Schematic analysis of job application letters by Malaysian graduates

Abstract

This study applied a “moves analysis” approach to examine job application letters written by 25 Malaysian graduates obtained from an outsourcing organisation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The letters were analysed as to whether they adhered to the seven aspects of the “moves structure” used to analyse job applications (i.e. establishing credentials, introducing candidate, detailing advantages, enclosing relevant documents, ending appropriately, offering incentives, and using pressure tactics). Additionally, interviews were held with five human resource managers from five different organisations. From the interviews, the managers emphasised that it was important that job application letters should contain at least five of the seven moves from the framework. The findings obtained revealed that Malaysian graduates employed five out of the seven strategies from the moves structure and had covered the basic format of the job application letter. Most applicants omitted Move 5 (using pressure tactics), but the findings suggest that this variation did not hinder the communicative purpose of the letters.

Genre Analysis of Minutes of Academic Meetings

“…A review of the existing literature on ESP analysis of professional discourse has shown that GA has been used in many areas such as academic writings (e.g., Alharbi, 2021;Edusei, 2015;Musa, 2014;Lakic, 1997), business emails (e.g., Mehrpour & Mehrzad, 2013;Giménez Moreno, 2010), business letters (e.g., Kyei & Afful, 2021;Jalilifar & Beitsayyah, 2011;Santos, 2002), job application letters (De Mello et al, 2021;Thumnong, 2017;Henry & Roseberry, 2001), and news presentation (e.g., Agbaglo et al, 2021;Amoakohene, 2017). However, studies on analyzing the minutes of meeting as a genre in similar contexts and similar professional settings have been scarce.…”