There is a lot of unprofessional email communication happening these days. Emojis, all caps, casual greetings, and exclamation marks abound.
These things are fine if you’re writing to someone you know well and with whom you’ve established a lax communication style. They're not OK if you’re job searching or looking to advance your career, and are writing to strangers, or people you barely know, with the hope that they can help.
There are many situations in which you might want to send a professional-sounding email to a stranger. Maybe you’re applying for a job posted online and are reaching out directly to the hiring manager to express your interest and hope to get them to take a close look at your application. Maybe you’re cold-emailing someone at a company you want to work at to ask about possible open positions.
Whatever the case, this is not the time to write “Hey there Jeremy! How’s it going? So, I’m TOTALLY interested in the job in your department. Lets hook up and chat about it!!! Cheers.”
Here are some tips on how to write a professional email to a stranger.
Greetings and salutations
Don’t start your email with “Hey.”
“Hey" has become a commonly used email opener, but you should not use it unless you know the person you are writing to and have an established, friendly, relationship. Many people, particularly those over age 30, are annoyed by this informality and put off by its familiarity. And people from some cultures will be confused as to why you are addressing them so flippantly. Quite frankly, using “Hey” with people you don’t know is rude.
Using “Dear,” meanwhile, will work much of the time but might not strike the right tone with younger recipients who will find it overly formal.
Open your emails with “Hello,” or “Hi."
Avoid “To whom it may concern,” unless you’re writing to a bureaucrat.
Include a name
Include the person’s name whenever possible. People like to feel that communications are intended specifically for them and will pay more attention if their name is used. Messages that feel like they might be mass emails are not usually welcome.
Be careful, if you’re sending out a bunch of similar messages and using a template, to avoid writing “Hello, [insert name here].” It happens to the best of us but it’s much better if it doesn’t.
Avoid beginning with just the person’s name followed by a period, colon, or comma, with the body of the email directly following, as in, “Jane. I'm writing regarding the job...”. It’s curt and sounds like the person in trouble.
“Hello, Jane.” is all you need.
Include a friendly opener where fitting
You can open with something like “I hope you’re well,” or “Happy holidays!” (only around the holidays, of course), but it’s not strictly necessary. These openers can sound forced, but they can be nice, too. It’s up to you.
If you’ve met the person or know someone in common with them, that can be a good ice breaker. “You might recall that we met at the Collision Conference,” or “My good friend, Elizabeth Brown, is a colleague of yours, and speaks very highly of you.”
If you’ve seen the person speak or have read something they wrote, this is also a good way to begin.
Example: “I want to say first that I really enjoyed your LinkedIn article about marketing in the post-COVID era. You made some very insightful and useful observations.”
Get to the point, be clear, and don’t waste people’s time
Most people are just going to skim an email, especially if they don’t know the recipient, before deciding if it’s worth paying attention to. So, grab that attention right away. Don’t tell your life story. If you’re writing to ask for a job, ask for a job, then briefly list the reasons why you’d be great for the job.
Mention the specific job you’re interested in and don’t make them have to figure it out. They won’t bother.
Example: “Please consider me for the role of Project Manager at [Company] posted on Talent.com. I have 10 years of experience in this area overseeing diverse projects from conception to execution. One example of my success is [insert a really cool project you managed].”
Don’t tell your life story or ramble on about unrelated topics. People are busy.
Don’t use emojis
Like the word “hey,” the use of emojis in emails has become pretty common. It’s fine if this is general practice in a workplace where you already have a job, but don’t use them in an email with someone you don’t know. Research suggests that the use of smiley emojis in emails results in the sender being perceived as less competent. You probably don’t want to come across as silly when looking to advance your career (unless maybe it’s as a children’s birthday party entertainer).
Once you know the person and know that emojis are acceptable, you should still make sure they’re appropriate to the content of the message.
Avoid all caps
THERE ARE VERY FEW SITUATIONS IN WHICH IT IS APPROPRIATE TO USE ALL CAPS IN AN EMAIL. IT MAKES YOU LOOK AGGRESSIVE, FRUSTRATED, LOUD, AND SLIGHTLY UNHINGED. CAPS MAKE PEOPLE FEEL LIKE YOU’RE YELLING AT THEM. IT ALSO MAKES YOU LOOK LIKE YOU DON’T KNOW HOW TO COMMUNICATE.
None of those things reflect how you want to come across in a professional email. Again, you can use all caps with people you know well, if that’s how the team does things. The only acceptable time to us all caps in a message to someone you don’t know is in an acronym (like CPA). If you’re looking for ways to emphasize words or phrases, use bold.
Example: “increased subscribers by 300% over six months.”
Limit use of exclamation marks
Exclamation marks should be used sparingly and not stuffed into emails as though you’re trying to fit in as many as possible. You might avoid them altogether in professional emails, but can go ahead and use one or two if you’re genuinely excited about something or want to sound enthusiastic. For example, after a “Thank you.”
Stick to a simple sign off
An email sign off should be simple and friendly.
One might think that “Best” is a good one, but it seems to rub people the wrong way, and tends to appear on lists of worst email sign offs. “Cheers” is another that seems to put some people off. “Sincerely,” is a tad old fashioned and “Warmly” is a little saccharine.
“Kind regards” is a good one, or just “regards.” “Thank you,” is another simple and safe option. Obviously, you should avoid writing “Love” to someone you don’t know.
Note: at some point, so-called experts started suggesting that you end cold emails with something presumptuous like “let me know when is a good time to meet for coffee to discuss this” before signing off. Don’t do this. It’s pushy and weird. Write something like “Please let me know if you need more information or would like to talk about how I can be an asset to your team.”
You can also say, “I hope to hear from you," which is also an acceptable place for an exclamation mark (“I hope to hear from you!”)
Proofread
Go back over your email and check for typos and grammatical errors. This is your chance to make a good impression and you don’t want to ruin it with “I hope you have a lonely weekend.”
Err on the side of formality
Just like how it’s always better to overdress for an occasion and look too respectful, or maybe eccentric, than to underdress and look like you just don’t care, it is always best to err on the side of formality when emailing someone you don’t know. Particularly if you want them to get something out of the communication.
Use more formal language and never acronyms like “LOL” or “OMG.” Say “please” and “thank you.” Don’t be flippant or presumptuous. Ask politely and sign off respectfully.
You will always get more out of life with respect than with disrespect. This counts for written communications and emails too.
