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10 top tips for students

Basic email etiquette can help make your email communications go smoother, and also help you

establish some best practice to take with you into your professional lives.

Please note that email communications from Heriot-Watt University (e.g. from Registry,

Information Services, Finance, your School etc) will be sent to your @hw.ac.ukaddress

and we prefer you to use your @hw.ac.ukemail address when contacting us.

As a general rule it is best to have at least 2 email accountsyour business (university or work)

email and your personal one (for friends and family)and not to mix the two.

There are two types of email

Informal emailis meant for emails to your friends, colleagues and (since we're pretty informal at

University) University staff.

Formal emailis for when you write emails about job applications, interviews, internships, funding etc.

It also pays to err towards formality when emailing anybody within the university that you don't knowvery well (maybe someone outside your home School). Very few people are offended by somebody

being too polite.

Video

This short video pretty much sums it uphttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSetOU4kvxM

10 top tips

Informal emails

1. Start by addressing the person you're writing to

Dear Moira is fine - most members of staff dont mind being called by their first name (but you might

like to double check with your lecturer/professor). It may be more formal for some

countries/campuses/cultures - so go with whatever is acceptable practice for your environment.

If you dont know the person you are emailing, or are contacting them for the first time, you might

prefer to use their titlee.g. Dear Dr Smith

If you want to be more informal then Hi Moira or Hello Moira would be fine.

Information Services

October 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSetOU4kvxMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSetOU4kvxMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSetOU4kvxMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSetOU4kvxM

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Addressing the person at the start of the email is especially important if you're writing an email which

is copied to several people - if you don't then it's possible that everybody will think the email is

intended for somebody else (and therefore do nothing). If you are writing to a generic mailing list you

could start with "Dear mailing list" or "Dear All".

2. The email should be short and to the point

Rambling on and off the topic is never good and tends to obscure the actual meaning of the email.

3. Manners arent optional

If you wish to request something then it's polite to use the word "please" and form your request as a

question rather than a command e.g. "Can I have an extension" rather than "I want an extension"

or "Give me an extension"

4. Use correct grammatical English

Remember that you are at University! Also avoid text-speak and obscure acronyms e.g. AAK (this one

is maybe not that obscure)

5. Provide enough detail

If you're asking for an extension then say which course you need the extension for. If you are havingan IT problem give as much information about the problem as you can. It will save the reader of your

email having to write back to ask for more info.

6. Use normal capitalisation

Names, dates, places, most acronyms and the start of a new sentence should be capitalised. Entire

sentences shouldn't.

7. Size matters

Dont send large attachments compress files if necessary. Even if your email system can cope with

the file you are sending your recipients might not be able to. Watch your file names tooyou dont

want things like report.doc.docsome systems might block it.

8. Sign off with your name

It's also usual to have a "closing salutation" such as "Best regards", Best wishesetc. (Cheersis OK

between friends but probably too informal for general use).

See Formal emails, point 5for more options.

9. Be patient

Staff wont be sitting around just waiting for your email theyve lots of other things they need to be

doingso allow at least 2 or 3 days before you chase anything up.

10. Don't send an angry email

If you are angry or upset about something - don't put it in an email until you have calmed down a bit. It

might be better to phone the person or talk to them face to face if you can. Angry emails can often

make a bad situation worse.

OKthat was the 10 tips (so these are the ones I was counting) but there are a few more

below you might find useful

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Formal emails

Most of the above applies - only in a stricter manner.

1. Address the email

If you know the name of the person you are writing to use both their title and name e.g. "Dear Dr

Smith". Most academic staff will be "Dr" or "Professor" but this is not always the case. Most

academics prefer "Professor" to "Prof". If you don't know the name of the person then use "Dear Sir

or Madam".

2. Use correct, grammatical English

I realise I'm repeating myself but this is especially important if you're applying for a job. Why should

anybody employ somebody who has low standards in their professional work? It's also worth using a

spell checker for important emails.

3. Choice of email address

Give consideration to which email address you use. Formal emails are usually best from a

professional sounding email addressso if you dont want to use your @hw.ac.uk address, and your

personal email is something like friskylady69@hotmail.com, you might like to create another personalemail account with a more appropriate name for job applications etc.

4. Closing salutations

If you are writing a formal paper letter you should use

Yours sincerelyif you address the letter to a particular named individual e.g. Dear Dr Jones

Yours faithfullyif you address the letter to a generic Dear Sir or Madam

This rule can be applied to formal email as well.

Use your full (not your contracted) first name when signing off - even if all your friends call you Mikey -

sign off with "Michael" and your surname.