 then likely there's some sort of mental health issue going on.

[loafer123]

Letter writing is incredibly useful.

Both of my children have had opportunities through writing letters - my daughter got a job aged 13 in a bookshop, and my son backstage tours in the West End, both helped because they wrote a personal letter.

Both were typed, mind.

[Algarve]

Greg_D said:

i always insist on a hand written letter from applicants.

it tests spelling, grammar, application, commitment to the position (i hate all the idiots from indeed just going down the page pressing submit on all the jobs) and the ones who hand deliver it go to the top of the pile automatically...

How does it test spelling and grammar? If its a job I really wanted I'd type up my letter on my computer, spelling/grammar check/edit it until its exactly how I want it, then print it out and then rewrite it by hand.

Then you'd put it straight in the bin as my handwriting has always been a mess

[Countdown]

I'd agree with the OP.

Not only is handwriting terrible but report writing also seems to be a lost skill. Some of the reports that my colleagues prepare for our Board or one of the sub-Committees make me cringe. However, having seen similar types of reports at other Boards i think there's just a general decline in standards and, to be fair, as long as they can get the message across, is it absolutely crucial that the grammar/syntax/punctuation/sentence construction is 100% correct?