You’ve got plenty of great things to accomplish this year. Which means you shouldn’t be wasting your energy crafting the perfect email when you can spend that time writing an awesome cover letter, becoming a better manager, or coming up with your next big idea.
So, to help streamline your inbox, we’ve compiled basically any and all email templates you’ll need for any work situation, ever. Seriously, there’s nothing you’ll have to worry about if you keep this guide handy.
Here’s what you should write if you’re…
1. Thanking Someone After an Interview
This is the most important email you’ll send in your job search. After you nail your interview, you’ll want to follow up with a quick thank you note for meeting with you (bonus points if you send a handwritten card, too).
2. Asking Someone to Help You Find a Job, Please
Using your network to land a job is not only common nowadays, but it’s one of the best ways to get your foot in the door. Just make sure it’s personalized and polite—a.k.a., you’re respecting their time and energy to help you out).
3. Asking Someone Kinda Random for Help in the Job Search
Yes, you can ask people you don’t speak to often or people you don’t know super well to help you in your job hunt. But you have to approach it in a unique way.
4. Asking Someone to Connect You to a Company or Person
If you have a particular person or company in mind that you’d just love to work with, you can reach out to someone specific and ask for an introduction.
5. Asking for a Referral
Your friend knows someone at your dream company. Now all you have to do is kindly ask for a referral and boom, you’re in (or, almost in—you still have to interview).
6. Getting Help From Someone You Email a Lot
Nobody wants to come across as that annoying person who follows up every single day. But, if you have to be persistent, here’s how to frame your ask.
7. Getting Help From Someone You’ve Canceled On
It can be uncomfortable to reach out to someone you’ve bailed on in the past. Luckily, there’s a way to squelch that awkwardness (and get what you came for).
8. Negotiating a Salary When the Offer’s Too Low
While negotiating your salary can happen over the phone, you can set up the conversation via email so it doesn’t go undiscussed.
9. Recovering From Not Responding for a While
So, you missed an email lingering in your inbox. Or, you’ve been delaying responding and it slipped your mind. Here’s how to recover without burning an (online) bridge.
10. Getting Out of an Introduction You Don’t Want to Respond To
Someone sent you an introduction, and you don’t think you’re the best person to help. Or someone connected you without asking—it happens! Here’s how to turn down a request without hurting the other person’s feelings.
11. Asking if It’s OK to Introduce Someone
Before you go for the intro, make sure you get the receiver’s permission (this is critical if you want to avoid annoying someone you care about).
12. Making an Introduction
And if they say yes, the introduction email’s easy peasy.
13. Thanking Your Network
Whether someone gives you some stellar advice, introduces you to their connections, or serves as a reference, you’ll want to have some thank you notes ready in your back pocket.
14. Asking for a (Good) Reference
You always want to formally ask someone to be your reference in the job search—but if you want it to be a terrific reference, this template is the perfect formula.
15. Turning Down a Job Offer
Yes, it’s possible to turn down a job offer gracefully, and all it takes is one email.
16. Following Up on a Job Application
Haven’t heard back from your dream company in a while? Throw the hiring manager a short and respectful note checking in on your application (who knows, it just might help your chances).
17. Following Up With a Networking Contact
Make reaching out to a recent connection you made at a networking event or through a friend way less awkward by tailoring it to the specific person.
18. Saying No to Something You Want to Help With, But Can’t
Your close colleague asks for help on a project, but you’re swamped, even though you want to help. Here’s how you can lightly turn down their request and still be of service.
19. Saying No to a Project
But if it’s a project you absolutely don’t want to help out with, there’s a way to reject them nicely, too.
20. Pitching an Awesome Idea
You just came up with a great idea to improve a process at your company—good, now send out this email and make sure someone says an enthusiastic yes to it.
21. Trying to Get a Meeting With Anyone
Most people ignore cold calls. But this template ensures everyone will read yours’ and respond.
22. Asking Your Boss to Send Less Email
It’s just not good for you to work after hours or on weekends—send your manager this message and they’ll stop bothering you via email when you’re out of the office.
23. Crafting an OOO Message
Don’t be boring and craft a generic out-of-office message. These templates should make your copy a work of art for anyone who reads it.
24. Inviting a Candidate to Interview
Once someone passes the paper test, it’s time to bring them in.
25. Sending a Job Offer
Exciting, you made a hire! Now the hard part should be over.
26. Turning a Candidate Down
Or, if they’re just not the right person, here’s how to handle that tricky situation.
27. Going on Maternity Leave
When you’re a new parent, the last thing you want to worry about is your inbox. These three templates will make at least one part of the process easier.
28. Connecting Two People on LinkedIn
So your friend wants to meet your contact on LinkedIn—make that relationship happen (and yourself look good in the process) with one quick email.
Photo of person on laptop courtesy of Hero Images/Getty Images.
As Editor for The Muse, Alyse is proud to prove that yes, English majors can change the world. Her work has been featured in Fast Company, Forbes, Inc., Motto, CNBC's Make It, USA Today College, Lifehacker, Mashable, and more. She calls many places home, including Illinois where she grew up and the small town of Hamilton where she attended Colgate University, but she was born to be a New Yorker. In addition to being an avid writer, Alyse loves to dance, both professionally and while waiting for the subway.
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