You were trying to be really nice and pro-active and a little bit earnest when you sent that email.
They ignored you. (Again).
So, um, yeah, you check your nails, and, uh, hope that nobody will notice.
It doesn't have to be this way.
Most people get blown off because their emails are a bit rough, maybe try to say too much, and seem like, whoa, a lot of effort to read.
And that's because most email ignores the needs of your reader — your audience — and fails to answer this one simple question: Why should I stop watching Stephen Curry highlights or playing Stack on my iPhone and read your email?[5]
They don't teach "Writing Great email" in college (or, really, in business either). That's sad, because it ends up costing lost time in your career, and in your job search.
I don't want this to happen to you, so I've collected my ten best tips on writing great email to stand out in your career:
1. Your subject line should say why you are sending the email.
"Over-achieving Operations Analyst — Firstname Lastname" is much more effective than "Responding to job post."
This may sound obvious, but please, do not send emails to the HR department at, say, Amazon with the subject line, or document name, "Application for Amazon job." They know you're applying to Amazon, and this makes it easy for your email to get lost or ignored.
Putting your name in your subject line will help the hiring manager, who's already strapped for time, stay organized. And providing a theme — with just a tiny bit of self-promotion — will remind them why it's important to read your email.
2. Get to "What's the point?" Quickly.
"I'm writing to apply for the Junior Manager, Logistics position, as my 2 years in logistics with Wal-Mart make me a great fit for your company"… is the right way to start off your email. Put all the details into later paragraphs.
This is super-helpful in this Age of Small Screens — your recipient will probably see the email on her or his iPhone, Android or iPad first, so you need to make it easy for them to read and understand your message while they're on the go.
3. Number or alpha-bullet points.
When you have 8 different points and you list them all in a row, it is very difficult for your reader to respond in an organized way.
Use:
a) b) c)
or:
1) 2) 3)
to break up a dense email, make your points more clearly, and make it easier to respond to you.
4. Be concise.*
["Be concise" communicates everything you need to know about communicating with brevity. To explain just a bit more, though: every excess, useless, man-splainin' word you pour into your email makes it more likely that your email will be ignored, forgotten, deleted.]
5. Use bold, sparingly, to give a power boost to words that you'd like to emphasize.
6. Attach with caution!
PDFs and MS Word are pretty standard ways to share resumes, with Google Docs becoming more and more popular. Attachments can get your email caught in spam traps, though, so it's always slightly better to send a link to your resume on Dropbox, Box, or Google Drive.
7. Two-dollar words, please.
William Faulkner said about Ernest Hemingway: "He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary."
Hemingway retorted: "Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?"
While these two Nobel Prize winners had an interesting debate on words and art, when it comes to your emails, you should avoid the long, confusing, "ten dollar" words. They're too tough to read and understand.
So don't write:
"I collaborated with cross-functional teams to execute multi-channel media strategies that leveraged best-in-class cross-platform content production facilities generating optimal audience engagement and retention metrics."
When you mean:
"I worked with tech to tweet stuff. Sometimes we posted it to Facebook and Instagram, too."
So just a friendly reminder to keep it real.
8. Make your request clear.
When writing back and forth by email, it is very easy for vague words to cause confusion. Do not do use vague words, but rather make it clear what you want the reader to do and in what timeframe by being precise:
"Can you please confirm our phone interview for 2 p.m. on Thursday, April 6th?"
And, in turn, be very clear about the actions you're going to take, being as specific as humanly possible:
"I followed up with Lindsay and she's requested additional references from my time working at Apple. I'll have those to her by 4 p.m. Wednesday."
9. Delete every word that is not absolutely essential.
After you've written an email, please go back through and delete every single word that is not absolutely essential to what you need to say. Just like everybody else, recruiters don't have time to read through wordy emails, so keep it simple!
For example, you might replace:
"I am an award-winning sales professional who has proven on numerous occasions to be able to greatly increase the productivity of accounts in my territory and raise revenue annually."
With the much shorter and more meaningful: "Increased company revenue by 70%."
Fewer words means = likely to be read!
10. Read the superb thoughts of George Orwell, author of "1984" and "Animal Farm," in this classic 1946 essay: "Politics and the English Language."[8]
Read the original article[9] on Medium[10]. Copyright 2016.
NOW WATCH: Adam Savage reveals why he and 'MythBusters' cohost Jamie Hyneman won't be working together anymore[12]
References
- ^ Flickr / David Goehring (www.flickr.com)
- ^ Here's exactly how to write an email to your CEO (www.businessinsider.com)
- ^ A psychologist says a disorganized email inbox can be a sign of intelligence (ww w.businessinsider.com)
- ^ 7 email newsletters that will make you smarter (www.businessinsider.com)
- ^ playing Stack on my iPhone (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ VFS Digital Design / Flickr (www.flickr.com)
- ^ Flickr/Chirantan Patnaik (www.flickr.com)
- ^ classic 1946 essay: "Politics and the English Language." (www.mtholyoke.edu)
- ^ original article (medium.com)
- ^ Medium (medium.com)
- ^ 15 email-etiquette rules every professional should know (www.businessinsider.com)
- ^ Adam Savage reveals why he and 'MythBusters' cohost Jamie Hyneman won't be working together anymore (www.businessinsider.com)
