thegrindstone.com: Whether you are asking for career advice, pitching an editor or emailing a colleague a question, the way that you communicate in email can affect your chances of landing that big media placement, making it to the next level in your career or landing a second date with that guy from OK Cupid.
3 comments:
These are some really great tips. I have had quite a few discussions on the use of exclamation points in emails, and I think it is important to point out that if an email can sound angry, it will. Because of this, it is common for people to use exclamation points just to avoid any negative emotion that could come through the email unintentionally. Those are some good points about how it is different when men or women use the exclamation points, depending on their age, that I never considered. I also agree that emails should be short because they aren't letters, they are emails. It is good to keep that in mind. I think asking the right questions goes hand-in-hand with keeping an email short. If the email is crafted well, it will be concise and get right to the point, meaning the question/point of the email will be concise, obvious, and easy to address. Repetition and bad grammar/spelling are so important in emails since it is such a vital way we communicate nowadays that it is surprising how few people will edit what they wrote before they send it, considering it is a much bigger representation of who they are than it used to be. Again, being concise is important, and that applies to the subject line, too. Overall, this article has some very good points. I would also add that it is useful to read out loud what you have written since that is how it will sound to whoever will receive it. It is easy to catch mistakes that way.
While I think it is good form to edit and spell check pretty much anything you write before sending it, I think some of the tips in this article are a little out there. Generation Y women shouldn't use exclamation points in emails? And men will seem more sensitive if they do? I'm not really sure I buy either of those. I think your emails should reflect who you are as a person, whatever that might be. I for one would never not respond to someone simply because they used exclamation points.
I might just be overestimating humanity, but can't all these profound 'tips' be summed up into, "be intelligent?" and "use common sense"?
It's like, DON'T DO THIS!!!! Right???? Honnesly, if someone is older than a freshman in colege + dosnt think to spell check their email or not tell their boss all about their date last night, i DOUBT THAT theyre gonna be a good person for that job anyway, AM I RIGHT?
Don't most professors and job recruiters want people to continue writing as a reflection of how they are, so they can easily, efficiently weed out the people who are obviously not worth their time?
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