At the start of the school year, while employers are crumbling under the applications, a simple sentence may be enough to stand out.
Everyone has already written “Hello, I hope you are doing well” To start a professional email, like a mechanical politeness that no one really notices. The problem is that this introduction, too banal, can give the impression of having made no effort in this first contact. In a context of recruitment, where every detail counts, the catchphrase then becomes an important signal for the recipient …
According to Nancy Roberts, communication specialist at work interviewed by Metrosome sentences are to be avoided if you want to maximize your chances of being read, understood and, in the end, considered. But another makes all the difference. Indeed, for Nancy Roberts, the opening “I hope you’re doing well” belongs to the past. Too worn, too impersonal, it does not arouse interest or sympathy. “It’s tired and overused”, she explains.
Far from creating a connection, this sentence would install a distance: it is based on a supposition, as if the state of the person was self -evident. “She presupposes people are doing well, because we don’t really ask them the question”she adds. It also underlines the discrepancy between the formula and the reality of the professional daily life. Imagine someone sincerely responding to this type of greetings highlights the problem: the sentence does not invite a real exchange, it remains of the facade. And this observation applies to all other automatic banalities, whether it is a “Good Monday” or a “I hope the week starts well”. These empty politeness, supposed to soften the message, above all may weaken the impact of the following.
However, the specialist recalls that the solution is not to erase any brand of conviviality. A cold message, reduced to a transmission of documents or to a request without support formula, seems steep. “It only takes a second to say something more polite and sweet, so I prefer banality rather than nothing at all … but we can do better than that”, she nuances.
The idea is not to reinvent the prose of each email, but to adopt an introduction which proves attention and a minimum of research. The specialist gives the example of a simple, but more engaging sentence: “Hello Rachel, I’m sure you are very busy, but I would really like to talk to you about something.” Nothing extravagant, but the formula recognizes the reality of office life and values the person opposite. She suggests that we request her expertise, which makes the message more human and more credible.
As part of a recruitment, this personalized approach becomes even more crucial. Being satisfied with a Passe-Partout formula can give the impression that the same email has been sent to ten other companies. A grip which mentions the values or the projects of the company immediately shows that an effort was made to understand its universe. This is why, the sentence “I know you talk a lot about X on your website, I would like to know more about how it is manifested in the company”, is one of the best entries in the process of recruitment.
This grip establishes a field of exchange and avoids the impression of a massive shipment. Nevertheless, once the attention is captured, it is also necessary to avoid the opposite excess: do not drown the reader under various questions. Clearly, be courteous, but also direct and relevant.
