Job Search Email Etiquette Tips: Emails should be written to attract attention, but not deter the reader from viewing your attached cover letter and resume.
Emailing today is like yesterdays phone call. Everyone is doing it! As days, weeks and months go by email etiquette becomes less formal. Job seekers should never yield to conformity and start sending improper emails. In Part 1 of Job Search Email Etiquette Tips, we focused on salutations and avoiding common email practices, today we are discussing appropriate length of an email and spell check.
Part 2: Length of Emails and Spell Check
How long should your Email be?
As a job seeker the key is always to be succinct. The length of your email should never go on for more than four sentences. Your email is like the executive summary and introduction of yourself. For the most part you are submitting your resume and cover letter. All important information are in those two documents. Your brief introduction of yourself should summarize everything from the job you are applying for, the key skills you bring forward, and adding your contact information. This way the Staffing Specialist or Hiring Manager can take a brief look at this and see what is to come in your resume/cover letter. A very lengthy email can deter Staffing Specialists and Hiring Managers away because you are rambling. They may not have time to read such lengthy introductions or they may feel your email is reflective of how you may work in the future. Unless otherwise stipulated emails are supposed to be to the point and summarized.
Spell Check
When searching for a job you never want to let spelling be a reason you were not given a call back. Sending out emails is easy and so is spell check. At the end of your email always take a moment to hit the spell check button. It takes no more than a minute to scan through your email to see if any errors were made, spell check even helps with grammatical errors. But like all technology it is not perfect. Take a minute at the end to always read over your emails, spell check cannot pick up everything and that is where you come in. Proofread your email and make sure it makes sense, make sure that everything is spelled correctly. A Staffing Specialist or Hiring Manager will be less inclined to give you a call back if you have careless spelling mistakes in your email. It will show that you do not proofread your work and it shows thoughtlessness. Simple mistakes can really hinder your chances of landing a great role. Make sure to always read over and spell check your email!
When you are reading over your next email, be mindful of its length and don’t forget to hit spell check!!
