Reading Response #2
Emailing can be a very quick and easy way to contact people but can also lead to embarrassment if the writer is not careful. I personally have not sent out enough emails in formal situations where I would have had the opportunity to make a fool of myself. I have however, witnessed a huge mistake in an email. This email was sent to the entire club I was involved in by the president of the club. The email was suppose to have an attachment of the sign-up times for Spring fest and instead was an email from a vet school that had a ton of personal information. The president of the club didn’t realize it until someone emailed her back and by that point in time there was nothing anyone could do. This little mishap could have been avoided by a simple revision of the email before sending it.
The readings that were posted that referred back to an angry email that had been sent to the entire company made me think of the mishap I mentioned. The email mentioned in the articles was more offensive to the readers then the one I mentioned but still was not an email that should have gone out to everyone. Sometimes people have a tendency to forget how impersonal emails really are. Either that or they forget that it should be a personal email to one or a few employees instead of the entire staff. I imagine these sort of mistakes are made each day in a different company where someone does not know the proper way to email.
In regards to the 10 habits of successful emailers I find that I have a problem with the very first one the most. I am not really great on the computer and it takes me ages to type so I tend to avoid replying to emails. This is not a good thing because I am the horse care coordinator at CHAPS and it would be more professional if I was more email and computer oriented since most of the volunteers we have are easiest to get a hold of by email rather then phone. I hope this class will help me strengthen my computer and emailing skills and hopefully by the end of the class I will have the 10 habits perfected.
I think that the habit that is missing is the revision step. I think that all successful emailers should revise their email and attachments before sending the email. And in that regards should even revise and be sure that who they are sending it to is appropriate. The step of revision helps catch the errors that many people make and don’t even realize it. By catching and correcting these errors the email itself will appear more professional and thought out.
HR has a tough job when it comes to resumes. I am totally serious when I say that. I imagine it is not too exciting to review resumes and select them and if I had to go through hundreds I would key in on the ones that stand out on first glance. Because this is what I would select this is what I try to do to my resume so it will make the first glance and get read. I try to arrange my resume in the format that best suits the position I am applying for and make the skills/experience I have that is relevant to the job appear first.
Comments
Paying Attention When Writing Emails
Paying close attention to all the details of your email is very important. You do not want to make any spelling or grammatical errors or even worse attach the wrong document (or forget to attach it all). We are all aware that we need to take care when writing, but I can say that I have forgotten to attach documents plenty of times. However, now that I have read the 10 Habits of Successful Emailers, I plan to go through all the steps whenever I compose an email until they become permanently engrained in my head. Hopefully that will put an end to dumb mistakes like this.
reply
I agree. I think that one should go through the letter before sending it because as is the technology, press the button and the mail is delivered and one cant stop it then. Another point that I would like to point out is that we should also once again review the letter to which we are replying. Once I made this terible mistake. I had asked my professor to prepone my exam in the final to which he refused. He said, " You may not give the exam early." i was reading in jiffy and somehow skipped "not" and wrote a letter thanking him, making a complete fool of myself.
And also there are so many times that the people write that they attaching a file and forgetg to do so. So it really helps if one reviews the letter before sending.
Reviewing Emails
I completely agree that we should all completely review our emails. Even short emails I have received from my friends have had major mistakes, which cause confusion. After reading your experience you had with your professor, I will defiantly start reviewing my emails even more. I can only imagine how embarrassing the reply email must have been. But, on the bright side, it could have been much worse (i.e. you could have missed the exam). During my college career, I feel I have greatly improved on reviewing my emails. I remember when I emailed a professor with interest in a research project. I actually had people proof read my email. This turned out beneficial by in giving me a prompt response and a meeting time. I think you and the original author make great points about improving business related emailing.