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I sit here trying to catch up on my email communication, as I try not to have more than 40 emails in my inbox at the end of every day (sometimes even on the weekends), and a few thoughts have come to mind. I love the clients and the candidates…I love my job, what I do, and the people I work with. After all, I have been recruiting for 14 years now. So anyway, as I sit here working from the bottom of my inbox up, I had to stop and write these thoughts down on paper (so to speak).
Do you think about what you put in your emails? Do you think about making it easier for the person reading that email? Are you putting too much faith in the person reading your emails? Do you want faster responses to your emails (can’t guarantee this last one outside of my world, but gives you a better chance)?
If you have answered ‘No’ to the first two and ‘Yes’ to the second two, then listen up. These are only suggestions, but I would think about how easy they are and why they might be worth the extra few minutes. (In leaving myself and my inbox wide open to the onslaught of disagreement, if you come up with a legitimate reason NOT to do anything in this entry…email me.)
First, put your phone number under your name. Do you know how many times I have to go look up a number to call a candidate I’m talking to about a job? How easy could you make it on the person reading your email by simply adding a signature line with phone number if nothing else. You could even set your signature to include it. Let’s change the situation…let’s say you are in business for yourself and you are trying to get new business from a new potential client. …and it comes down to you or one other company. What if that client who has no loyalty to anyone (yet) chooses the one with the easy access phone number? Make it simple on yourself and others.
How about this one… I am talking to a candidate (out of the 20 candidates a week I talk to on the phone alone) and I give them permission to follow up with me at said time and said day (I try to keep myself accountable). So I get an email saying ‘Hi Lena, just checking in,’ without details on what position or what they are checking in for. I know I am good (haha) but not that good. Anyway, once again I must go take the time to look it up. Although that is only 3 minutes of my time…if you multiply that or put that email at the bottom of 162 other emails? All I can say is I appreciate a concise, informative email.
The right email isn’t hard to put together. Here are the details I’d suggest:
1. Make sure you include everything that the job listing ask for. If it asks for a cover letter (read previous cover letter blog) then add a cover letter. No easier way to shoot yourself in the foot than to exclude information that was requested from the get-go. …and if for some reason you do not want to add something, make sure you point that out in your cover letter, so we don’t just think you can’t follow directions (part of what we look for by the way).
2. Make sure if you are trying to schedule an appointment you ALWAYS work to the time zone the recruiter is in. Do your homework and get your schedule to match up with theirs (not the other way around). Don’t expect someone in hard-core schedule mode to always catch that type of detail. Again, make it easier for your information to be consumed by the right people at the right time. If you miss a scheduled call with me, it might be a few days before I can get you back on there. Don’t take the chance. If they ask for your availability, give multiple options. Don’t send one day and one time and expect their calendars to be open. Well, I guess I should say don’t expect mine to be. [refer back to the day of Lena] …and what is the harm with making sure your phone number is at the top of that email thread. Don’t make someone have to scroll down 4 or 5 emails to find your number… and then there is no way we even know if that number is still good for the newly scheduled call. With the right information, a phone screen can be scheduled in 3 emails or less.
3. Make sure if you are ever invited in for a face to face interview, go prepared. Even if someone has your resume on file or you know the office is casual…bring in a copy of your resume for EACH person you’re interviewing with. Wear clothes that are interview worthy. It could make a huge difference, even to a company as casual and laidback as mine.
4. Make sure your email address doesn’t show up ‘partygirl2009@_________.com’. …and make sure your email address is easy to find and know that it belongs to you. Even if you have to open a special email just for your career search, it is worth it. As far as the ‘partygirl’, I have had so many hiring managers mention the unprofessionalism of it and as far as ‘editor2009@_____________.com’… at a glance, I have no idea who you are, especially if you sign your emails ‘Thanks Mike’. This means that I am not only going to have to look up what I am supposed to be talking to them about, but I am also going to have to look up who it is I am supposed to be talking to. Make sure your email is set up so that your first and last name show up in the “From:” column and use the subject line to let me know what to expect.
5. Make sure your email is short enough to read in one sitting. Don’t include everything listed on your resume in your cover letter.
I am sure there are other things I could throw out here that seem simple in hindsight, but these really work, and so often are simply overlooked. Once, while I was in school, I challenged a ‘B minus’ paper that I was sure deserved an ‘A.’ This is what my professor said to me (after reading several sections of my paper out loud that were nothing close to complete thoughts): ’Lena, because I know the subject, I knew exactly what you were referring to, but it is not my job to fill in the blanks, it is your job to write them down.’ That hit home and I walked away happy that he even gave me the ‘B minus’.
If I convince you of anything, it is to fill in those blanks; do not let that responsibility fall into the hands of a recruiter or manager who is only human. As much as I try to fill in some of the blanks along the way or schedule a phone screen with someone even if I’m just not sure what they do, when my calendar is back to back those cover letters and resumes don’t make it in, because it takes extra time to fill in the gaps that would let me schedule an appointment and find out if that person is a great fit.
Make the most of your chance by filling in the gaps for the recruiters and managers reading your letter and resume; they’ll get back to you faster and when they do, they’ll be a little more grateful for your respect of their time and attention.