The Art of Email

Email etiquette. Like you, I am immersed in emails, and if you don’t’ mind me saying, it seems that a lot and I mean a lot of people, don’t quite understand it. It’s actually quite frustrating when you receive hundreds of emails during the week and so many of them don’t make much sense at all, does this sound familiar? So to help out, I’ve devised a few handy tips to help master the art of email.

1. Say Hello

Rule number one – don’t start your email without saying hello. Use whichever phrase suits, be it “Good Morning [name] ”, “Good Afternoon [name] ” or just simply “Hi [name] ”. Just don’t start off with the person’s name by itself! As soon as I see an email that just begins with “Tammy”, I immediately hold my breath as I prepare for an angrier toned message. I know you’re probably in a rush, but it doesn’t take more than two seconds to type ‘Hi’ or even ‘Dear’ (it’s still used).

2. Don’t forget to write something

You’d be surprised by how many emails I receive with only an attachment of a resume and no text in the body of the email. Please, a little more information would be greatly appreciated. Just adding a little extra information could save us both a lot of time!

3. Confirm that you’ve received the email

It always pays to reply to emails to confirm that you’ve received it. For example, if we are sending you an email with interview times, it’s greatly appreciated that you reply back with a “Thank you, I’ll see you then” or something along those lines so we know that you’ve read it! This saves both parties a lot of panic when that important date/event finally arrives!

4. Keep it professional

I also regularly see some outdated email addresses used in a professional context. If you’re sending in your resume in the hope of finding a job, it may be wise to change your email address from (example) ‘timtam101’ to a more professional address such as tammy.harvey. We’ve all been there with the ‘totally cool’ Hotmail email addresses back in the day, but there comes a time when we need to change it. Personally, I think that the way you write an email can dramatically influence how the other person ‘sees’ you, especially if you haven’t even met. Keep it professional and proof read everything…and please say ‘hello’!