How to Respond to a Job Posting by Email — Complete Guide

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With all the loads of emails going to a recruiter’s inbox every day, reading a job post response means skimming through the most important parts only.

From the applicant’s perspective, this also means that drafting the email response to make it stand out is meanwhile a challenging task.

Email writing, or writing in general, may not be everyone’s cup of joe, but it is something that can be learned and practiced for sure.

If you are struggling with how to respond to a job posting or announcement via email, you’ve found the right article catered just for this specific topic.

Welcome to Linguaholic! If you have enough time, please read ‘til the end so you can get this matter off of your plate.

 
 

How should we respond to a job posting by email?

Answer: A compelling email message that prompts the recipient to open the attached cover letter and resume is key. We must avoid using an unprofessional email address, committing grammatical mistakes, conveying in a casual tone, and utilizing unnecessary characters.

 

The necessary things to include in a job posting email response

Since we have already tackled the most important parts of a job post, we should be able to discuss how to respond to one easily.

This section discusses the information on how to reply to a job post via email, as well as the specific parts that can be observed in an email message response.

There are three default key parts expected to be found in a job post email response, and these are a cover letter, a resumé, and, of course, an email message.

When replying to a job post by email, an applicant should be able to provide all information that a recruiter may need in case the person gets shortlisted.

 

Application or cover letter

We can think of cover letters as a summative essay that elaborates the applicant’s professional experience.

Although creating one may be tasking for some, attaching a cover letter is always a better and wiser option.

In a nutshell, the cover letter should be crafted in such a way that it “sells” the applicant to the employer.

Therefore, it should highlight the key achievements, major responsibilities, as well as relevant skills of an applicant.

 

Resume

For easier and faster information processing, resumes are generally preferred in job applications through email.

A resume is ideally a one-page document that summarizes an applicant’s qualifications and work experience in bullet form.

Unlike CVs or curriculum vitae, resumes are short, concise, and could take a variety of formats, which are designed to be skimmed on.

An applicant must also tailor the content of his or her resume according to the job description posted by the employer.

And, this means that irrelevant work experience should not be included in the resume’s content, as it would hamper the recruiter’s comprehension.

 

Email message

Before a recruiter decides whether to read your cover letter or resume in detail, he or she will have to see your email message first.

Writing an email message response to a job post can be a bit tricky because underdoing or overdoing it could result in the application being discarded.

So, here are the crucial parts to be written in the email message.

 

Parts of a job post email message

In creating an email response, one has to double-check the recipient’s email address, include a subject line, a proper greeting, a brief yet informational body, closing lines, and contact details.

Here are these parts in detail.

 

Recipient

“Recipient” refers to the person assigned to collect and screen job application-related emails.

This tab is usually at the topmost part of the email message box, where the accurate email address of the recruiter should be encoded.

No matter how good of a talent you are, any extra or missing character in the email address means missing the chance of getting the job.

At the same time, it also implies some amount of recklessness, and hence, before sending your email, make sure you’ve got the right contact information.

If you know any person currently connected with the target company, you may also add him or her under the “CC” or “BCC” tab.

“CC” stands for “carbon copy” or “courtesy copy” while “BCC” means “blind carbon copy” or “blind courtesy copy.”

If your intent is to only alert the internal contact that you are applying, but you do not want to let the recruiter know about it, you can use the “BCC” tab.

If the intent is otherwise, then use the “CC” option instead.

 

Subject Line

A subject line is the title of your entire email which the recipient sees first upon opening the email account.

The subject line, as much as possible, should be precise enough to prompt the recipient to open the email.

Not placing a subject line may induce some amount of curiosity on one hand, but it may also suggest some carelessness on the other.

In other words, it can appear “spammy” to the receiver, so the default process is to use a catchy but professional one.

Since an applicant’s goal is to grab the attention of the recipient, using a striking message in the subject line prompting a call to action would be strategic.

