The Letter of Application, and the Resume
Chapter Seventy-One
Syllabus topic 4.1.2, "Letter of Application"
Pages 340 to 343 of 406
In one line
A letter of application asks for a particular post, gives three reasons why you can do it, refers to the resume for the rest, and asks for an interview.
The two documents, and what each is for
The letter is an argument. It says why this person should be considered for this post, and it is written afresh for each application.
The resume is evidence. It is a structured list of qualifications, experience and skills, and it stays largely the same from one application to the next.
The commonest failure is to write the resume twice. A letter that lists dates and marks is a resume in sentences and wastes the only chance to argue.
The letter: structure
Paragraph one: the post and where you saw it. Name the exact position and the source, whether an advertisement, the firm's website or a referral, with the date.
Paragraph two: why you can do the work. Two or three specific things: qualification, relevant experience, and one skill the post needs. Specific means named: the internship, the moot, the language, the software.
Paragraph three: why this firm. One honest sentence. Something about the firm's work that a person who had looked would know.
Paragraph four: the enclosure and the request. Refer to the resume, offer to attend for interview, and state availability.
Length. Three quarters of a page. A page at most.
Model: application for the post of legal assistant
Flat 12, Sunder Nivas
Gokhale Road, Dadar
Mumbai 400 028
14 September 2026
The Managing Partner
Deshmukh and Rao, Advocates and Solicitors
3rd Floor, Nagindas Chambers
Fort, Mumbai 400 023
Subject: Application for the post of Legal Assistant
Dear Sir or Madam,
I wish to apply for the post of Legal Assistant advertised in The Times of India on 10 September 2026. My resume is enclosed.
I am in the first year of the five-year B.A. LL.B. course at St. Xavier's College of Law, Mumbai, having passed the Higher Secondary examination in 2026 with 84 per cent. During the last vacation I interned for four weeks with Advocate S. Kulkarni at the City Civil Court, where I prepared case briefs, maintained the cause list diary and observed proceedings daily. I read, write and speak English, Marathi and Hindi, and I am able to draft in all three.
I have followed your firm's work in consumer matters, and the prospect of assisting in a practice which appears regularly before the consumer commissions is what has led me to apply to you in particular rather than generally.
I should be glad to attend for an interview at any time convenient to you. I am available on weekdays after 2.00 p.m. and on Saturdays.
Thank you for considering my application.
Yours faithfully,
Anjali Fernandes
Encl.: Resume
The Letter of Application, and the Resume
The resume: what goes in it
Heading. Name, address, telephone number and email, at the top. Nothing else.
Objective, optional and short. One line naming the kind of position sought. Omit it if you have nothing specific to say; a vague objective is worse than none.
Education, in reverse order. Most recent first. Course, institution, year, and result. This section comes first for a student, because it is the strongest thing you have.
Experience, in reverse order. Internships, part-time work, and any legal work. For each: the position, the organisation, the dates, and two lines on what you actually did. What you did matters more than where you were.
Skills. Languages, with the level of each. Computer skills, named. Legal research databases if you have used them.
Achievements and activities. Moots, debates, publications, positions of responsibility, prizes.
References. Two, with designation and contact, or the line "References available on request". Ask permission before naming anybody.
What to leave out. Marital status, religion, caste, father's income, a photograph unless asked for, and hobbies that say nothing. Age and date of birth may be included in India where the form asks for them.
Length. One page for a student. Two only when there is genuinely two pages of experience.
Model resume
ANJALI FERNANDES
Flat 12, Sunder Nivas, Gokhale Road, Dadar, Mumbai 400 028
Telephone: 98XXXXXX21 | Email: anjali.fernandes@example.com
OBJECTIVE
A position as legal assistant in a litigation practice, with a view to qualifying and practising in civil and consumer law.
EDUCATION
B.A. LL.B. (Five Year Integrated), St. Xavier's College of Law, Mumbai. First year, 2026 to 2031. In progress.
Higher Secondary Certificate, Maharashtra Board, 2026. 84 per cent.
Secondary School Certificate, Maharashtra Board, 2024. 89 per cent.
EXPERIENCE
Intern, Chambers of Advocate S. Kulkarni, City Civil Court, Mumbai. May to June 2026, four weeks.
Prepared briefs of eleven civil matters for the senior's use in court; maintained the daily cause list diary; drafted two applications for adjournment under supervision; attended hearings daily and prepared notes of the proceedings.
SKILLS
Languages: English, Marathi and Hindi, all read, written and spoken; able to draft in all three.
Computer: Microsoft Word and Excel; familiar with SCC Online for case research.
ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS
Member, Moot Court Committee, 2026.
Second place, intra-collegiate moot court competition, August 2026.
Volunteer, college legal aid camp at Shirwal, July 2026.
REFERENCES
Advocate S. Kulkarni, City Civil Court, Mumbai.
Dr E. F. Rao, Faculty Coordinator, St. Xavier's College of Law.
The five things that decide the mark
The subject line names the exact post. Not "Application for a job".
The first sentence names the post and the source. Advertisement, publication, date.
The Letter of Application, and the Resume
There is at least one specific fact per paragraph. Percentages, weeks, courts, languages, numbers of briefs.
The close for the salutation is correct. Dear Sir or Madam takes Yours faithfully.
The enclosure line is present. If you say the resume is enclosed, write "Encl.: Resume".
A worked answer
Question. MU's own, February 2026: "Write an application enclosing your resume for the position of legal assistant in a legal firm."
The answer is the two models above, and this is how to produce them under time pressure.
Decide four facts before writing. Which post; where you saw it; two things about yourself that fit it; and one thing about the firm.
Write the letter in four short paragraphs, keeping the whole to about 200 words, and end with the enclosure line.
Then the resume in six headings, in this order: heading, objective, education, experience, skills, activities, references. Keep it to a page and put education before experience, since you are a student.
Do not let the letter repeat the resume. The letter argues; the resume proves. If a sentence in your letter would also appear in the resume, cut it from the letter.
Time. Twelve minutes for six marks, no more.
Quick revision
The letter argues; the resume proves. Never write the resume twice.
Letter: post and source; why you can do it, with specifics; why this firm; enclosure and request for interview.
Resume order for a student: heading, objective, education, experience, skills, activities, references.
Reverse chronological order in both education and experience.
Leave out marital status, religion, caste, income and a photograph unless asked.
Encl.: Resume. Yours faithfully with an unnamed salutation.
One page of resume; three quarters of a page of letter.
Test yourself
1. What is the difference between the letter and the resume? The letter is an argument written afresh for each post, saying why this person should be considered for this position. The resume is evidence, a structured list of qualifications, experience and skills, which stays largely the same between applications.
2. What must the first paragraph of the letter contain? The exact post applied for and where the vacancy was seen, with the date of the advertisement or the source, together with a reference to the enclosed resume.
3. Why does education come before experience in a student's resume? Because it is the strongest section a student has. The order is reversed later in a career, when experience becomes the more persuasive evidence.
4. What should be left out of an Indian student's resume? Marital status, religion, caste, family income, a photograph unless one has been asked for, and hobbies that reveal nothing. Date of birth may be included where the form requires it.
The Letter of Application, and the Resume
5. Name three specifics that lift an application from average to good. Naming the exact post and the date of the advertisement; giving numbers, such as the length of an internship and what was done during it; and one honest sentence about the firm's actual work that shows the applicant looked before writing.
The rest of this subject
These notes are cut from the University's printed syllabus. Open the syllabus itself, or the past papers, for the same subject.