General Training Writing Task 1 · formal · application

Application for the Sales Manager position

You have seen an advertisement in this week's magazine that invites suitable candidates to apply for the sales manager position in a company.

Write a letter to the manager of the company stating your interest in the post. Mention your educational background and relevant experience for the post and apply for it. In your letter:

what are the primary responsibilities and expectations for the Sales Manager position?
what are the key performance indicators (KPIs) used to measure success in this role?
can you provide more information about the team and the company's sales goals?

Write at least 150 words. You do not need to write any addresses. Begin your letter: Dear Sir/Madam,

Band 8 sample letter

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to express my keen interest in the Sales Manager vacancy advertised in this week’s edition of Business Monthly. With a solid background in retail management, I am confident that my skills align well with the requirements of your organisation.

Regarding the role, could you please clarify the primary responsibilities and expectations for the successful candidate? Specifically, I am interested in understanding the extent of the strategic oversight and client acquisition duties involved in this position.

Furthermore, I would appreciate details concerning the key performance indicators used to evaluate success. Knowing which metrics—such as revenue growth, conversion rates, or customer retention—are prioritised would help me better understand your performance expectations.

Finally, I am eager to learn more about the structure of the sales team I would be leading and the company’s broader sales objectives for the upcoming fiscal year. Having managed diverse teams previously, I am particularly interested in how your current department collaborates to achieve these targets.

I have enclosed my CV for your review and look forward to the possibility of discussing my application further.

Yours faithfully,

Julian Thorne

185 words. Names and details are invented; write your own.

Why this scores well

This response earns a Band 8 by addressing all bullet points with professional sophistication and maintaining a consistently formal tone throughout. A common Band 6 error is failing to ask specific questions about the KPIs or team structure, instead providing generic filler text that does not show genuine engagement with the prompt.

Write to an organisation or someone you do not know: open with Dear Sir or Madam, close with Yours faithfully.
If you know the person's surname, use Dear Mr or Ms and close with Yours sincerely.
No contractions, no slang; polite indirect requests such as I would be grateful if you could.

Useful phrases from the letter

keen interest: A strong and enthusiastic desire or attention
align well: To match or be in agreement with something
strategic oversight: The high-level management and planning of business operations
prioritised: Regarded as more important than other things
fiscal year: A one-year period used for financial reporting purposes
enclosed: Included in the same envelope or email message

Write your own and get a band

Answer this prompt in a timed General Training writing test and get a band for task achievement, coherence, vocabulary and grammar, with the sentences to fix.

Practise IELTS General writing

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Frequently asked questions

Is this letter formal or informal?

Formal. Write to an organisation or someone you do not know: open with Dear Sir or Madam, close with Yours faithfully.

How long should an IELTS General Training letter be?

At least 150 words, and 160 to 200 is the comfortable range. Spend about 20 minutes on it and leave 40 for Task 2, which carries twice the marks.