How to Email a Resume to a Potential Employer: Best Guide

When employment season starts, there will be a large influx of emails requesting jobs from job seekers. Most of them do not make it through the final cut because, many of these emails do not follow the standard procedure of a business email containing a resume from a potential job seeker.

Candidates also try to make sure that they strictly follow the etiquette in sending such emails. Such emails are one of the most helpful ways in which you can get a job.

Tips to Email a Resume to a Potential Employer:

1. Know about the person that you are sending the email to:

Always research about the company that you are emailing to. Try to know about the person whom you are sending the cold email and know about their positions, their designations and their educational qualifications. This will create a good impression when the employer is reading your email. Moreover, if you have anything common with the employer, also highlight that connection in the email.

2. Use a specific subject line:

If you are emailing someone who is really busy, such as the HR head of a company, the supervisor of a project etc. the chances are that person would get hundreds of cold emails every day. This leads to most of them being rejected because most of them are really generic.

The best way to make your email stand out from the rest is having an eye catching and an interesting subject line for the email. That’s why a short and interesting subject line is important. Moreover, if you have seen the employer or you are acquainted with the person, highlight that relation in the subject of your mail.

For example: “Sam from last week’s dinner conference “. Other circumstances include your position, for instance if you are a student at the person’s alma mater. If you have no such relations, try to go for the simple subject that is eye catching to others.

3. Do not hesitate to show you are passionate:

When you send a resume to a potential employee, try to show that you are passionate about the job. If you are a fan about the employer, show that through your email, do not hesitate in doing so. Also, tell him the reason why you are a fan of the said individual. Showing your eagerness is a great way of showing your personality without coming on too strong.

4. Keep it short and direct – don’t explain yourself too much:

Just try to make the email really short and simple, so that the employer could read the email easily. The reason why you chose the job should be apparent in the first paragraph. As a result, the email should be short and simple and should be in point. Just keep the whole email simple as it is.

5. If it is possible show the work that you have done in the past:

You are more likely to get a reply from your potential customer, if they know that you are very much passionate and serious about your work. The best method to show your sincerity is through showing your portfolio.

Your portfolio should contain all the necessary works and projects that you have done in the past that can impress your employer. You can also add links to your websites or of websites like your LinkedIn account where they could see your skills and knowledge. These are great additions that you include in your email.

6. Proofread:

When you send a email to potential employer, make sure that it is flawless when it comes to the spelling and the grammar aspect. Makes sure it is perfect, since these kinds of emails are more scrutinized than the normal emails. Carefully read through the email for any kind of typos or sloppy writing. Since, once the email is set, there is no way you could take it back.

7. Follow up in a fecund manner:

If you do not get the reply right away, try to wait for a week at least and then try to contact the potential client. When you follow up do not try to hang on the known information. Try to ask the employer, if you have read the email and what is the opinion about you. Or if they have not, try to invite them for a discussion. This shows to the eagerness that the candidate has towards the job.

Steps for Email a Resume as Your Attachment:

1. Make your cover letter and the format of your email as that of the format prescribed by the employer. Make sure that the resume and the cover letter, both are attached separately. Also, you should need to name these attachments in such a way that it is easily distinguishable by the employer after they download the attachments. Make sure your email does not have any kind of virus.

2. Write the name of the position that you are applying as the subject of the email to be send. Also, in the email, try to specify the reason for which you have applied the job and also the reason for sending the mail. Moreover, try to include your contact info within the email so that the employer can contact you if they have some trouble in opening the document.

How to Email Your Resume:

Write a brief description about yourself and the relevant topics as a cover letter. After writing the cover letter, try to paste the resume just below the cover letter (preferably a couple of lines later). Also, try to reformat the resume so that it can fit within the email. Also try to justify everything to the left. Moreover, before sending the mail to the employer, try to send it to yourself and to a friend and make sure all the information is present and none of it is lost.

Dos and Don’ts of Emailing a Resume:

Always follow the employer’s decision:

It is always advisable for candidates to send emails as per the employer’s preference. Employees usually disregard individuals who do not accept the employer’s preference. If the employer is critical about sending the resume in the form of PDF, do not send your resume in word format, instead convert it into one. Moreover, if the employees say to include a cover letter, include that too.

Be careful of the auto fill option present in an email:

Usually, employees looking for a new job often end up sending their resumes to their present bosses. So as to prevent this blunder, try to create a dedicated email address for job searching.

Resumes should always be sent with a message or a statement of cause:

Always ensure and make sure that you write a small email message accompanied by the resume. The message should include the reason for which the email is sent, for what kind of post you are applying for and why you deserve the job and your skillset.

Refrain from using your work email:

instead of sending such messages using a work email, try to use your own personal email. It is not a good move to use your work address. Moreover, the companies monitor the outgoing emails that use the work id and moreover, it is not a good impression on the prospective employer.

Refrain using a spam blocker:

there are many spam blockers that do not pass emails that are not present in the address of the candidate. Moreover, most of these need to fill up a form online before sending or receiving such emails. This also results in the time for both the parties. So it is a bad idea, as you have to make the employer go to all these hurdles.

Send a test email:

it is better to send a test email to yourself and check whether the formatting is right in the received mail. Check whether the attachments are properly labelled and if they do open after downloading. Also, check whether the attachments are in the preferred format specified by the employer. Resend the message to the employer after you think everything is in place.

Other details:

always try to write the position that you are applying for as the subject of the email. Always include your contact information with your signature so that the hiring employer can easily contact you.

Do your homework:

find out when and how the company was founded and try to learn about the company objectives and who the company’s clients are. Be sure to dig deep and find some really interesting facts about the company. Do not try to be forceful about anything, and try to state facts that are obvious about the company. The employer should feel satisfied with the resume.

Focus on the employer:

completely focus on the needs of the employer. Tell them how you can be a valuable asset to the company and can provide a profitable result to them. Try to persuade them on how you use your skillset for the benefit of the company. Just do not try to show off their talents.

Show respect:

try to show respect to the employer that you are writing the email to. Also use a formal language where your aim should be to be as brief yet detailed about your skills and personality. It’s popular to add an edgy statement, but try not to overdo it. Saying things like “it is my forte”, “jack of all trades”, “Renaissance man /women”, this makes the whole statement feel clichéd and might not impress the employer.

Be unique – but not too unique: try to be unique, but do not be too unique, so that you feel left out like a sore thumb. Be clever but not too clever, be concise in what you are. The company should be able to believe that you should be able to fit well into the work culture of the company.

Sample Emails Formats for Candidates:

Sample 1:

Sample 2:

Sample 3:

The email that you send resume is packed with your personal information. Always try to be as eye catching as possible, but do not overdo that aspect either. As the saying goes, “the first impression is the best impression”, the same goes with email. Whenever you send an email containing a resume, do not expect to be sorted right away. Such an email could be your chance to show the employer the skills, communication skills, personalities etc.