Formal Letter

Arabella Tan

Somewhere Ring Road

#12-12

Singapore 123456

13 September 2017

Ms. Lim Lay Hoon
Professor
Singapore Institute of Technology
10 Dover Drive
Singapore 138682

Dear Ms. Lim,

My Strengths and Weaknesses in Communication

My name is Arabella Tan. I am writing this letter to introduce myself and share my communication strengths and weaknesses with you. I graduated from Republic Polytechnic with a Diploma in Industrial and Operations Management in 2016. I resumed my studies this year after a gap year which allowed me to take on various part-time jobs to earn the tuition fees, as well as to explore various industries.

Upon taking up internship at Keppelfels Logistics while pursuing my diploma and accumulating work experiences from different work sectors since younger, I am convinced that communication is essential regardless of profession. I also believe that communication is a life skill that we need in our daily interactions.

Seeing the importance and diversity of communication skills, I personally think that flexibility is a vital component in communication and it is a strength of mine obtained through various encounters. During Secondary school and Polytechnic, I was actively participating in many co-curriculum activities and was nominated by teachers for leadership programmes. Being a leader in school include organising events and attending seminars, requiring communication with the school, students, teachers, sponsors and industrial executives etc. Most of the time I had to converse with different groups of people in the same venue and I would approach each group in a different way. When talking to fellow students would be casual and friendly in order to let them feel at ease while I would be courteous yet engaging with industrial executives so as to give a good first impression and let them feel welcomed. My communication flexibility has allowed me to be able to converse with people of various backgrounds in different situations, which greatly improved my socializing skills and made me better at conveying my thoughts.

However, my activeness in conversations may sometimes become overbearing. As I am constantly trying to convey my thoughts, my assertiveness can be seen as hostility or unwilling to listen and accept other opinions. In discussions, I would usually state my opinions first, and then listen to others in which many times, there would be a competition on who should talk first. If we did not reach consensus, arguments would break out and our efficiency declines.

I learnt that being able to listen actively is also a necessary and vital communication skill, it helps us to understand each other better. During work, most of the job scope includes teamwork and in order for me to be on good terms with my colleagues and improve efficiency, my goal in this module will be learning how to slow down and start listening before trying to speak. I hope that it will become a habit and change it into a strength to boost my confidence while starting to step into my future career.

Yours Sincerely,

Arabella Tan

Student from SIE2016

Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering (Land)