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September 06, 2006
Some Email Etiquette Advice
It seems that use of email to apply for jobs and communicate with employers has become the norm rather than the exception. This is good in a lot of ways. However, there are also many potential pitfalls when one is using email. Here are just a few issues to keep in mind:
• Check, double-check and triple-check punctuation, spelling, and grammar
• An increasing number of employers are complaining that summer associates, interns, and new attorneys are too informal in their communications, including emails. Whether you are applying to or have already landed the job, you are communicating with people who have the power to make decisions about your future! Of course your superiors and co-workers will expect varying levels of formality and informality – just be sure to err on the side of formality, because those who expect formality will be more likely to be offended by informality than the other way around!
• If your email address is unprofessional in any way, change it. (Examples we’ve seen include “dude” or “babe” as part of the address.)
• Utilize subject lines and clearly label your attachments – these help people know what they are about to open, and help when they file your email or attachment or need to search for it later in their Inbox.
• Read your emails at least twice before you send them, and if you have any doubt about the tone read it aloud.
• Remember that emails, unlike letters and phone messages, can be forwarded around the world! Last year the national legal community got to read a very long and nasty exchange between a graduate from Suffolk law and a Massachusetts employer (although after appearing on national television, the graduate allegedly received a number of job offers from other employers!).
Posted by smp20 at September 6, 2006 10:47 AM