When recruiting for a new position with my own firm a few months ago, I had the opportunity to step into the shoes of a hiring manager. Not usually getting to “play” on the other side of the table, I didn’t know what to expect when I posted my job online. Expecting to receive fantastic resumes—after all, didn’t the candidates know they were applying to work for a personal branding firm?—with well written communications, prompt and professional follow-up, and a sincere attention to the requirements set forth in the job posting, I was so disappointed in what I actually experienced in my role as hiring manager.
Hiring managers often get a bad rap. I hear candidates complain about the lack of response they feel they receive when applying for positions, but after the lack of effort I felt I saw from some candidates during my own recruitment process, it’s no wonder some hiring managers do not feel like spending their time and effort replying to someone who showed them very little effort. From unprofessional and text-like emails, to a complete disregard for the instructions in the job posting, to overly personal email addresses, to incomplete and nonexistent contact information, I felt like I saw it all when I’m sure I just scratched the surface of what many hiring managers see and deal with on a daily basis.
About to embark on the process of hiring my next team member, as a soon-to-be hiring manager again, I am not looking forward to going through the talent acquisition process. In hopes that you will not conduct yourself in such a manner when applying for roles and trying to gain the attention (in a good way!) of a hiring manager, let’s review some basic email etiquette for job seekers.
- Set up a professional email address – do not use a “family” account or an account with overly “cute” words in the address or numbers that appear to be a year of significance such as a birth or graduation year.
- Use a subject line – frame the content with your subject line, creating a new thread for communications that start to get overly long or change subject along the way.
- Check your email properties – all too often I saw email addresses with unprofessional “properties” that the sender had obviously forgotten he/she set up when creating the email address.
- Treat every email as an opportunity to reinforce your professionalism – do not treat email like a text. No matter how informal the hiring manager, always set the tone as you would if writing a professional piece of business communication.
- Apply with your formatted PDF resume – do not let online job boards submit your resume if you have the opportunity to submit a formatted PDF version of your resume that will better appeal to a human being versus an applicant tracking system.
When you send an email to a prospective employer you are creating an opportunity to make an impression. Be sure you don’t create the wrong impression by treating the opportunity too informally and believing that only your resume will be judged. Take it from me, a personal branding strategist and a hiring manager, not having proper job search etiquette creates a lasting resume that can often overcome even the strongest resume.
