Crafting an effective, professional e-mail is kind of like hang gliding – it’s not really that hard, but you sure don’t want to mess up. So, follow these e-mail tips to insure your best chance at landing the position you desire – ignore them, and you risk crashing!

Always Include an E-Mail Subject Line

Think about it – how likely are you to read e-mails with no subject line from someone you don’t know? Not very, right? Well, neither are working professionals. So include a subject line on all your outgoing e-mails, or they’re likely to end-up in the recipient’s trash box, never even viewed.

Personally, I like action-oriented subject lines like “Networking Request from Duke Student.” Headlines like this will help grab the recipient’s attention and make it more likely that your message will get read.

Address the Recipient

Does it seem weird to write “Dear Mr. Jones?” Well, it does to me sometimes too! So you can skip the “Dear” if you’d like, but don’t skip the person. Always begin your e-mail with the recipient’s name, and, if they have one, title.

Dr. Jones, Professor Smith, Admiral Brown – addressing people by their title actually tells them something about you. It says that you know how to treat people with respect. It says an employer can count on you to treat clients right.

If the person has no specific title, then Mr. or Ms. are fine. And if you do not have a specific contact person, you can address the department, for example: To Human Resources.

Proofread for Grammar and Punctuation

Nothing will destroy your credibility faster than writing riddled with grammatical errors. I mean, you’re a college student or graduate, right? You know how to write correctly, so be sure to do it.

Personal e-mails can ignore grammatical rules, but with professional e-mails, always follow proper punctuation, capitalization, and other standard rules of grammar. Do not try to entertain with abbreviations or jokes. You want the recipient to take you seriously. And always proofread before sending. Look at something else for a minute, and then look back at the e-mail to insure that the recipient’s name, any contact information, and all spelling and grammar are correct.

Include Your E-Mail Signature

Working professionals always attach e-mail signatures, and so should you! I think this is so important that I’ve even written a short article on “Why You Must Have a Professional E-Mail Signature.” If you don’t already have one, check that out!

Insert the Recipient’s E-Mail Address Last

We’ve all hit “Send” accidentally, right? And we’ve all seen or heard horror stories about people accidentally sending nasty e-mails about their boss – to their boss! You can easily avoid this potential deal-breaker by always inserting the recipient’s address last, not first. Do this after proofreading, and make it the last thing you do before hitting “Send.”

Ever watch a movie, see an actor appear on screen, and ask yourself, “where have I seen that guy before?” Wouldn’t it be nice if a little pop-up showed up and told you what else that guy had been in?

Well, a professional e-mail signature is like your personal electronic pop-up – it helps people remember you.
Here’s what to include in an e-mail signature, plus three good reasons why you must have one.

What Belongs in an E-Mail Signature

Always list your name, phone number, and e-mail address. If you have a title, list that too, right after your name. You may think it’s too “small” to identify yourself as, say, a treasurer of a sorority when you’re sending an e-mail to someone in the great big corporate world – but trust me, it’s important! It shows that you identify yourself with a job.

So an e-mail signature might look like this:

Jane Doe
President, Duke University Marketing Association
555-555-1212
Jane.Doe@World.com

(See an additional suggestion below, under “Networking”)

Why Have an E-Mail Signature?

So Employers Can Easily Contact You

A signature ensures that any employer can reach you any time in any situation.
It is not always the case that someone can return an e-mail to you simply by hitting “Reply.” A friend of yours may have forwarded your résumé to someone else, or maybe one employer has forwarded it to another. Never make employers work to find you. Instead, they should simply be able to scroll down and click on the e-mail address in your signature.

Because It’s Great for Networking

In addition to your basic contact information that I listed above, you can also add a brief “tag” line that tells people – at a glance – something about the work you are seeking.

Jane Doe, 2008 Graduate Seeking Marketing Position
President, Duke University Marketing Association
555-555-1212
Jane.Doe@World.com

With the tag line, every single person who sees your e-mail will also notice your purpose in sending it – and you never know who might end up helping you!

It Reminds People of Who You Are

And in the end, this reminder is the overall purpose of an e-signature: providing it means you can be reached easily, that you’ve got an at-a-glance picture of your overall purpose, and that this information is distributed to everyone who opens the e-mail. It all adds up being remembered!

The head coaches of professional sports teams are well known and sometimes famous. But even huge sports fans probably don’t know the name of a single trainer.

Yet a trainer is a major part of every team, someone who advises the coach on many key decisions.

It is often the same with hiring managers and receptionists. And just like an athlete is smart to nurture a good relationship with their trainer, you will be a step ahead if you start your relationship with a company by showing some basic courtesy to their receptionist. Here’s why:

Interviews Begin the Moment You Step Into the Building

We may be so excited or anxious about our interview that we miss what could be a key “pre-interview” first impression: meeting the receptionist. You would be surprised at how many hiring managers rely on assistants and receptionists for opinions about potential hires. In fact, some employers trust a receptionist’s evaluation more than their own!

Even the simplest “she seemed nice” from an assistant to a hiring manager could be a key factor in making your interview a success.

