The introductory email you should write when starting a new job
Congratulations on your new position! It’s so exciting to start a new job or be promoted. Whether remote or in-person, you’re going to meet a lot of new people who don’t know you. Your introductory email is your chance to introduce yourself, tell your colleagues all about yourself, and make a great impression. This is the opportunity to let them know how competent, talented, friendly, and, let’s not forget, what a great team player you are.
The introductory email is important because it shares your professional persona with your colleagues. A good introductory email offers your future colleagues tidbits about who you are as a professional, your achievements, and something about your personal persona. Overall, an introductory email performs best when it leaves the reader with a warm feeling that you are professionally competent and personally nice and positive, launching your new job in a constructive and forward-looking fashion.
The ultimate goal is to be seen as professionally successful, personally reachable, and eager to work and drive your field to new heights. However, it’s most important to remember that the email is not really about you, but mainly about the good feeling you want to create with your colleagues. This is not “all about me,” but more “all about me and the position,” and this distinction matters.
Here’s what a great introductory email should look like:
PROFESSIONAL INTRODUCTION:
Tell colleagues about your professional self
In today’s job market, your professional resume and experience exist in so many versions, both digital and printed. Describe your experience in the most coherent and eye-catching way possible.
Your introductory email should open with a short answer to the question your colleagues ask themselves privately: Why are you here? Provide a short description (about two lines) of your relevant professional experience to explain what brought you here: name relevant titles and fields. Be precise.
Explain why you are passionate about entering this position
Write one or two lines to explain why you are passionate about your new position. Mention the aspects you are most excited about in this position and why. What’s in this role that will enable you to flourish? If this sounds like a continuation of your job interview, that’s because it is. Convincing your employer and colleagues that you are passionate about your position and eager to succeed is relevant both during interviews and when entering your position.
Explain why you are passionate about the company
Everyone loves to hear compliments about the company they work for, even if they have doubts about their workplace themselves because compliments about their workplace reassure them that they are working in a good place. Executives love compliments about their company — that goes without saying.
So, why are you happy to join this company in particular? It can be a very short statement, but it matters. It can be a funny anecdotal example, an expectation, a tidbit from the interview process, but it should still be there.
Discuss your future plans for this role
Your colleagues will be curious to learn what changes you will bring. Maybe you are filling a position that has been long needed and they are excited to learn about your professional priorities. What will be your focus as you start? How will your agenda affect their work? Also, they are curious to learn how serious you are about your role, your plans, and how familiar you are with the company. Your email need not answer all these questions, but it is important to acknowledge them.
Your introductory email should provide a general answer about what is important for you in this role. What is your focus (in general terms) in the near future? What areas are you going to explore first? This can be very general and light. It mainly needs to send the message that you and your new colleagues are off to a great start.
PERSONAL INTRODUCTION:
Discuss yourself. Briefly!
Yes, this is the final part, mainly because this part is about you and not your readers. This is the place to answer the question: Why should we be your work-friends? What makes you an interesting person to learn more about? Is there more to you than work life?
Include a nice, funny, lighthearted answer. What is important to you in life? You can write a couple of sentences about your family, your hobbies, or sports, or share a funny story or a personal achievement you celebrate and feel you can share. You could also write a “three things about me you need to know” style sentence, explaining what you like to do when you’re not at work. Make sure the details you are sharing are relevant to your identity and life today (not random places you lived twenty years ago, for example). This part mainly sends the message that you are an interesting and approachable person who is happy to engage in conversation with your new colleagues. It also allows those who want to be friendly to find a conversation starter and come and talk to you.
DATE AND TIMING: Don’t send your email during major global holidays
In today’s digital world, many enterprises employ people from all around the world. This global corporate culture includes people from many countries, religions, and ethnicities. It’s important to acknowledge important cultural and religious dates that people from your new workplace may celebrate, such as Christmas, the American Thanksgiving or Martin Luther King Day, the Jewish Passover and Rosh Hashanah and the Muslim Eid al-Fitr. It’s important to make sure your introductory email does not get lost in the list of neglected emails during a holiday break. Plan your email for days when colleagues are working and reading emails.
Your new colleagues may not remember your email, but they will remember its tone and maybe a detail or two. A well-crafted introductory email will present you well and position you both on a professional and personal level. It can be funny, light, and friendly, but it should also answer your colleagues’ questions about your skills, experience, intentions, and personality. Share what you bring to the table in a way that feels comfortable and friendly. Continue your job interview by bringing your best self to the office. Good luck!
