Employment - 9 Tips On Creating A Professional Emailed Job Application

9 Tips On Creating A Professional Emailed Job Application

With the advent of the Internet, many of us have the opportunity to apply for work through email.

However, just because this is the Internet and email is so fast and convenient, that does NOT mean you should give up professionalism and polish!

FIRST IMPRESSIONS COUNT. I recently looked over a few emailed applications, and let me tell you, it was an eye-opening experience! Here are a few examples of how *not* to do things...

One person simply forwarded the job description to the hiring company. There was no explanatory letter, no name (just some garbled email address), no nothing. Why should a company want to hire someone who can't be bothered to make an effort?
Several people got the name of the hiring party wrong. Some misspelled it, others substituted someone else's name.
Spelling mistakes, typos, grammatical errors, and formatting problems like you wouldn't believe. One person said that her greatest strength was her attention to 'detal' (should have been 'DETAIL'); another said it was his responsibility to 'a tent to customers' ('ATTEND to customers').

It almost goes without saying that you should always follow the application instructions provided. If you're inquiring or applying for a job - regardless of whether it's online or in the 'real world' - there are certain rules of etiquette that apply:

GREET THE PERSON. Don't just barge in and start writing. A simple "Dear ___" is great.

CORRECTLY SPELL THE COMPANY NAME AND THAT OF THE HIRING MANAGER. If you don't know how to spell them, take a few seconds and find out.

INDICATE WHAT POSITION YOU'RE APPLYING FOR. Be specific; the company may be hiring for more than one job.

PROVIDE A BRIEF SUMMARY OF YOUR RELEVANT SKILLS. Keep it short and to the point.

CHECK YOUR SPELLING AND GRAMMAR. It takes just a few minutes. If you are not confident about doing this yourself, ask a friend or family member to check it over for you.

BE COURTEOUS! Don't make demands. Remember that the *only* thing the hiring manager sees is your email - he or she can't see your facial expressions or body language, so take extra care in the words you select and how you put them together.

FORMAT YOUR EMAIL TO 60 CHARACTERS PER LINE. Many email programs automatically 'word-wrap' somewhere between 60 and 70 characters. Add a hard return when you reach 60 characters on a line; this will ensure the company gets a nicely formatted application, just like you intended.

TELL THEM HOW TO CONTACT YOU. As the bare minimum, leave your phone number and email address.

AND FOR GOODNESS SAKES, TELL THEM YOUR *NAME*. This is so obvious it's painful, yet I've seen dozens of applications there are not signed. End your letter with 'Sincerely', 'Regards' or 'Yours Truly', and then sign your name.

Competition for home based jobs is fierce, and companies can afford to be choosy. Don't give them a reason to pass you by! Professionalism still counts - even on the web.

About The Author

Angela is the editor of Online Business Basics, a practical guide for eBusiness beginners. You can find OBB along with solid home business ideas, freelance and telecommuting job updates, free magazine subscriptions, and much more at eWorkingWomen, http://www.eworkingwomen.com/join.html. Come find out how you too can work from home!

Car Insurance | Car Rentals | Health Insurance | Weight Loss | Life Insurance

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |

Discuss Your Accomplishments During The Interview
When preparing for your interview, you need to be ready to discuss your accomplishments. Surprisingly, many people are reluctant to talk about their accomplishments. But this is exactly what the interviewer wants to hear from you.Discussing your accomplishments separates you from the rest of the people applying for the job. It helps you stand out and show that you are more qualified than the others. Remember, the whole point of an interview is to sell yourself to the interviewer. He or she needs to know that you are the right person for the position.Below are some of the subjects you need to be rea...(related: Employment)

What A Former Stay At Home Mom Knows About Creating A Stunning Resume That You Dont
Recently I was asked to touch up a friend's resume. Her challenge was simple. She was a stay-at-home mom who had not worked in four years. A difficult task however, with the information in this section, I generated a listing of skills she did not know she had. Here is a partial list.(Organized, patient, detail oriented, energetic, ability to multitask, works well under...(related: Employment)

