The Letter of Inquiry
Last Updated September 11, 2004
No major project is ever
completed by a single person, or even a single team, and constructive help you
have with your project will lead to a more professional result. Often people will volunteer to help you with
your project, and you should respond to such help in a courteous manner. I may also be useful to recruit help from
people who have expertise in a given area.
One way to recruit help is
through a letter of inquiry, which can either be written formally on paper and
mailed, or can be emailed. With such a
letter, you wish to accomplish several goals:
- Interest the recipient in your work.
- Obtain specific information that will be useful
to you.
- Put forth a positive impression of yourself, your
group, and your company/school.
If you achieve any one of
these goals, you can consider your inquiry to have been successful.
The letter you write should
be short and concise, and yet it should have enough information to allow the
reader to understand what is being asked of him/her. Here are the components of a good letter of
inquiry:
- Include your name and contact information.
- Address the letter to an individual, not to a
department.
- Explain why you are contacting the individual (e.g.
“I am contacting you because you have expertise in flow-through
bioreactors”).
- State how you came across him/her as a possible
contact (e.g. “I read an article about your work in the Monroe News Star,”
or “my advisor mentioned you as a good contact for this kind of work”).
- Explain what you and your group are trying to
do. Be specific, but concise. Even the top expert in the field can do
nothing for you if he/she does not know what you are trying to accomplish.
- Ask specific questions that the reader can answer
in a short amount of time. For
example, “why did you change from a y-junction design in your initial
design to a t-junction design in your subsequent designs?” or “would you
recommend that we use a y-junction or a t-junction in the device we are
designing. These questions are much
easer to answer than, “explain the various components of your design and
how they function.”
- Ask for publications and other documents that the
reader might be able to produce on the subject.
- Offer a copy of your final report, if the reader
is interested. (Note, you should
check with your advisor before you do this, in case he/she is concerned
about intellectual property).
- Thank him/her for his/her time and effort.
<<
Back to Senior Design Syllabus