How to Get Your Emails Read by Recruiters

Julie Shenkman
Posted by in Career Advice


If you stumble across a company, you really want to work for, send a well-written email. Use your great communication skills to help you stand out and land an invite for an interview. Not sure where to begin? Start with how you send emails. In a time where email plays a significant role in our lives a few small tweaks to how your write them can increase your chances of receiving a response. Follow these four tips.

1. Do some research. Drop the “To whom it may concern” and personalize your email to the recruiter. That means doing some research, sometimes the information is in the job posting, while other times you might need to do some digging on LinkedIn to see who is recruiting for that company, their title and any other information that can be useful in crafting an interesting email. 

2. Only include the highlights. Recruiters are very busy and don’t have time to read long emails, so edit your emails to keep them short and hit the highlights. Introduce yourself, explain the reason for your email, that you want to work for the company, and why you’re qualified. To conclude the email, include a call the action that is clear and encourages a response. 

3. Keep your email polished. Keep your cool and keep your excitement at bay to come off professional and not overly eager. Sharing why you would be a good fit for the job and how you can help is more important than to why you want the job. Make it about them, not you.

4. Make your information accessible. Include links to your personal website, online portfolio, or online profile to make it easy for a recruiter to learn more about you. Additionally, make your email memorable with a strong email subject line that encourages the recruiter to open and read your email. 

Know that recruiters receive a lot of emails, so make sure your email stands out from the others by following these four tips. 

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