The Financial Diet blog:
Hey guys it’s chelsea from the financial diet and today i’m here to tell you all about what not to do in a professional email everyday at tsd we receive tons of emails whether that’s someone submitting an article looking at a job opening clients talking to us or just readers sharing their thoughts the point is in the hundreds and hundreds of emails you receive every
Week we really see the full spectrum of people’s sort of professional email capabilities obviously we see a lot of people who are extremely good at professional communication but we also see a lot of people who simply don’t know how to do it and when they’re looking to submit their work or be considered for a job it reminds us how meses airy it is to teach people
Who are just entering the workforce how to refine the art of emailing you can be the most qualified person for a job and not even be considered because you just don’t know how to send that opening email it’s really easy in a professional email to either come off as too familiar or too cold and mastering that perfect balance is the key to opening any professional
Conversation and it’s being taken seriously so we came up with the top eight things to never say or do in a professional email obviously this isn’t the full masterclass on how to send the perfect work email but it’s at least the biggest landmines to avoid and yes these are all things that we’ve seen in real life many times so without further adieu number one misspelling
The name of the person or the company that you’re writing to now i’m starting with this one because it’s the most egregious but it’s also one that we see almost every day misspelling the name of the person or the company is one of the most surefire ways to get the person at the other end of the email to not like you immediately you’re setting yourself up with a huge
Obstacle for no reason and chances are high that they’ll probably just delete your email without reading it it’s a huge insult off the bat because it means that the person or the content of the email you’re writing we’re just simply not important enough to do a quick google search if you can’t spend ten seconds on linkedin to double-check that you’ve got everything
Correct you probably shouldn’t be sending this email number two is sending an email that is clearly copied and pasted here’s a pro tip gmail automatically turns copied and pasted text into purple font which makes everyone know that it was pasted if you don’t want everyone to know right off the bat you should move it into another program like a word doc or a notepad
To get it uncashed so that it will be regular black text but beyond that you should really ask yourself why you’re copying and pasting if you want the other people to know usually in cases like this you’re pitching something or applying for a job or submitting something and chances are even if you’ve mastered how to unfold at pasted text they can feel when it’s
A total boilerplate not making each email feel personal and customized to the person you’re talking to is a huge turnoff and it hugely increases your chances of making a dumb mistake such as referring to someone as he when there is she because you’ve pasted the email it can feel exhausting but if you’re doing something like applying for many jobs taking the time
To make each email feel real is huge number three is sending those just following up emails to unsolicited contact if you are sending something totally unsolicited such as an application for something or maybe a pr pitch or trying to promote something you’re doing or whatever it is if you email someone and they don’t write you back sending them emails that make
It sound like you’re wondering where they’ve been and why they’re not responding to you makes them hate you when you’re emailing someone in a totally unsolicited way even if it’s something like asking to pick their brain you have to accept that you are asking them for a total favor and they have no obligation to respond to you if someone doesn’t respond to your
Unsolicited email it’s because they can’t for whatever reason and those reasons are none of your business sending several follow-ups like wanted to check on the female wondering if you had a chance to look at the female how about the female where are you on this email are you alive this is incredibly irritating and more importantly gives a distinct impression that
You think is they owe you their time an unsolicited email is a shot in the dark if you don’t get a response that is your response number four is reaching out to the totally wrong person now as an example if you’re applying for a job at tsd and clearly it’s marked email all applications to mona and you email lauren well no surprise if you’re not getting the job if
You’re applying to something or doing something even remotely important one of the first steps should be making sure that the person you’re talking to is the person who handles what you’re talking about not even taking two minutes on linkedin to make sure you’re emailing someone in the right department makes you look like an idiot number five is sending an email
With an intentionally deceptive subject line for example sending someone an email with the headline read something or other to make feel like they’ve forgotten to email about something and open it is really bad sending an email with a subject that essentially trips the person into making them feel like they need to open it more urgently only to find that it’s just
You asking for something or applying for something or whatever will almost automatically make them hate you it’s really sleazy and essentially the works equivalent of those like nigerian prince died and left you a bunch of money that you need to be wired emails bottom line if you can’t find a non deceptive way to package your email maybe you should reconsider
What you’re sending number six is sending condescending unsolicited advice i think there’s been a couple of like weird work tips floating around in the past few years that have encouraged people to sort of like neg potential employers basically emailing people out of the blue to be like this is what i could do better if i were part of your team and i know it
Sounds crazy but not only do we see this kind of email at efd i’ve seen it at almost every job i’ve ever had i think people think it makes them look sort of like standout and dynamic and unpredictable in a good way but really it just makes people feel like thanks you think you can do my job better than i can got it if your portfolio or resume are well curated
And strong they’ll speak for themselves in terms of expertise you don’t need to go in people’s inboxes and tell them how you do it better number seven is telling your life story in an opening email every time i’ve had a job where i’ve had to go through applications for openings there have been at least a handful of people who literally start their opening email
With like a two thousand word memoir on what brought them to this moment like it’s literally one of the monologues from a chorus line with a resume attached no job application should feel like you’re sitting in a folding chair on a dark stage with a spotlight shining down on you i know that people think that it will make them stand out and or be more sympathetic
If they accompany their resume with like this incredible college application story but it’s really just a waste of time any opening email to a potential employer or contact should be clean and concise and only when you get to know them should you really talk about your personal story and really only if they ask if you’re right for the job you’ll get it regardless
Of your memoir number eight is not giving someone a fair window of time to respond one of the biggest things i’ve seen in hiring emails is people who apply within the window of time but then send a follow-up email like literally two days after and the review process should be at least a week generally speaking if you submitted something for any kind of review and
Are waiting for a response you should wait at least five business days before sort of poking them about it there is a chance that they may have forgotten to follow up but sort of giving them the cattle prod two days into sending it is not the right way to find out feeling pushy or insistent or needy in someone’s inbox is never a good idea now these are obviously
Just a few of the things to not do in professional emails but there’s some of the most common situations for post grads and therefore the things that you’re most likely to confront early in your career dodged these landmines and you’ll be way better off so as always thank you for watching and don’t forget to hit the subscribe button and to go to the financial diet comm for more bye
Transcribed from video
8 Things You Should Never Say In A Professional Email | The Financial Diet By The Financial Diet