How to Professionally Format an Email

Learning to properly and professionally format an e-mail is something we are never taught in high school, but expected of us as adults. I know many of you like myself may have to fight the urge to use internet slang when typing an e-mail. For example, I usually don't spell out the word 'you' and use 'u' for short, I somehow have 'lol' engraved in my head because I'm always tempted to add it to my text when wanting to seem less serious. In fact, before deciding to write about this topic, I myself had no idea how to professionally format an e-mail to someone such as a possible future employer or even my professor.

• I'm not sure about you, but I usually never add anything to the subject line (probably because it's optional). When sending a professional email, make sure to include a relevant subject in the subject line. It could be something as simple as Employment Resume or Thank You.
• If you know who you are writing to, don't forget to add a salutation such as Dear Mr./Mrs. If you don't, write Dear Hiring Manager when applying for a job.
• Try to make your message as concise and to the point as possible. Only include essential information because when reading a long messages, people tend to skim.
• Make sure to have a simple font, no emoticons or slang words, and also make sure that your spelling and punctuation is correct. An error free, and correctly written message shows you are professional and serious.
• Sign off your message with "Thank you," , "Sincerely," or any other simple send-off, followed by your name.

To make it look extra professional, add an email signature. This should be about three to four lines.

Do NOT include your email address in the signature.

                       Your name

                       Title (optional), Company (linked to website)

                       Phone Number

If you'd like, you could also include your social networking information as a 4th line.

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