One way to do this is by creating a bold subject line, especially if this act matches the job role and your personality.

If the role being applied is more conservative, you can simply summarize your overall work experience in the subject line.

Make sure to use the exact job title based on the post where you’ve seen the job ad. Feel free to add the job reference number for easier access too.

If you have been referred by a connection inside the company, it is also strategic to include the person’s name in the subject line.

Again, the subject line is meant to entice the recipient and compel him or her to open the email, so it has to be optimized in such a manner.

 

Greeting

No matter what the relationship is with the recipient, it is always best to start with a classic greeting.

We can do this by using the two-word verbiage “dear” and “recipient’s name,” altogether with proper punctuation.

The comma comes after the name of the recipient and not after the adjective “dear.”

 

Email opener

Then, we formally and politely start the email message with a short pleasantry, just like what we do in the spoken language.

The default is to make it short, simple, and professional in which the classic expressions are marked by the intent to convey the act of well-wishing to the recipient.

One generic email opener is “I hope this email finds you well,” and another is “I hope you are having a productive week.”

When emailing really close connections, we can tone down the openers to either “Hope I’m not ruining your week” or “I know you’ve got a bigger fish to fry, so I’ll keep this short.”

 

Body

The content of the body should be consistent with what has been written in the subject line of the email.

For example, when deciding to appear bold and determined to the recipient, the body can simply start with the following statement.

As mentioned, the email message has to be crafted in such a way that a reader can easily skim through it, so formatting it as such is key toward increasing the chances of getting hired.

Emboldening the key sentences and grouping each core qualification into easy-to-read three paragraphs are also effective.

Towards the end of the body, you can also prompt the recipient to open your cover letter and resume by using another call to action message.

The last paragraph above contains two different call-to-action prompts, which are to open the file attachments, as well as an interview without sounding desperate nor aggressive.

 

Closing or sign-off message and signature

After the entire body, we can now proceed to the sign-off message and signature, which are also crucial in marking the end part of the email message.

A well-formatted and aesthetically complete email message is critical in conveying the skill “attention to detail” to the recipient.

The sign-off message refers to the words like “sincerely,” “yours respectfully,” “kind regards,” and “with appreciation.”

Whereas, the signature refers to the name of the applicant, which should be written in full most of the time.

The first-name basis can be conveniently done when the applicant knows the recruiter or when the subject line already contains the full version.

 

Contact details

Lastly, your email message should also contain your contact details for easier informational retrieval on the recruiter’s side.

Of course, you may have already included these details both in your resume and cover letter, but it is still better to be safe than sorry.

The idea is that you want to provide all necessary details as much as possible to the recruiter and make his or her life easier.

You may include these details in the final paragraph of the email message, but I suggest allocating space for this after the signature instead.

Doing so declutters your entire message, thereby meanwhile conveying a sense of “organizational skill” to the recipient.

Make sure to use your most active contact information such as primary email and mobile number for smoother transactions.

 

Examples of possible e-mail responses to job postings

Now that we’ve seen each part in detail, here are more examples of email messages catered to various employment seniority levels.

Job posts are often directed to entry, intermediate, and mid-level management positions because executive roles are mostly internally hired or offered.

So, here are the three examples of email responses to these positions, which were created to match particular job roles in each level.

The examples below are more conservative than the one presented earlier, so the tonality has been adjusted for suitability.

 

A response to an entry-level job posting

 

Dear Ms. Catherine Lee,

 

I hope you are doing well. My name is Reese Vinson, and I am writing to apply for the position of a fast food crew member in your company. I have seen the job announcement on Linkedin, and the job description matches my qualifications.

As a continuing student of Business Administration, I believe that my knowledge in the field will serve as an asset because I have already gained a theoretical grasp on business-related principles, especially customer service.

My relevant skills are elaborated in detail in my resume and cover letter. Should this application be of interest to you, I welcome the opportunity to discuss how else I can be of help to your organization. You can reach me through my contact information listed below.

