There once was a story of two students, both had turned in their assignments late for class and both decided to email their professors for a second chance. The first student wrote the email quick, carefree and without hesitation. The second student apologized, explained the situation and made sure the message was free of spelling mistakes. Who do you think got a reply?
Writing an email may look as easy as typing out a text or Facebook message but when you’re sending an email to someone who’s not on your friend’s list, you better re-read, over think and then press send.
As so many of us are starting an internship or job this summer, sending emails is an everyday task that needs to be mastered. As simple as typing up words and sending your messages may be, if you perfect your writing style and wording you’d be surprise of the replies you’ll receive.
When I was applying for internships this past year, I send emails to over 50 different public relations firms and agencies around the country. Each message was personalized to the receiver, proofread and spelled-checked. Even when I was done overthinking the message I had written, there were still grammar mistakes like “its” when instead I meant to write “it’s.”
You can be sure I never heard from them again.
As an intern who composes and replies to dozens of emails a day, if there is one main piece of advice I can give anyone starting a new job, internship or job search it’s make sure you proofread your emails, and not just once or twice but three times. You should then minimize it on your computer or phone for a few minutes and read it again, and then maybe you can send it.
Just remember when you decided to press send it’s lost to cyber space forever and there’s no take backs.
Trust me I should know. I was the student who never received a reply because of my sucky emails once too.
Tips for writing an effective email:
- Make it concise- whatever you’re trying to say, tell it fast.
- Make it simple- no need to use big words unless it’s necessary.
- Be sincere- type certain phrases in a genuine manner, if not it can be read wrong.
- PROOFREAD
