How to correspond with potential employers
Finding a job can be stressful enough without the added pressure of emailing or speaking to potential employers on the phone. The way you communicate in all forms – verbal or written - will be taken into account by the administrators processing applications, to the receptionist on the day of the interview to the hiring manager.
Email etiquette is something that seems very obvious to some but you would be surprised by the number of people that get it wrong. It’s not something that is taught at school or in lectures at university, it’s just something everyone is expected to know. If you are unsure how to go about it or it’s something you didn’t even think was important, then have a read through our tips below.
Writing a professional email.
- Always open your email with a greeting. The number of times we see emails where the sender has gone straight into the subject, for example, ‘when is the closing date for this job’. One sentence emails with poor grammar and punctuation are something we see all the time - no greeting, no manners or sign off! This can appear rude, unprofessional and many people will take this as a first impression.
- If you don’t know the name of the reader or it’s a generic email, use ‘Dear Sir/Madam’.
- If you have been given a named contact’s email, for example, John Smith use ‘Dear Mr Smith’.
- Once you have met the person, perhaps after an interview, you can use ‘Hello John’. This is something you will be able to gage as your relationship with the reader develops.
- If you are starting the email communication, you need to state why you are emailing or at least make it clear. For example, ‘I am emailing to enquire about the Marketing Assistant vacancy currently being advertised on your website’ or ‘I am emailing to apply for the role of Marketing Assistant currently being advertised on your website’.
Again, we read lots of application emails where people just attach their application and don’t include any detail. This makes it very unclear to the reader why you are emailing, particularly if they are advertising more than one job.
- If you are replying to an email, for example, the potential employer has asked for information from you or they have responded to your initial enquiry, then you should always thank the sender. For example:
- ‘Thank-you for your email’
- ‘Thank-you for getting back to me’
- ‘Many thanks for your quick response’
This will show the reader that you are polite and professional.
- If you are adding an attachment to the email, make sure the name of the document is your name and the title of the document. For example, ‘Debbie Jones Application Form’. Also – don’t forget to include the attachment!