Email Mistakes to Avoid

You can’t blame any HR representative for judging your ability to perform as an employee based on your email messages. After all, an email message may be your first “handshake” with an employer. You need to make sure that you do not commit any of the email mistakes listed below, to have more chances of getting called for an interview and ultimately, being offered a job.
Ineffective subject line

• Make sure the format, spelling and grammar are all correct.
• Use relevant keywords such as “Application for Finance Job Position” instead of just writing “Application”.
• Check if it looks targeted. Some job applicants use a single email message for all their job applications. As a result, the subject message includes a “Fwd” tag, signifying that the recipient is only one among the many employers that received an application. Remove it and make sure that it appears as if the email is specifically sent to the employer.

Bad email address

• Do not use your company email address. This is a major turnoff, and besides, your current office may track your email messages, revealing that you’re looking for another job, and during business hours at that.
• Use a professional email hosting. You don’t have to buy an email address. A Gmail account is free and is more than enough to project a professional image. Just skip the “@cuteandcuddly.com” type of email addresses and leave them for personal use.
• Use a professional name. You may use your complete name in your email address, such as janedoe@gmail.com. To enhance it, why not include a descriptive word, such as janedoeCPA@gmail.com? Avoid numbers; no recruiter will understand that janedoe0419 indicated the date of your birth.

Unprofessional opening

• Know who the addressee is. “To whom it may concern:” is old and boring and highly ineffective. Impress the recruiter by checking the name of the recipient of the email, and place is or her name at the beginning of your message. “Dear Gabriel:” is better than “Dear Mr/Mrs Doe” or “Dear Sir/Madame”. A “Hello Gabriel” is even better, as it sounds livelier and more personal.
• If you are addressing somebody with a title, include it. Professors, doctors and generals are better addressed more formally. They spent years getting that title; acknowledging them with it is the least that you can do to impress them. The casual addressing is ideal for other positions such as banking jobs and IT jobs where most working environments are the shirt and jeans type.