Information Services

October 2014

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

As a general rule it is best to have at least 2 email accounts your 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 email is meant for emails to your friends, colleagues and (since we're pretty informal at
University) University staff.
Formal email is 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 know
very 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 up https://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 title e.g. Dear Dr Smith
If you want to be more informal then Hi Moira or Hello Moira would be fine.

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 having
an 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 too you dont
want things like report.doc.doc some systems might block it.
8. Sign off with your name
It's also usual to have a "closing salutation" such as "Best regards", Best wishes etc. (Cheers is OK
between friends but probably too informal for general use).
See Formal emails, point 5 for more options.
9. Be patient
Staff wont be sitting around just waiting for your email theyve lots of other things they need to be
doing so 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.
OK that was the 10 tips (so these are the ones I was counting) but there are a few more
below you might find useful

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 address so 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 personal
email 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 sincerely if you address the letter to a particular named individual e.g. Dear Dr Jones
Yours faithfully if 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.