 

Kind regards,

Reese Ellis

 

1731 McKinley Avenue

Cape May County, NJ 08210

[email protected]

Mobile: 908-794-7112

 

A response to an intermediate-level job posting

 

Dear Mrs. Alana Thompson,

 

Greetings to you! I am writing to apply for the position of “HR Recruitment Officer” posted in JobApp.

Upon reviewing the job’s description on the website, I was excited to see that everything I’ve learned within my 5 years of work experience as a recruitment associate matches most, if not all, the qualifications you are looking for.

 

I have discussed all my work achievements in my cover letter and resume which are attached to this email. I would appreciate an opportunity to be interviewed at your convenient time. Please don’t hesitate to reach me through my contact details at the bottom of this email.

 

Kind regards,

Charlize Scott

 

512 Duncan Avenue

New York, NY 10011

[email protected]

Mobile: 917-654-9659

 

A response to a managerial-level  job posting

 

Dear Mr. Herbert Humes,

 

Happy Monday to you. This email is an application for the “Products Operations Manager” position in your company. I have previously worked on a project with your Area Supervisor, Edmund Forbes, and we happened to meet at a business conference a week ago. I have been in high spirits since he mentioned the vacancy to me.

I have been working in a workforce development company for over a decade now, particularly as an Assistant Operations Manager since four years ago. I have been focusing on the development of people management programs for teams with at least 15 members. I believe that my overall work experience, along with my MBA degree, is instrumental in the position you are looking for.

Please feel free to review my management experience in my resume and cover letter which are attached to this email. I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Best regards,

Dylan Whitaker

 

3753 Bailey Drive

Davenport, IA 52801

[email protected]

Mobile: 712-480-7546

 

The things to avoid in a job posting email response

Now that we have covered the parts of an email response in detail, it is also essential that we know what not to include in responding to a job posting by email.

All the items listed below would make a job post response unprofessional, and therefore, must be avoided at all cost.

Although these seem to be insignificant details, committing grammatical mistakes, using inappropriate tone and linguistic symbols could greatly decrease your chances of actually getting hired.

This may happen obviously enough when the email gets evaluated by a seasoned recruitment specialist and/or hiring manager.

 

Unprofessional-looking email address

In practicing email etiquette, bear in mind that even the most minute details matter, such as the email address you’re using.

No matter how competitive or physically appealing you are, an unprofessional-looking email address can ruin your job opportunity.

Professional email addresses are generally expected be containing your name and last name for easier identification.

Here are some examples of email addresses that may become a laughing stock to the recruitment team.

 

 

And, here are professional-looking email addresses.

Free options like the first three below are acceptable but if you do happen to own a business (domain), then use your business e-mail address ([email protected]) instead. 

If you are a student, then it is better to use your university E-mail address instead. 

 

Misspellings

Misspellings suggest incomplete or inaccurate linguistic knowledge, which can also prompt the recipient to simply trash or delete the email.

Again, note that recruiters, especially those working in agencies, get confronted with hundreds of emails on a daily basis.

And thus, they most likely know which words are often misspelled by applicants in their email messages.

Here are a few of the commonly misspelled words in English that can be avoided.

 

Incorrect: seperate

Correct: separate

 

Incorrect: definately

Correct: definitely

 

Incorrect: recieve

Correct: receive

 

Incorrect grammar

Avoiding grammer-related mistakes is especially critical for native English language users then with non-natives.

Oh sorry, I mean “grammar” and “than.”

Although a grammar mistake can be taken lightly in the spoken language, committing this in writing has more repercussions.

This is because, we are simply expected to have more time to think, review, and edit texts, in contrast to speaking.

Spot the syntactical mistake in the next sentence.

There’s a lot of great people in your company.

Yes, we’ve got some problem with the subject-verb agreement in the sentence above, although this is pretty much acceptable in the spoken context.

