CTEC1701 Database Design
Week 7, Assignment Guidance
The Report
The first part of your assignment will need a brief and professional email or report from you to Dr Mask. See below some helpful hints:
Writing a professional email
Professional emails are not the same as text messages. They should:
- Include a clear subject line because people often use it to decide whether to open an email. The subject line of your email should accurately reflect its content. It might, for example, say: ‘Data Protection Impact Assessment: New Database’ or similar.
- Include a professional salutation at the start of your email and a signature block at the end of your email. The signature block should include your full name and contact details.
- Use a font that is clear and easy to read. It is best to use font size 10 or 12 and an easy-to-read font such as Arial or Calibri (other sans serif fonts are available)
- Follow the conventions of professional writing. As stated above, emails are not the same as text messages and so you need to remember to use proper punctuation such as capital letters and full stops, and you should write in full sentences and use paragraphs. You should avoid slang, industry specific jargon and colloquialisms.
Salutation
A salutation is a greeting and comes from the word ‘salute’. Many of you will not bother with a salutation when you send a text message or Teams message but you need to include a salutation when sending a professional email or report.
Please note:
- It is best to use ‘Dear …’ to begin with. If the recipient replies with ‘Hi’ or ‘Hello’, then you can follow their lead.
- ‘Hi’, ‘Hey’ and ‘Hiya’, etc. are never acceptable in professional emails/reports.
- By the way, most tutors are happy for you to use their first names when addressing your emails but it is best to check because some tutors will ask you to use their title and surname.
Saying goodbye
‘Yours faithfully’ and ‘Yours sincerely’ are very formal for emails and so it may be better to go for ‘Best wishes’ or ‘Kind regards’. Please note:
- Avoid using ‘BW’ (for Best wishes) or ‘BR’ (for Best regards) – how could they be your ‘Best wishes’ if you couldn’t be bothered to type them out in full?
- Avoid anything too informal like ‘Cheers’.