Telephone Job Interview Preparation Tips
TELEPHONE INTERVIEW BACKGROUNDTelephone interviews are quite common in today's job market.They are offered for a variety of reasons including cost savings,screening of candidates and out-of-town applicants. To successfullynavigate the phone interview, it is important to have a solid gameplan in place for preparation.<...(related: Employment)

Have You Been Fired? Laid Off? No? You Will Be!
It's true. Things have changed. You need to know the 3 Keys to Taking Control in this wildly-changing job world.2.6 million were laid off the past three years, 600,000 in 2003. The most mass layoffs in history occurred in January 2004. 2004 saw more mass layoffs than any previous year. Manufacturing jobs are down from 21 million in 1980 to 14 million today. As an example, Levis closed the last of its 63 plants in this country. So that most American of icons-Levis-are now only made offshore.Think you're not at risk? Economists say that 75% of those who have jobs now are at risk of job loss ...(related: Employment)

Does Your Resume Lack Vision?
You're just getting over the shock of having become unemployed. You know you need to begin a job search, but you may not know the best way to proceed, or where to start.More than likely, you will dust off your old resume and modify it to include your most recent job experience. Most people search the classifieds and Internet job sites for job openings matching their qualifications. They then submit their resumes to these postings. You will probably do the same with your modified resume.If you follow this routine, you will very likely expe...(related: Employment)

Culture Shock
Today we hear much talk of the 'global village'. People are have more opportunities to travel and live abroad than ever before. However, when you leave a familiar environment and go for an extended stay somewhere quite different, you could experience a whole range of unexpected and unfamiliar feelings. Many of these emotions can be very strong, making you feel out of control and confused: just the sort of problem you could do without as you try to cope with a new job, a new way of life. This is the experience we call 'culture shock' and its course is well understood and documented. So, the first thing to remember is that culture shock is normal, that it has clearly defined stages and that, provided you understand what is happening to you, you should be able to cope with it.Why might we experience culture shock? The first point to ...(related: Employment)

Your Next Performance Appraisal: Make It Work For You
In the rush of everyday work, it can be difficult to think about your own career development. An appraisal is a key opportunity to identify your strengths, areas that need improvement and plans for your future.The questions below are designed to stimulate your thinking and to help you prepare for and get maximum benefit from your next appraisal session. Think about yo...(related: Employment)

Telecommuting Resumes
Your resume needs to outline your skills and experience, as most know. What some may not know is that employers want to know what you'll bring to the table. They don't want to know what your daily duties were. They want to know what you did for the companies you worked for that makes you extraordinary. Did you save them money, did you make them money, how were you the best at what you did, etc. Yes, employers want to know what your experience is, so duties are good to add. Again, the name of the game is SELL YOURSELF! This does not lose its importance in a resume.On your resume, point out the skills that will make you a good telecommuter. Can you work well with no supervision? Do you learn fast? Put that on your resume. If you were left to work with little to no supervision at your last job, let them know that. Al...(related: Employment)

Tips For Successful Job Hunting: How To Get A Job Without A Resume
I am in my mid-thirties, and, as you can imagine, I have changed and looked for jobs many times in my life. No matter how successful was in my job hunting research, I realized that there are certain ground "rules" that need to be respected; otherwise, we will not get what we want from our careers.First of all, forget about your resume.A resume can't get you a job. A resume won't get...(related: Employment)

How To Use Flow In The Job Search
What is "flow"? Flow as described by thepsychology professor and educator,Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, is a state of being andbehavior. The behavior is one of complete absorption in a task. It is a transcendent state of being.An example would be of a musician whoseplaying causes the person playing to losesight of time, place & circumstances. Some people have called this a "divine rapture".How can a job seeker find "flow"? More oft...(related: Employment)