The correct sentence should have been the following:

There are a lot of great people in your company.

Installing a free grammar-checker tool would easily solve this concern, so it is always better to review the email’s content a couple of times before hitting “send.”

 

Informal tone

Job applications are expected to be done in a consultative language register, which simply means “professional” or “formal.”

This is the tone used when a sense of power imbalance exists, just like in a professor-student or manager-subordinate relationship.

Of course, we can still express enthusiasm in the email message, but we have to avoid the following colloquial expressions:

Unless you’re applying to be a stand-up comic at a comedy bar in New York, the messages above will likely get junked by any recruiter, seasoned or not.

 

Unnecessary symbols and internet slangs

Linguistic and graphic symbols may also be used to imply a casual communicative intent from the email sender.

These should be reserved in communicating with friends and relatives, or those people that we are intimately related with.

They also make emails appear unprofessional and, hence, impolite. Therefore, we must always avoid emoticons or other linguistic elements like the ones below.

 

The anatomy of a job posting

A job post is an announcement for an open job role or position made available for internal or external informational reference.

A job posting may also be called a “job ad,” “employment ad,” “job announcement,” or a “recruitment advertisement.”

Job postings can be found in newspapers and online websites in which the former is becoming more and more obsolete at present.

The recruitment team in a company’s human resource department is mainly responsible for creating job postings in light of seeking suitable candidates for a particular role.

Recruiting used to be done only when certain positions need to be filled in, but it has become a rather ongoing strategic imperative procedure today.

The greater competition in the labor market has highlighted the role of the HR department in acquiring the best talents who can contribute to the holistic development of a company.

Therefore, the role of recruiters has become more extensive than ever, in which creating effective job posts is one of the crucial tasks a recruiter does.

 

The informational content of a job posting

A job post contains strings of the necessary information that guide the possible applicants’ decision-making process.

The inclusion of all essential information in a job post also helps the recruiter save time in explaining the nooks and crannies of a particular position.

A job posting or announcement contains several key parts that inform a reader of the vital details about a particular role being sought.

Apart from the job position, a job post also typically includes the company background, job type, job qualifications, job requirements, work schedule, as well as salary details.

Here are more details on each of these parts.

 

Job position

In a job post, the first thing you’ll see is the specific job position or role being sought by the recruiter.

The posted position is either currently vacant, scheduled to be vacant within an estimated amount of time, or an additional role that the company needs.

Job position types are mainly composed of four dimensions which are the entry-level, intermediate, mid-level, and executive roles.

An entry-level position is a beginner-level role that requires the least amount of responsibilities in the company.

Entry-level jobs may or may not require a specified previous job experience, which typically contains job title suffixes such as “assistant,” “staff,” or “associate.”

Intermediate-level jobs are those hierarchically positioned above the entry-level positions, and these include suffixes like “officer,” “supervisor,” or “team lead.”

The mid-level role is also situated above intermediate-levels, and these positions include the terms “department head,” “manager,” or “director.”

Lastly, executive or top-level management roles are those who are responsible for major decision-making processes necessary for the company.

These include terms like “chief operation officer,” “executive officer,” “chief financial officer,” “vice president,” “president,” et cetera.

 

Company background

The company background mainly includes information about the industry where a company belongs, company location(s), company size, and years of operational experience.

These details provide an initial context to a potential candidate seeking a job opportunity, which is also important for the applicant’s decision-making process.

Company industry sectors include raw materials, manufacturing and construction, service, information, and human services.

More particularly, raw materials are unprocessed products like livestock and coffee beans that are sold to manufacturers for further processing.

The manufacturing industry produces things like cars and computers, while the construction industry builds establishments and infrastructure.

The service industry produces labor instead of material end products, and thus, services are also called “intangible goods,” such as experience and entertainment.

And, the information sector includes informational products that are knowledge-based such as the media and research and development.

