E-mail is the most common form of business communication these days. This is because you don’t have to be available at the same time as your conversation partner to communicate. During your job search, you will send and receive plenty of e-mails on a daily basis and if not drafted well, there is a possibility of the message being misinterpreted by the receiver. It is therefore very important to write e-mails which are clear and impactful. Here are few tips to write an effective e-mail:
Who are you?
“The first impression is the last impression.” Remember? A well-written, short and to-the-point introduction is very important if you are writing an email to someone for the first time with an objective to impress the reader at once.
Proofread
You must run the spell check so that you don’t miss out on anything. There are some grammatical and spelling mistakes that you might not notice but it has the potential to reject your application if sent unnoticed.
Include a clear and direct subject line
If your subject line is vague or if you leave it blank, you have missed your first opportunity to inform or persuade your reader. Before you send the email, take a moment to write a subject line that accurately describes the content, giving your reader a concrete reason to open your message.
Take care of your fonts
Fonts that are too small, too large, or otherwise hard to read makes it difficult to read the e-mail. Beware of your fonts and use easy to read fonts (Arial, Times New Roman), and use a standard size. Do not use extravagant colors. Use bullet points and numbered lists when listing down points.
Take care of your tone
When you are communicating via e-mail, your words are not supported by gestures or other cues, so it may be easy for someone to misread your tone. Hence be very careful with the choice of your words and if you’re not sure then ask a colleague to run through it once.
Greetings and Sign-offs
Always use a greeting and some kind of sign-off. Don’t just start with your text, and don’t stop at the end without a polite signature. The standard way to begin an e-mail is with ‘Dear’, the person’s name (with or without a title) and is considered a part of routine workplace communication.
Watch your spelling and grammar
If you send an e-mail with spelling and other grammatical errors; it tells the reader that it’s not that important. Always run your e-mail through a spell check, and proof read the e-mail before sending it out. Avoid too many abbreviations.
Remember– Your words speak on your behalf in an e-mail. Make sure you leave a good impression by writing like you speak!
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excellent tips!
I have been looking for how i can use email for my job searching and here i have found your blog, you have provide so useful tips here. We can really use this tips while searching for job through email. I think the subject line and grammar are two main things to focus while writing email.
Thanks a lot!