Email correspondence can make or break a good interview.
Career seekers often focus on resumes and cover letters, but emails are just as important of a part of the interview process. Emails are constant in the workforce and there is a formula behind writing them that must be consistently well-executed by employees. An on-point resume and a well-written cover letter can land an interview that leads to a career, but emailing well is a skill that will be utilized throughout employment. For this reason, how a candidate communicates via email holds just as much weight with employers during decision-making time.
After listening to the pitfalls of our applicants, these five rules for email communication are relevant to all career seekers. Don’t let a good opportunity go due to an easy to fix email error:
1. Timeliness: Always respond within 24 hours or faster to any email (this should be a personal email standard regardless of employment). It does not matter if a company took five days to get in touch with you – you must respond immediately.
2. Proper Greeting and Closing: Always include a proper greeting and closing in an email. A potential employer is not your good friend. Even if the email has a casual tone, stay professional.
3. No Spelling Errors: Do not make a spelling error, grammatical error or any other silly mistakes. Not only does it take less than sixty seconds to proof read and use spell check, it also sends a million red flags to employers. It shows that you are not careful in your written communication.
4. Never Omit a Subject Line: Do not forget to include a subject line. This is a critical part of sending an email to anyone. Employers receive hundreds of emails daily, yours will get lost or simply aggravate them.
5. Don’t Go Overboard: Do not use an abundance of explanation points or smiley faces. While these have a time and place, no one likes someone that is just “too much”.
Founder, The Anthem Group