Hi friends!
Welcome back to The Starting Line. This week’s article is actually from the request of a subscriber! The question comes from Narith and he asks:
“Can you tell me what the content of a cold email is?”
Thank you, Narith for the question! I mentioned in a previous article how I used cold emails to get coffee chats and interviews, but what is a cold email? And what would you write in one? We’ll discuss these below!
🧊 What Makes an Email Cold?
It’s pretty simple actually, a cold email is an email you send to someone who you haven’t spoken to before.
Imagine striking up a conversation with a stranger in line at a café, but instead of the weather or time, you talk to them about networking or business opportunities.
Contrary to the name, cold emails don’t have to be cold. What I mean by that is if you take the time to tailor your email to the person, you can give off a ‘warm’ invitation for them to reply back.
🔎 Breaking Down an Example
So we’ve talked about the whats and whys of a cold email, let’s see the hows of one. Below is the email I sent out that got me into my first internship.
The structure is pretty simple here, there are three blocks of text so we’ll break this down into parts A, B, and C.
Part A serves as the intro. I say hi to the recruiter, I let her know we connected, and I start off by making her the focus.
That last bit is important because here’s the thing, yes recruiters are out to help you, but ultimately, people are way more interested in themselves than they are in you. By being curious about the person, you ignite an interest in them to reply back. 🔥
“The best and easy road to a person’s heart is to talk about the things they treasure the most.” - Theodore Roosevelt
Remember that quote, it leads us to part B where I grab her interest using one clever question.
Notice how I based it on her diverse experience as a reporter and dance choreographer? I talk about what Jordan treasures.
In other words, I ask a question that addresses what I want, but I focus on the recruiter’s interest to incite in them a want to respond.
For part C, there’s not much to explain, it goes into the details of who I am and why I’m contacting her. It’s pretty standard yet most people approach this part wrong, which we’ll dive into next.
👎 What Not to Do
The email example I just showed went in the order of A > B > C. However, the mistake most students make is that they start off with part C!
Starting the email off with part C means talking about yourself…
“I want this”
“I looking for that”
“I’m trying to get into this.”
No recruiter is going to want to reply to an email like that, they get hundreds of those.
But what about an email that addresses the recruiter? What if someone came up to you and was excited to learn about you? Wouldn’t you feel eager to oblige them? Most people would be.
Of course, we’re not talking about k-pop stan levels of obsession here. Don’t pretend to be interested in something you’re not, that’s just FAKE LOVE. Instead, make sure you’re being sincere.
To sum up, don’t put yourself in the spotlight, become interested in the recruiter first, then mention your goals and interest after.
🌰 In a Nutshell
Part A: Start it off by expressing your curiosity about the person you’re contacting
Mention their experience, hobbies, and interests
Part B: Come up with one good question that takes their interests and relates it to what your interests are
Something along the lines of “Hey I noticed your experience in [X], I’m trying to do [Y], could you tell me more about [X]?”
Part C: End off by explaining your background and the roles you’re looking at
Do a call-to-action and ask for a coffee chat
That’s all there is to a cold email! This format has worked for me so there’s no reason it wouldn’t work for you.
Keep it simple and with practice, you’ll get better at writing them. ✍️
Thanks for reading The Starting Line! Like, comment, or share to support my work.
Like today’s article, I’ll start some sort of subscriber shoutout where I take topic requests so feel free to reach out if you have one. 😉
Until next time, happy networking!
Michael Ly
P.S. Make sure to check your promotions tab or spam if you don’t see my newsletter and move it to primary!