In previous linguistic research, it has been found that there is an indirect relationship between gender and language usage. It has also been found that men and women use language in a distinctive way in their work role.

There is a lot of research, both in the gender sciences but also in the linguistics, which has examined the difference in how men and women express themselves in writing. How the difference between the sexes can also be seen from a writing perspective is something that interests me and so in my study I chose to look at how men and women express themselves and portray themselves in personal letters. It is an area that interests me and looking at personal letters to job ads is something that there is not so much previous science around and I believe that more science in this specific area may be supportive in recruitment in the labor market in the future.

The aim of my study is to see if there are differences in how men and women portray their characteristics in personal letters. My study is based on the following questions:

• Are person´s characteristics portrayed in personal letters by means of material or relational processes depending on gender?
• How do men and women portray their characteristics in personal letters versus the job advert´s qualifications?

With the help of SFG and Impression Management I got answers to my questions. My study links to theories around SFG where the focus is mainly on processes. The study also links to Impression Management and Hirdman´s (1998) theory of the gender system.

The results of my study show that there are differences between how men and women express themselves in writing. Women often produce their characteristics through relational processes and thus identify themselves with their characteristics. Men have a tendency to express their characteristics through material processes, which means that they identify themselves through actions. In contrast, my results do not support previous research that says that women appear more sensitive and vague while men appear more powerful. My results also show that women express more characteristics than men who are also linked to the job advertisement qualifications.