It can be tough putting together the perfect cover letter or following up on a job interview in the right way. Forbes has 27 pre-written email scripts to start you off on the right track. All you have to do is personalise it and fill in the details.
Picture: Andrew Smith/Flickr
Tailoring your message to your audience is always important, but there’s nothing wrong with having an easy starting point. Email templates really help when you don’t know where to start or you’ve never written a certain type of email before. The link below leads you to 27 different scripts that you can use in professional situations, like using your network to find a job, turning down a job offer and sending in a great cover letter.
For example, here’s a script they offer for following up on a job interview:
Hi [hiring manager name],
I hope all is well. I know how busy you probably are, but I recently applied to the [position title] position, and wanted to check in on your decision timeline. I am excited about the opportunity to join [company name] and help [bring in new clients / develop world-class content / anything else awesome you would be doing] with your team.
Please let me know if it would be helpful for me to provide any additional information as you move on to the next stage in the hiring process.
I look forward to hearing from you,
[Your name]
You’ll have to follow an extra link to get to each batch of scripts, but they’re worth checking out. Just copy them into your note-taking app and save them for easier access later.
27 Pre-Written Templates For Your Toughest Work Emails [Forbes]
Comments
5 responses to “Start Difficult Emails Off Right With These Templates”
I always start professional correspondence with people I hardly know with “hi”, especially when I want them to offer me paid employment. Good start.
It is standard procedure where I work to start emails with “Hi [name]”.
Standard procedure in the workplace =/= following up on job applications, at least I would assume.
You can’t assume what the culture will be like from the outside. People may wear converse all-stars and jeans where you work, but would you turn up to an interview wearing that?
I slipped over to Forbes and had a quick look: nice to have these templates, but I think they are a little too ‘gushy’ for Oz. Most of them would turn me off and all sound ‘canned’.
The cover letter was a particular interest, both as a recruiter and a recruitee (thus I’ve both read and written many). A good cover letter is very difficult to compose.
The Forbes one was not too bad, but I’d be reluctant to first say “witht the utmost enthusiasm”. Really? It is not credible, and puts the writer first, not the potential employer’s interest. Dead in the water.
Also it gushes, as in the adjectives in the template…’passionate’ is my pet hate. I’m passionate about my family, but I’m not passionate about my dog. My dog is a pest, to be frank. I’m not even passionate about my hobbies (being long married I don’t have any). I am passionate about improving my capability and delivering to people I work for and with, I’m passionate about my core being, and that’s where ‘passionate’ should be. Tell me you are passionate about coding and I’ll puke.
But, if you let me make the judgement, and show me that you are passionate, excited, effective, dicsiplined and all the other affectacious nonsense people try to impose on others, and I’ll start to listen.
Crafting a letter that shows and doesn’t tell is the real challenge, because any dill can tell me that they are passionate, but only one with real passion can show me by how they write about their work.
I agree that cover letters can be difficult to write and I also agree with Clive’s comments about Forbes being a bit to ‘gushy’ for the Australian market. I also believe you should address the hiring manager name where possible – you can do this by researching the company, LinkedIn or a simple phone call.
Another way to impress potential employers is to not just send an email, but a stunning and professional PDF cover letter which will help you stand out from the crowd. You can find these over at http://www.pureresume.com.au. Our cover letters have helped a lot of people land interviews due to the writing tips and visual impact. The writing tips are blurred on our site to protect the writing tips, but here’s a little sample from our cover letters to help get you started…
“Dear Sample Name,
My name is John Sample and would like to apply for the recently advertised position of [position
description] on [insert website or advertisement location}
I’m extremely excited about the position and after reading the job description I am convinced that my background, work experience and qualifications…”
We also have extra tips on crafting an interview-winning cover letter on our blog. I hope it helps.