You might have a really impressive Engineering Resume that you can boast about and have all the technical skills required, but chances are that your resume will miss out being noticed if the introductory email is lackluster.
So how do you go about drafting a stellar email to send to your prospective employer?
1. Keep it Short
Let’s get real, the person in charge of recruiting probably ends up being bombarded with tons of emails every single day. They neither have the time nor the patience to read through all the jargon and find stuff of value. So skip all the frills and get straight to the point.
It should be short enough to be easy to read yet have enough value to generate interest in the mind of the prospective employer. The ideal intro email to the employer should make them go, “Ah, that’s interesting!” to be effective.
2. Make Efficient Use of the Subject Line
The subject line you choose to write is actually something that determines whether your email would actually get opened and be read, or would end up in the archive. Make sure you make the subject line catching. Avoid using a generic subject like “resume and cover letter for your consideration”. Focus on the specifics instead and include some of the details. For example, if you are a front-end web developer, you could go with something like “proficient web developer seeking XYZ position in your organization”. This kind of subject removes ambiguity and makes the intent crystal clear.
3. Do Your Research
Doing a little homework about the company before writing the email can go a long way in setting you apart from the hundreds of other potential candidates. Know the history, core competency, market impact of the company you are applying to and casually mention the same while stating why you wish to work for them.
Don’t be creepy and come across as a stalker. It is essential that you appear to be genuinely interested which would make the prospective employer feel that they aren’t just one of the numerous companies you have applied to and you are actually keen on working with them.
4. Market Your Skills
The focus should always remain on the company rather than yourself while marketing your skills and abilities. You may have insane coding abilities but focusing solely on those may come off as bragging. Instead, write about how the talent you possess can be leveraged by the organization and add value to them.
How can your skills be of benefit to what they are already doing and how would you fit within the organization that is looking to Hire a Developer? This would ensure that you do not appear as just a show-off but are seen as a potential value added to the company.
5. Be Distinctive But Not Eccentric
All organizations value uniqueness but the company culture is always more important than an individual employee. Highlight the fact that you have the people skills required for working in a team. In a line or two, mention the relevant work experience or training that you have. If the potential employer believes that you would be a good fit with the existing company culture, the chances of you landing the job increase significantly.
6. Put Your Best Foot Forward
Make the employer’s job simpler by adding a link to your own website or blog that gives an insight into your capabilities. It would reduce the employer’s time spent doing a background check on you. If you don’t have a personal blog or a website, the link to your LinkedIn profile or other social media pages that give you credibility would also work. This helps build credibility for and gives the best representation of yourself that you wish to provide.
7. Always Proofread
The last point is often the most looked over while sending an email. There is nothing more off-putting than reading a badly worded email with grammatical errors. It doesn’t matter how many lines of code you can write unless you are capable of stringing two sentences together.
Once you finish drafting the email, check for spelling errors and grammatical mistakes in what you have written. There are numerous free tools available online which you can use to make sure that your email to the prospective employer is error-free.
Focus on making it an easy read. Cut back on sentences that are too wordy, use a good mix of long and short sentences. Read the email out to yourself to judge the pace and effectiveness of each word. Writing great emails is an art that can only be mastered with practice.
