For instance, coolguy007@theemail. com will seem unprofessional. Meredith. Athena. Calhoun@theemail. com, however, is suitable.

Write your email in a legible font size, such as 12 point type. Avoid special styles like italics, highlighting, or multicolored fonts unless they are warranted by the content and purpose of the email. Do not use all caps. These make it seem like you are shouting at the recipient.

Subjects like “Quick question,” “Contacting you,” or “Email about an important matter” are too vague or obvious to be useful. “Schedule, Guest List, Lunch Requests, and Meeting Overview for March 12th,” on the other hand, is overwhelmingly long and covers several topics. “Meeting RE: damaged escalator on March 12th,” however is short and to the point. It alerts your recipient to a single primary topic and a specific date.

If you don’t know the name of the person you’re writing to, use a salutation like “Dear Sir/Madam,” “Dear Sir or Madam,” or “To whom it may concern. ” Do not use “Hello,” “Hey,” “Hi,” or other informal salutations.

For example, when writing to a potential employer, you might say: “My name is Earl Rivers. I’m contacting you to apply for the administrative assistant position listed on CareerXYZ. com. "

When writing to a government official, for instance, you might start by saying: “My name is Arlene Rivers. I obtained your email address from the Westchester County Clerk website. I am writing to contest the traffic citation I received on December 31, 2009. "

For instance, when writing to a professor, don’t waste space with unnecessary padding like: “This is Darlene Frankreich. Do you know me? CHEM 221 is my favorite class right now. I love the way the lectures are so organized. I can always follow along and know what will be on the tests. Speaking of tests, I was thinking about the next exam. ” Instead, it would be much clearer to write something like: “This is Darlene Frankreich. I’m a student in your CHEM 221 class, and I’m writing about a potential exam time conflict. ”

If your email is relatively lengthy, break it up into short paragraphs. Insert a line break between each paragraph instead of indenting.

Slang Unnecessary contractions Emoticons and emojis Profanity Jokes

“Yours sincerely,” “Yours cordially,” “Respectfully,” “Best,” “Your student,”

For example, include a note like “I am attaching a copy of my resume and portfolio, in PDF format. ” Then, don’t forget to make sure to include your attachment before you hit “send. "

Avoid including things like passwords, account numbers, and confidential information in an email.