Human services, also sometimes called the “gold collar professions,” include legal consultancy, government roles, and scientists.

The company’s location or locations can also be included to set an expected distance from the applicant’s residence, especially if the job entails physical presence in the establishment.

Other company-related information such as the length of operational years and company size inform the applicant whether the company is newly built or not.

 

Employment type

The job or employment type refers to the categorization of the types of contracts an employee has in a company.

The inclusion of this information is necessary for guiding potential applicants to match their employment goals to the available position.

Also, it allows the employer to adapt to the supply and demand in the labor market and determine the labor-related costs in advance.

Employment types include the following: full-time, part-time, seasonal, and project-based employees.

As an applicant, knowing the employment type is crucial in the consideration of the job role because it also predetermines the amount of time and income that he or she can obtain.

And, in relation to the employment type, the work schedule is also another kind of information that should be included in a job post, and thus, these details should also be crucially provided.

 

Job qualifications or requirements

Details related to job qualifications are basically the meat or juice of a job post from an employer’s perspective.

As this part is clunky and lengthy when written in paragraph form, these are often listed in bullets for easier reading.

Qualifications or requirements are the set of attributes, credentials, or skills necessary for the job role being posted.

Details related to educational and professional credentials, hard and soft skills, areas of knowledge and experience are typically found in this part.

This, therefore, initially guides the candidate whether he or she stands a chance to get hired in the prospective company.

 

Job responsibilities

Apart from the qualifications, the job responsibilities are also included to set the applicant’s expectation of the amount of task or work entailed by the job position.

This part includes the major and minor responsibilities of the employee, which are either done routinely or infrequently.

If the previous section on the job qualifications, the qualifications are highly essential for the employer’s talent screening, job responsibilities are meanwhile critical for the employee.

These statements inform the candidate as to what functions he or she is expected to perform in the company or how a typical day would look like if and when he or she gets hired.

 

Employment compensation and benefits

The employment benefits section is often included to attract highly qualified talents to apply for a particular job role.

An overview of the expected takeaways rather than a detailed explanation can be found here, which includes pay scale and insurances.

Employers develop strategic compensation plans which are aligned with the company’s goals and objectives, especially for a long-term time frame.

A company that fails to plan and execute compensational programs typically ends up with high turnover rates, and hence, a game-changer during the recruitment process.

“Compensation strategy” not only pertains to the tangible financial resources but also the intangible ones like leave benefits, meals, accommodation, transportation, and so on.

After all, the goal of the compensation and benefits program is to reward employees’ performance in order to stay competitive in the labor market.

 

Frequently Asked Questions on “How to Respond to a Job Posting by Email”

 

What is the difference between a job description and a job posting?

A job description is the set of information that we can see in a job posting. Whereas, a job posting contains specific details related to an open position, called a job description.

 

How can you tell a recruiter that you are interested in a job position?

We can express job interest by formally greeting the recruiter, explaining the intent of the email, and highlighting our key skills relevant to the job post. We can convey “interest” by using some verbiage along the lines of “I am interested in applying for the role of Training Assistant in your company.”

 

What is an example of a job posting response?

Here’s a brief email response to a job posting which can be seen after the greeting: “I am writing to express my utmost interest in the Cashier position posted in JobApp. My previous job experience matches the requirements in the job advertisement. Please refer to my cover letter and resume for the detailed information, and my contact details are also listed below.”

 

How can we respond to a job posting on Linkedin?

We can respond to a job posting on Linkedin by liking and commenting on the post. In the comment, we can write the last or current job role, as well as the length of experience in the field, for example, Licensed Interior Designer specializing in Modern-Contemporary Design for 4+ years.

 

Conclusion

Finding a job is almost never easy, but attention to details and some call-to-action prompts may increase the chances of getting hired.

One last thing to remember is to keep an email response to a job post simple, precise, concise, and consistent with all the other details included in the email.

Good luck with your job search! May the odds be in your favor.