Cold emails FTW!
— Career — 2 min read
Spending time to work on my cold emailing skill has been by far my best investment. These emails took me to places(read 20+ countries) and have helped me get ALL my internships + the full-time role I am currently in!
There are many ways to write a cold email but sending “Hey Shikhar” and then waiting for reply is not one of them. Here are some pointers which I keep in mind before hitting the Send button:
Address receiver via their name: Many people send an email with “Dear Sir/Madam” - it’s the #1 recipe for a failed email.
Spend time on the subject line: Subject line of your email marks the first impression and should relay the gist of your email. If you are applying for a job/internship, do make sure that you include your name, position and years of experience in the title. There are advices online about making the subject line catchy. While it can be good to do, people have taken it up in the wrong spirit, which led to more failed stories than successful ones.
Keep it short and crisp: Most probably the reader would-be glancing over the email for less than 30 seconds! In this duration, they need to know:
What are you reaching out to them for?
How can they help you?
Why are they best suited to help you?
Why should they help you?
Have a clear CTA in the first paragraph: The reader should know what they need to do. Reaching out to people without clearly mentioning what they need to do is a BIG NO!
Mention your proof of work/social proof/relevant documentation: Proof of work, recommendations and/or social proof adds credibility to your email and convinces the reader to think about your asks. You are essentially asking for someone for their time and effort, so they need to know who are they helping.
Look out for typos/grammatical errors: It is your first impression and a typo/grammatical mistake should not spoil it.
Schedule your email: Sending emails early morning on a workday increases the likelihood of your email being read because most working professionals check their email first thing in the morning and your message would be on the top.
Follow up on your email: The receiver would be busy, and might forget to reply to your email. It’s your duty to gently remind them and ask if they need anything from your side. However, wait for sometime before sending out the follow-up email. Remember that they would be busy, and they are not obliged to answer back.
Make an honest effort: Don’t create a template email and send it to 100s of people - it won’t help. Most of the readers would be able to identify these types of emails at a glance! Instead, send 20 honest emails - it will yield much better results.
These pointers have worked well for me on email and other social media platforms. Remember that people are generally ready to help, but you need to ask the right person, for the right thing at the right time.
2 out of many cold emails I sent:
The email that got me an internship at HiPeRT Lab, Italy
