4 Tips to avoid job-hunting mistakes
Not only is it important to come off sounding professional when communicating with employers via email, but it’s also important to examine your message’s finer details. It requires a careful review before sending-off – just like resume writing. In the case of email communications, here’s what you need to watch for:
Don’t use the generic message
In today’s market, with a generic message, you are not going to win. To speak to the interests and needs of the employer, tailor and personalize your message. If you have carefully reviewed the job posting and completed your own research, or if you are just applying for the 20th job posting for the day with the same generic message, the hiring manager reading your email can tell. Someone who does not put in the effort to appeal to the employer is not going to come off appealing.
Spelling and grammar still count
As a job seeker, not only on the resume, over the phone, and in-person, but also on email, professionalism needs to come through. Make sure that your email message is free from spelling and grammatical errors. This means more than just reading the content, but also ensuring that you have the name of the company and the name of the contact person spelled correctly. It is particularly important to check the email for errors in names if you are working off an older template email and customizing information within it. Sending an email addressed to another employer or the wrong person is one of the most common errors seen by job applicants.
Don’t write like you’re writing to a friend from high school
In everyday informal communication with family and friends, technology has enabled us to text and tweet, creating a short-hand writing mentality using slangs, acronyms and other abbreviated forms of words. This does not mean that in your communication with prospective employers, it is okay to carry such writing styles. Professional communication is expected, so prevent prospective employers from using brevity and emojis in your writing.
Respond in a timely manner
It should be done in a timely manner, whether you respond to a job posting or respond to an email response from the prospective employer. Everything posted online today can live on forever, but that doesn’t mean that in a month, the job opening is still waiting there. Respond promptly if an employer responds back to you. Waiting out too long can mean a missed chance. The applicant who responds promptly is also more impressed by employers because it informs them that you have a genuine desire and interest in them.
Get the email address right
It is vital to get your email message delivered to the correct inbox. Carefully review the job posting for details and when you have a specific person’s email address, that is preferred over the general email address where there will be hundreds of other emails with resumes. Work on preparing an engaging subject line for your email message as well. Include job title information for the opening, but also link to a brief detail about yourself that can distinguish you from other applicants, such as: Regional Sales Exec. Experienced market presence in Asia & Driving Business Profits-Asia # 1017.
Need more insights on the same? Or want to know how to send a job interview follow-up email? Or simply want to learn how to manoeuvre in the current job market? Find answers to all your queries, get the best career guidance, interview prep, and resume help right here at ResumeWW.
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