9 Mistakes To Avoid in Email Job Applications.

A common complaint and growing concern for many job seekers in Kenya is that they don’t get responses to their e-mail job applications. There are two aspects to this concern: not sure that the e-mail application was delivered or can’t understand why they didn’t get to the next step of the recruitment process.

The first point is more of a logistics issue.
I used to think that it was unimportant for employers to have automatic responses to e-mail job applications acknowledging receipt. Now though, after so many job seekers complaining of non response, I wish that all
companies would implement some form of automatic email reply of the application, to give peace of mind to job candidates.
The more interesting question is what becomes of your e-mail job application once it arrives. The motivation of the second question above is: I feel that I am perfect for the job as described – why am I not getting invited for an interview?

1. Lack of a subject or a meaningful Subject Line-
Ensure that your subject line is informative and pertinent by including the title (or Job code) of the position you are applying for. Employers/placement companies have many job openings at the same time, and if it is not immediately evident which job you are suited for, then the HR manager will lose interest and move on to the next application. For example, A good subject line could be, “Jane Nungari Application for Product Manager-Ref 45678.

2. Lack of a cover Letter
If there is no cover letter, or it doesn’t do a good job of introducing your CV to set you apart from the crowd, then there is a good chance that a hiring manager will invest time in reading someone else’s resume. Use your cover letter to convince the employer that it is worth their while to read your CV. The cover letter should not be a repeat of your CV; instead it should answer the question “why should I hire you?” Remember your objective is to get someone to read your CV; the goal of the CV is to get called for an interview.

3. Not explaining why you are a good candidate
In the email, don’t just say I am applying to position X and attached is my resume. Summarize why they should care and get a jump on looking at your attached resume. It’s a like a shortened version of a cover letter.  The best way is to use bullets as people can read it faster and keep it short (1-2 sentences each) describing why you think you are a great fit for this job. Look at the job description and use their terminology or synonyms to cover all the areas where you have experience.

4. Warm Referral
The best opening line in an email would be “persona X recommended that I contact you regarding this position.” This means the receiver knows person X and that person is implicitly endorsing you for this position. So before you send in a job application email; see if you can find a warm connection to that company or hiring manager. A warm introduction is still the best way to apply to a job.

5. Call to follow up
email is not always reliable. You could end up in the spam folder or overlooked just because the receiver is swamped. If you don’t hear anything in a week, call to follow up to see the status of your job application.

6. Too many attachments
Imagine if someone has one thousand applications, and they have to keep on opening about ten attachments from each job applicant? They would definitely get tired pretty fast.  At most, you should have just two attachments. One is the cover letter, and the other is the CV and all supporting documents like academic transcripts and certificates. You could have just one PDF document to compress all your supporting documents. Even better, you could copy paste the cover letter into the body of the email, so that you just have one attachment.


7. Grammatical errors in your email
 Proof your email and attached CV extremely carefully. Employers or Human Resource personnel will react negatively to grammatical and spelling errors. Do not rely on spell checking only. Use at least one other careful reader to proof read your writing.

8. Lack of a professional email Address.
Choose an email address that reflects your name instead of something which might make you look ridiculous in a business setting. It is a good idea to set up a special account for your job hunting emails. What seemed like a funny and cool email address while you were in college, or just sharing emails with friends, may not be a great address to create a professional image with an employer. E. g machoman@abc.com, may not portray a serious professional focused on their career.

9. Network, network, network- Even when applying for jobs through email, remember that most jobs are never really advertised, they are filled by referrals, networks, and even 'kujuana'. So, take time to know more professional friends, they could not only be valuable to your friendship, but also be an asset to your career life as well.

Posted in: Career Advice