So, be friendly to everyone in the building, from security people to office personnel to other visitors. Look everyone in the eye, and smile when you greet them.

Hey, even if you don’t get the job – it never hurts to be courteous!

Employers Are Looking for Friendly Employees

Okay, so it’s not like an army of office staff are secretly watching your every move on a stockpile of cameras stashed behind a one-way mirror.

But still, hiring managers are very conscious of how an employee will reflect on the company. They know you are going to be nice to them. So they are likely to pay attention to how you treat others – like their receptionist.

So, the next time you’re waiting to be called in for your interview, engage those around you in conversation, even if only for a moment. You never know who might have some influence in landing you the position – plus it’s always great for networking.

Be Kind on the Phone Too

Say you make a follow-up call to see if a resume has been received. The receptionist may be the one who determines whether your resume sits in the “in box” for two weeks or goes straight to the employer. You often have no control over such matters, but you always want to give yourself the best chance – so be polite to the person answering your call. Also, in exchanging a pleasantry or two, the receptionist may share valuable information with you about the job.

Because 70-80% of positions are found through networking, who you know (your network) will be one of your greatest assets when you start searching for a job or internship. And next to your family, friends, and friends of friends, alumni are the easiest group to network with.

Why? Because you share something in common – your school, their alma mater. And one of the keys to networking is sharing something in common with the person you want to connect with.

So get involved with your campus alumni association as early on in your college career as possible. You’ll build strong relationships with people who are interested in jump-starting the careers of individuals just like you!

“And exactly how do I become an active alum before I graduate” you ask? Well there is so much to say on this topic that I’ve dedicated an entire article to it. So check it out – it’s titled “4 Steps to Becoming Active Alum Even Before You Graduate.”

It may sound strange, considering everything you have to do before you graduate, but plugging in to your school’s alumni network now is a great way to gear up for the all-important job searches in your future.

Why’s that? Because alumni are excellent “insider” sources of career info, advice and opportunities. And fortunately, most of them love connecting with current students. You share an automatic bond — you belong to the same club.

As a member of that club, you’ll find that alumni are willing, if not downright eager, to connect you to other people or opportunities that might help you in your career.

So how do you make this work for you now? Here are four quick tips to get your alumni network up and running.

Step 1: Join Your Alumni Association Now

Yep, join now before you even graduate. It’s usually as easy as signing up online, where you’re likely to find databases of alumni that actually want to be contacted by students. That should alleviate your fear of cold-calling perfect strangers!

And if you’re thinking of moving — or even just wondering what job opportunities are like in a different area — be sure to tap into the geographic alumni chapters. Who better to give you the inside scoop on the city and its job prospects than the people who live and work there?

Well-developed alumni networks often have special-interest groups, too. You can connect with other people who share your passions — professional, personal or otherwise.

Step 2: Participate in Annual Phone Banks

Most colleges enlist students to call graduates for donations once or twice a year. For alums, just hearing those younger voices tends to triggers such warm-fuzzy nostalgia that they can’t help but donate. And that sense of shared experience also means that the person on the other end of the line is probably more than happy to talk to you about your plans for life after college.

Even if you don’t make any hot contacts, it’s a good way to practice professional, interpersonal communication. (Plus, there’s usually free food, so at least you’ll go home with a full belly!)

Step 3: Volunteer to Speak on Admission Panels

Parents of prospective students are great networking contacts, so consider participating in admission panels. You’ll get a chance to showcase your leadership skills (not to mention public speaking abilities), and connect with successful adults who just might have a connection you could use.

Even better are alumni admission panels — a great way to “give back” to your school and serve as a school representative.

Step 4: Work Annual Reunions

And by work, I mean both network and work. Every school needs student volunteers for class reunions, so sign up and help out. You might be surprised how much fun it is, on top of its networking potential.

In other words, networking doesn’t have to be work. Have some fun while you’re making seriously valuable connections — connections that just might help you land a great job.

Every professional needs business cards to build relationships and develop their personal network. And these personal cards are essential for college students and recent graduates, too!

I found out just how important these personal cards can be during my senior year at Duke. I was on a Southwest Airlines flight from San José to Austin, and I just happened to be sitting next to the Vice President of Mergers & Acquisitions at Google! Needless to say, I was star-struck! This was an amazing opportunity for anyone looking for a job.

So, I pulled myself together enough to introduce myself, and we ended up having a great chat. When we landed, he said to me “I really enjoyed talking with you and would like to keep in touch – do you have a card?”

I was like a deer caught in headlights! I didn’t know what to say. Of course I didn’t have a card! I was only a senior in college!

So, I wrote down my name and number on one of those square airline napkins and never heard from him again. And I don’t blame him – I wouldn’t have contacted me either!

That’s when I came up with the idea for my Personal Networking Cards. They’re like business cards, only for college students and recent graduates. It’s the perfect way to present yourself as a professional even though you’re still looking for a job.

And that’s why you should have my Personal Networking Cards – to ensure you don’t ever find yourself in a situation like mine! So click here for more information on how you can order your very own Personal Networking Cards today!