iMPact Business Group is a staffing agency specializing in Information Technology, Engineering, Finance/Accounting, and Business Administration/Process positions. To connect with one of our professional recruiters, view our job board for all available positions, or submit your resume for consideration here.
During your job search, you will likely be using email to inquire about open positions, communicate with recruiters and hiring managers, and send in your resume and cover letter. When you use email during your job search, it is important to include the correct information and to format your email correctly. Here’s information to help you set your emails up for success with potential employers.
Use a professional email
Don’t use your work email to apply for jobs. Not only will it look unprofessional to send out job applications from your work email, but many companies will monitor their employee’s email accounts. Use a personal email address, and make sure the email address looks professional, for example, first.lastname@gmail.com. If you prefer, you can set up a separate email address to be used strictly for job searching. If you choose to create a second email address, ensure that it is either connected to your main email account or is one that you monitor frequently. It would be so disappointing to find out that you missed a response from a prospective employer because the email account was not being monitored.
Know who to send it to
If you are applying for a job directly via email you should send it to a specific person instead of a general email inbox. Use sites such as LinkedIn to find out who at the company you should address your email to if it’s not mentioned on the job posting. You can also call the company’s main number and ask who the hiring manager or recruiter for the position is. If you are not able to determine a specific person to send to, address the email to “Dear Hiring Manager” or something similar. Using “To whom it may concern” can come across as a bit outdated though.
Follow instructions
If the employer has left instructions on how to submit your resume, cover letter, or otherwise, make sure to read and follow them carefully. Some employers may intentionally want to make sure that applicants can follow simple instructions and discard applications from those who do not. One of the most common mistakes by job seekers is to not follow instructions, and it’s an easy mistake to avoid.
Customize your email
Even though you may be applying for multiple jobs with the same or a similar title, responsibilities may still differ. Provide a brief introduction about yourself and your skills based on the specific job description to position yourself as a suitable candidate.
Use an easy-to-read font
Although there are appropriate times to use some creativity with your job search, this is not one of those times. Avoid using difficult to read fonts, colors and large letters. Use an easy to read font, size 10 or 12. The font should be easy to read without being too big.
Subject line
Always use a pertinent and actionable subject line, such as the job title you’re applying for. If you leave the subject line blank, chances are that it will end up in a junk or spam folder and never get read.
A subject line example: Application for Network Engineer position / Your Name.
This will let the recruiter know that it’s an application that you’re applying for the job and they need to review your application. If there’s a specific job order number listed, you can include that as well. If the employer has multiple postings for the same position, they will know exactly which one you’re interested in.
Formatting
A proper job application email should be formatted like a cover letter you would normally send along with your resume. It should not look like a personal email. Keep it business professional, and avoid using slang, acronyms, and emoticons. Check for spelling and grammar errors. Keep your email brief. Most people tend to skim or skip over long emails. Keep it short and to the point.
Attachments
Attach your resume and any other relevant document in a PDF or Word document so the recipient can save it into their application tracking system. Do not paste your resume in as a graphic directly into the email.
Signature
At the end of your email, include a professional subject line with your name and contact information so the hiring manager knows how to contact and engage with you. Make your signature informative. For example:
FirstName LastName
Email Address
Phone number
LinkedIn URL
If you have any professional certifications, you can add them after your name (FirstName LastName, PMP) or even use an official graphic below your signature to highlight your achievement. Depending on what type of position you’re applying for, you can also include a link to your Twitter account, GitHub, or other accounts with content relevant to the position you’re applying for. If you include a social handle, it should be to an account used strictly for relevant business and career content and no personal, political, or other non-relevant postings.
Check your email before sending
It’s not a good feeling to click send on an important email just to realize that you made a typo, forgot to attach something, or made any other mistakes that may blow your chances. Before clicking send, re-read your email a couple of times, double-check that you have included all attachments and that they are the correct ones. You may want to have someone look over your email and provide feedback. Before clicking send, take another look at the instructions from the employer again to make sure you haven’t missed anything. Before sending off the email to the employer, you can send it to yourself first to ensure everything looks good. Once you’ve checked that everything is to your satisfaction, send it off to the employer.
Working with iMPact
Before we start working with a client, we will research them, have in-depth conversations with their hiring team and visit their facilities to get to know them and what makes a candidate successful in their company culture. To connect with a recruiter and find out about our currently available opportunities in Information Technology, Accounting/Finance, Engineering, and Business Administration/Process, please visit our job board to view all available job opportunities. Or, submit your resume here for consideration to connect with one of our experienced recruiters in either our Grand Rapids, Michigan, or Tampa, Florida location.
