hcraig said:

Any tips to share?

Any traps to avoid?

Here’s mine: Watch your use of CAPSLOCKS! Here a some problems with writing in ALL CAPITALS, ALL THE TIME (that just pained me to type).

Capital letters have a special place in the English grammatical lexicon. Since they are used to denote proper nouns, the beginning of a sentence, and acronyms, they help provide sentence structure for the reader. If one is writing in all capitals, it is usually to emphasis a specific point, for example, I LOVE this cheesecake! Because writing in all capitals goes against learned grammatical structure, as well as takes away familiar shapes of words, capital letters are harder to read.

Finally, Netiquette will teach you that writing in Capitals in e-mails, on message boards, or in chat forums is the equivalent of shouting, or yelling at someone – and you wouldn’t want to greet your potential boss by shouting at them would you?

oLahav said:

Here’s my tip- make sure you’re referring to the potential employer by the proper prefix. Calling a male employer Ms. is a big enough mistake to throw you right out the door.
And a quick side-note on that, it’s always better to use Ms. than Mrs. My econ prof taught me that- certain feminists feel (rightfully) that the difference between a married and an unmarried woman is insulting since nobody makes the distinction for men, so it’s better to use Ms.
Also, if you’re not sure whether it’s a male or female, use the job title (Dear VP of HR and Recruitment). Make sure you use the full, correct title, and capitalize the words properly. People get offended if you don’t.
Never use that general “To whom it may concern”, that just shows you don’t care enough to check the company out and probably sent 50 emails to tons of places, so you really want this job.

Hope this helps.

kaitomono said:

Read the job description thoroughly to be sure an email is an acceptable way to contact the employer. Also note if they will allow you to attach a resume.

If there is nothing in the job description saying an attachment is okay, you might want to contact them with a cover letter expressing your interest in the job and then check with them to see if it is alright for you to send an attachment with your resume in another email.

Some employers want a written contact through the mail only so don’t email them with your first contact.

With those that prefer you contact them by email, make sure you check for grammar and spelling errors before you hit the send button.

oLahav said:

Another tip!

When sending emails to potential employers or any professional emails, don’t send it from your chunky_buddy55@hotmail.com or hotflowergirl@gmail.com address. That’s just stupid. Open up a professional looking account, or use an institutional account (@yorku if you’re attending York University, for example), as it would make you look like a professional, serious candidate.

Also, some emails attach that stupid spam comment at the bottom- “Join yahoo!” or “Get your free Spamkiller with Rogers Spam Buster today”. That also looks pretty bad on your emails.

Finally, if you’re email is from hotmail, or it contains attachments, it may be marked automatically as spam by the interviewer’s antivirus program. That’s why it’s better to send emails without attachments first like Kaitomono suggested, and also why professional addresses are better. However, if you don’t get a reply after several days, you can try sending another email asking whether the spamkiller got youir earlier one (of course, if you find yourself bombarding them with 50 mails, they’re probably ignoring you for good reason).

acrosstheuniverse said:

The ending of your email matters just as much as your introduction and hello. Make sure to end off the email on a gracious note by using phrases like…

- Kind Regards, - Sincerely, - Take Care, - All the Best, - Cheers,

There are many others but those ones work nicely.

hcraig said in response to:

Ooooo I had an Work Study position to fill, and the girl with the best availability also had the worst e-mail. wildgurl_69@hotmail.com – I wish I was kidding.

When I called her up to offer her the job I told her it was conditional on her creating a profession e-mail address and showing me a new copy of her resume that showed it.

chelseaFC said:

My thoughts, be brief and concise. Don’t ramble on and on about insignificant thoughts. State your cause and be confident. Always thank the folks for their time and effort.

Poshmonkey said:

I would suggest you write an email to a potential employer when you are able to solve the employer’s problem (whatever that might be, e.g. they are loosing clients). So don’t just send out CVs via email, try to differentiate yourself by impressing them. You can tell them how you would add value to the company and gain and retain new clients …. My ending in covering letters was always “Motivated regards” .... By the way, in July 2008 you will find a free eCourse on Email Etiquette with an interactive quiz on my website “www.poshmonkey.com”. Good luck!