Email Etiquettes

Email is one of the most important forms of communication when conducting an employee search and corresponding with candidates. It is therefore vital to use maintain correct email etiquette whilst corresponding with potential candidates. As a recruiter, correct email correspondence is fundamental in ensuring that you communicate your point clearly, coherently and professionally.

Subject:

Use an effective subject line with every email that you send. This will facilitate correspondence and assist you in filtering through relevant emails and previous correspondence, as and when required.

Clarity:

Keep emails clear and concise. Don’t spend hours crafting an email; keep it to the point and do not veer from the subject.

Spelling and grammar:

Use proper spelling, grammar and formatting. Be sure to check the email over for any errors before sending it, as this will reflect negatively on you if done incorrectly.

Attachments:

Only include attachments where necessary and do not include them if they have no purpose to the candidate. Be clear as to why you are including attachments, and clarify how and why the individual must use those attachments.

Signature:

Use a signature that includes all necessary contact information, such as your phone number, website and any social media connections.

Professionalism:

Keep within the conventions of standard writing protocol. Be sure to remain professional throughout all correspondence with the candidate. Keep the email polite and formal; do not speak in a personal tone or use any sarcasm, colloquial speech, abbreviations or emoticons. Do not capitalize sentences as this will come across as ill-mannered. Remember this individual may work for you in future, and therefore it is important to send out a positive message about the company at all times.

Few Tips:

• Avoid subject lines like “Important” and “Hello”. Be descriptive about the nature of the contact.
• Avoid blasting recipients with the same email more than twice. Recently, I got four email blasts from a recruiter for a junior level job.
• Avoid having just a first name in the Sender’s field because some spam filters may interpret this as SPAM. Readers may also interpret your email as SPAM. Additionally, a recipient could just delete your email outright from their inbox if you are not familiar to them.
• Avoid sending emails at odd hours of the morning. That email you send at 5:32 AM may read to a spam filter, Outlook 2003 Junk Email folder, or recipients delete key as spam.