Something that I rarely pay attention to is the end of an email, however as you read this part of the email series you will see that your signature block is important.
Do you want to make your email to look and sound more professional? One of the quickest and easiest ways to do this is by adding a signature block to the end of your email. If you do not know what a signature block is, it is the fancy looking name and job description that often shows up at the end of an email from a professor or business contact.
Signature blocks are an easy way to communicate who you are and to add more contact information that you may not want to type out in an email.
Here are some of the best things to be aware of if you want to add one to your future emails:
- Signature blocks should only have between 3 to 4 lines of text
- Typical format includes your name, phone number, position & company, or major & college
- You can include important social media links too: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
- use (::) or (|) to break up information
- Try to skip using color or graphics in a signature—just keep it simple.
- Use only ONE email and phone number. Use your primary one and if you want your contact to reach you another way, include it in your email.
- Please don’t include your address. You don’t want everyone to know where you live, so it’s best to leave this part off.
- You can create a couple versions of your signature block and use them at different times. For example, you may not need to send a full block with every email, especially if it is a follow-up email.
- Before your block include (—) to denote that it’s a signature.
Here are some examples:
—
John Smith
Hope College | Biology Major
555-555-5555 | john.smith@hope.edu
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/linkedinname
—
John Smith
Hope College | Biology Major
555-555-5555
Up next will be the last part of the email series.