In the stress of finals and the excitement of heading home for a month, it is easy to forget minor details – like setting up a vacation response. If you are in the middle of a job or internship search we recommend setting up your vacation settings in Bmail. It may help if a potential employer happens to send you an email during this time to make sure they are aware that you are currently on break. It doesn’t have to be long or fancy. Something easy and quick. Something to let them know that you may not be checking your email as often as you would be at school. Something like, “Thank you for your email. I am currently on Winter Break from Bucknell and will be checking my email occasionally. I will respond to you shortly.” Don’t over think it but don’t under think it either (and by under think I mean not do anything!).
The other thing you should make sure you have set up is a professional email signature. We suggest using a professional email signature all the time, not just over breaks, but it is especially nice to have one if you will also be setting up an automatic response. Email signatures are a bit trickier – and not just for college students – many adults struggle with perfecting the email signature in the “real world.” While there are not clear rules on signatures there are clear mistakes to avoid.
Let’s start with “how” before we go to the “how not”. I like to think of email signatures as business cards – they should provide the same information that you would put on a business card if you had one. For instance, mine includes my name, title, employer, phone number and then how you can connect with us (Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest| Blog ) – yes we have all that! While that is a slight twist on the conventional method we feel that these are important features to make sure people are aware we have and I make sure it’s set up in a way to keep the number of lines to a minimum. The key is stay basic, professional, and short.
For instance, here’s a student example:
Bucky Bison ’14
Bucknell University, Art History
570-315-1111
We know signatures are unique, whether it is in email or on paper, so you want to make sure you are representing yourself and doing what works for you. Perhaps you are the president of BSG, you may want to include that in your signature. Perhaps you have a great LinkedIn profile, you may want to include your public profile link (but first make sure you’ve set up your custom url). Try to avoid making your email signature a mini version of your resume. Your email signature is not what will get you the job but a short, professional one may help make a good impression.
Based on what we’ve heard from employers, alumni, and seen in our own careers, here are some suggestions of what not to include (take the following items as recommendations): Motivational quotes, Political rallying cries, Colorful fonts, Animated jpegs, unprofessional fonts like Comic Sans.
The hardest part of crafting an email signature are the varying different opinions. Some articles recommend including your email while others say it is superfluous. When creating your email signature you need to try out what you feel is right and what you’d like to include. Play around with different formats and ask your friends what they think or come in and ask us – Quick Questions is daily from 1:30 -3:30.
Other good resources: