Your Email Etiquette Speaks Volumes About You

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I've learned a lot about people over the years, having dealt with literally hundreds upon hundreds of resume clients. Each virtual interaction with a client over email provides telling insights about his or her prospects in real life.  Using email is no science; nor is it an art. But how one communicates over email is a window to the person's ability to express him or herself, which becomes very apparent after five or six emails.

Nowadays, we use email to communicate because our daily lives are too busy to take the time to telephone or meet each other face-to-face (Imagine if you had to meet all of the people you email in one day, whether in person or via Skype!).  Many internet businesses such as ours do not have an office where a secretary or clerk ushers you in and provides you with tea or coffee.  We would have to charge clients much more than we do as resume drafters to account for the amount of time spent meeting and interviewing in person. Therefore, we try to keep our expenses low by emailing back and forth with our clients. We also "interview" or get to know our clients via email because we believe people think more conceptually when they have to write, which helps us in the resume-drafting process.

Emails are the new "telephone." The way you write is the way you're "heard." There are hundreds of different types of email personalities, but in the working world, I would say that there are three types, each of which sheds insight into his or her likelihood of communicating successfully in the working world.

1. The monosyllabic writer.

This person uses emails like texting and keeps the answers to a bare minimum.  S/he doesn't type out words like, "you," "thanks," and the like, instead opting for "u" and "tx."  This person may be young, but also naive.  Those abbreviations may work in text messages, but not in emails.  In this case, the writer is showing that "s/he's too busy to write," or too distracted to concentrate.  The downside of this approach to emails is that the writer, many times, doesn't know the identity of the person to whom s/he is communicating, and such a cavalier way of expressing oneself in an email could be seen as a negative.

2.  The void-filling writer

This person can't concentrate.  S/he can't keep a coherent thought. Instead of answering a question directly, s/he dances around an issue, never alighting anywhere near what can be interpreted as an adequate response. Perhaps this is a person who wants to be a writer, or someone who thinks s/he's being witty. But it's not usually the case. My guess is that the person doesn't know the answer sought, or cannot articulate his or her thoughts in a coherent way. This type of short writing is very annoying, and is a barometer of how likely one will be perceived in the job interview.

3. Just the facts writer

You knew where this was going, right? The optimum email correspondent writes emails in a clear manner, giving the reader the information s/he needs to know. His or her punctuation is fine and the answers show an ability to express oneself clearly. This email correspondent knows that time is of the essence and that the reader probably doesn't have lots of it, so conveying ones thoughts are essential to being understood. S/he needn't sound too formal, although sounding friendly helps.

Mind you, if you know your audience it makes it much easier to take shortcuts. However, emails are not texts, so if you have to use email to convey information, do so in as practical a manner as possible. Try to keep a level of professionalism in your emails, showing that you are an asset, an aider and abettor, helping the reader by providing the information s/he needs to get things done.  You'll be rewarded for taking that extra effort to be direct, friendly, and economical in your response.

Emails can make the difference in how someone perceives you.  If I'm truly in a hurry, I'll apologize in advance by asking the reader to "excuse my tone," because writing quick email messages can give a different impression than is intended. When conveying information to a prospective employer, take the time to communicate "correctly" and succinctly. Your efforts will be noticed, giving the reader a favorable impression of you as a person.

Enjoying the Quiet

It's Spring.  Give your thoughts time to bloom.

It's the day after Easter and it's pretty quiet around here. We had a particularly difficult winter here in New England, and our bodies and nerves were tested throughout the Granite State, where, tacitly, it is considered innapropriate to complain about the weather.  Here, men smoke their cigarettes outside in 20 degree weather, in shorts and tank tops, and only wimps (like me) wear ear muffs.  Even I didn't wear gloves most of the winter.  In New Hampshire, the people are hearty and love nature, so that topography which surrounds us is to be admired, not reviled.  But this past winter, honestly, the cold would not go away, and the snow bade its farewell only a week ago, three weeks after the calendar's herald of Spring.

We always enjoy getting new resume clients, so I'm going to count my blessings if we don't get emails this week.  It's my humble opinion that now is not the time to hunt for work.  It's time to bask in being alive, to renew oneself, along with Spring, to thaw out and think about one's future.  Think about what you want in life.  Ponder it on a spiritual level. Instead of thinking, "what job should I apply for," ask yourself, "What do I want the universe to give me?" It's never good to be desperate about your future.  As sure as you breathe, the universe will guide you down the right path. And when the universe does give you some clues, and you have an idea of where you want to go next, we'll be here to help you put it all down on paper.

There are hundreds of sites that can give you advice about your resume, your job hunt, interviews, and how to get the right gig.  We're just one of them.  However, rather than barrage the reader with opinions and lessons learned about resumes [on our heretofore infrequent basis], we hope to communicate more with you--about less. The mind is a wonderful thing to use, but sometimes ours aren't here just to discuss resumes ad nauseum. So welcome to our [new-ish] blog about resumes and whatever else we want to talk about.