Guidelines for Online Job Search Correspondence:

Email Etiquette

• Keep your reader in mind - consider the employer's industry type and the recipient's job title.
• Pay attention to employer requests. Most employers will encourage e-mail correspondence and discourage other types of communication, or vice versa.
• Create highly professional and succinct online communications - i.e., utilize proper spelling, grammar, punctuation, formatting, salutation, and signature.
• Be considerate of other people's schedules and responsibilities.
• Respect the reader's privacy and online accessibility. Do not share a recruiter's personal e-mail address with your friend unless you've received permission.
• Be specific and brief in both your subject heading and your document - clearly communicate your reason or goal for writing the e-mail.
• Proofread often.
• If you are not certain whether an e-mail communication is appropriate or not for your particular situation, ask for advice from Career Services or someone you trust.

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Other Email Tips:

• Include your e-mail address on both your cover letter and resume.
• Reevaluate your e-mail alias and/or signature to determine their professionalism.
• Double-check the employer's e-mail accessibility - ask him/her if e-mail is convenient.
• Decide if you want your cover letter in the text of your e-mail accompanied by an attached resume OR if you want to attach both a cover letter and a resume to a brief introductory e-mail.
• If applicable, let the reader know what word processing program and version were used to create your attachments.
• If an employer discourages the use of attachments, another option is to include the content of your cover letter and resume in the body of an e-mail.
• Keep your electronic correspondence simple and neat. Remove excessive formatting and stylized text.
• Avoid "emoticons" (creative uses of punctuation) to communicate your thoughts or emotions.
• Scan document(s) for viruses prior to sending.
• Be aware of where and to whom you are submitting your resume or other online correspondence.
• Remember to be professional, kind and accurate in all online communications

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Sending your Resume Electronically

• Keep your resume simple. Fancy bullets, italics and bold text do not convert well in an electronic format.
• Microsoft Word or an Adobe Acrobat file (pdf) is the standard for sending your resume to most companies.
• E-mail your resume to yourself or a friend and see how it looks.
• Spell check and proofread your resume before submitting it to a company.

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