Etiquette, an important skill in navigating all aspects of business, is just as important when communicating with clients and candidates via email. Unfortunately, for many email etiquette seems to go by the wayside even when communicating with business colleagues and even prospective clients.  But failure to use proper email etiquette can leave a bad first impression and we all know that first impressions last.  Below are a few tips on email etiquette:

First and foremost, when sending emails DO NOT use abbreviations that are often used in text messages and online message groups.  Abbreviations such as “lol” “ty” and smiley faces should never be used in your business emails.

Keep your emails professional. Do not assume that just because you are using email that the communication should be informal.  This is a false assumption, it is better to remain formal and professional than to come off as being a bit too familiar with a client or candidate.

Avoid sending attachments unless the person receiving the attachment knows what you are sending and has given you permission to do so.  Many companies are hyper diligent about avoiding viruses and other malware from entering their networks and because of this they do not want to receive attachments.  If you do send an attachment, make sure it is not so large that it would either crash the recipient’s computer or waste a lot of their time to download.

When responding to an email, be very careful about using the “reply to all” function.  Before clicking “reply to all” make sure that your communication really needs to go to all of the recipients of the email to which you’re replying.