Do U Have a Job 4 Me? Tips on How to Communicate Professionally

The days of the written letter may be gone, and TTYL may be the new “Sincerely,” but when it comes to networking, proper communication is still a must. I constantly receive emails from students consisting of one-word answers, no punctuation, and no capitalization. While I think we can all agree that our communication skills have become increasingly casual, it is important to remember your audience.

I’m not innocent here. When I’m talking to friends or even family, I’m a big fan of abbreviations (abbrevs), one-word answers, and most of all, the glorious emoji. If you’ve been living under a rock for the past year, or if you’re my 65-year-old aunt who somehow got lost on the internet and found this article, you can familiarize yourself here.

OK so, emojis may not be entirely to blame, but they’ve definitely contributed to the fact that proper punctuation and coherent sentences are hard to come by these days. Let me show you what I mean…

Example A: 

Note: There are no words in the English language present here. Impressive, but also slightly troubling.

Emojis might be a fun way to talk with friends but, it’s important to check yourself before you wreck yourself. Do NOT, I repeat do NOT allow this mindset to sink in when it comes to communicating in “the real world.”

Example B:

Note: Without an introduction, any punctuation or capitalization, the only appropriate response here was…Quoi? At this point, had this student used emojis I may have actually understood him better. But I digress.

In college, it’s easy to struggle with how to present yourself via email. It’s vaguely unfamiliar territory and as texting becomes increasingly casual, I can see where the protocol can get a bit foggy. So, for all you one-worders out there let Campus Job be your guiding light: when talking to anyone in a professional setting, even if it is your teacher, you must at least revert back to your most basic 3rd grade language skills. Be polite, use full sentences, you is always spelled y-o-u, and wrap it up with a nice “all the best.”

Oh, and keep checking the blog for tips on how to be the most professional #campusBOSS in the game.