There are few things in this world that make me stress as much as sending an important email. I usually spend an embarrassingly long amount of time making sure everything in the email is perfect and that my message is effectively communicated. At times, it can be difficult making sure nothing is added to or taken away from in the intended tone of the electronic message.That is why I was shocked by the email posted in this article at PR Daily. The email is from a college senior looking for a job at a PR firm (sounds like a familiar situation, right?). Here is what the student said in the email:
"I am a student from XXX State University I plan on graduating this spring and was very interested in applying at your firm. My major is public but I have had experience in advertisement, campaign management, and social media. I will of course sent you a portfolio and resume upon my graduation I just find it appropriate to contact you early. I extremely respect your business and I feel I have the ability to add to your already sterling reputation.
Thank You
XXX XXX
Sent from my iPhone"
The article goes on to talk about all of the obvious errors contained in the email. I'm even more frustrated with this student because I can vividly remember what it was like when I applied for my summer internship. I disappeared off the social grid for two weeks (seriously, some people thought I was missing) to take the time to write cover letters and emails to anyone and everyone that would hire me.
These emails are very important, and they certainly should not be a form letter sent from your iPhone. As public relations students at Texas State, I feel like we have been lucky enough to receive advice about how to handle professional situations like this one.
Do you spend ample time on your important emails? If so, do you have any tips you'd like to share?
13 comments:
Wow. And look at those GSP errors. Tisk tisk.
Ouch. GSP errors make me sad when they are just in Facebook statuses. That email physically hurts me inside.
This is crazy! I am a Campus Representative for the Disney College Program and we had a student that applied for the job. It's a fairly professional position so punctuality is a must. In her email talking about her interest in the position she didn't have a greeting line, her I's weren't capitalized and there were spelling errors everywhere. Needless to say, her email was deleted by our recruiter and wasn't considered for the job at all.
This applicant must be joking. If this isn't a joke then it's just plain embarrassing.
I agree with Robert, there are some amazing professors at TX State and if we take their advice to heart there is potential to be incredibly successful. This article doesn't make me sad for GSP or for the amount of money this person wasted on an education he or she clearly hasn't taken advantage of. I'm thinking, WOW, this is my competition? Easy as cake.
For MAC users, the Apple Mail application is amazing. Bulky links can be embedded, there's a mini project gallery, bullets (# or symbol) and a variety of fonts including bold, underline and italic for emphasis.
Yea, I never send important or long emails from my phone. It is too easy to make mistakes. He/she obviously didn't even read the email again to make sure there were no errors. I usually read my emails at least two times to make sure there are no dumb errors. I feel bad for whomever this is.
I think regardless of your major, this should be common sense. Everyone hears about autocorrecting errors as well so who would want to take that chance?
If you go to settings>mail>signature on your iPhone, you'll see "Sent from my iPhone" is the default signature. Delete it and replace it with your own, profession signature. If you don't want to do that, then at least delete the default. I always thought it was tacky to see "Sent from my iphone" when I receive an email.
If I ever write an email from my iPhone I make sure to delete the "Sent from iPhone" message. Also, I realize the iPhone sometimes autocorrects words and phrases, but that isn't an excuse to not check it before you send it.
I spent a lot of time editing my own cover letters and resumes when I sent them out for internships. I expect to do the same thing for jobs soon. I just couldn't imagine sending out a feeler from my iphone or droid. It just doesn't seem professional.
Absolutely! I do not have anything off the top of my head, but check GSP/AP style errors...especially when writing important emails going to a possible employer.
I loved this because it is so true we have become extremely dependent on our phones. It is absolutely unacceptable to do this.
I loved this because it is so true we have become extremely dependent on our phones. It is absolutely unacceptable to do this.
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