| Topic Name: |
E-mail cover letters |
| Message Name: |
E-mail cover letters |
| Date Posted: |
05/30/2000 |
| In Reply To: |
Increasingly- people are able to apply directly online through internet job sites, such as Vault.com. What is the best way to compose a cover letter via email? |
| Message: |
(Job Search Moderator)
My best answer here is
SHORT AND TO THE POINT.
But, make sure that you've itemized your best skills and experiences that are immediately relevant (as in any letter of this type). The only real difference between an e-mail response is that it should be much tighter, and therefore shorter. Time is always the essential issue for the hiring managers who requests this sort of response.
The temptation in e-mail is to be too informal, particularly in cases like the one you're describing. Not only the language, but the editing. Misspellings, poor grammar, and jargon are not appropriate for business correspondence, but somehow they seem to appear more frequently in e-mail than normally. Check out of some of the entries in our bulletin boards!) Be SURE to proofread your letter carefully. Somehow or other, one's normal editing proclivities just don't seem to work as well for e-mail. Haven't you noticed that?
When in doubt, I think snail mail is preferable. Maybe even hand delivery, when that's possible. Traditional mail just looks better, and isn't quite as ephemeral as e-mail, which somehow frequently ends up in the ether by accidental DELETE. At least real paper takes some effort to file...and does demand some attention. Isn't attention what you're after?
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