#10 Tips for Sending Student Emails that Get a Response Transcript

THIS IS AN AUTOMATED TRANSCRIPT…PLEASE FORGIVE THE TYPOS & GRAMMAR! xo-Lisa

It’s probably the most important lesson. The student should be the sender of all emails to colleges, potential employers, those for whom they want to do an internship or just do a job shadow with the student needs to be the sender. The parent might be along for the ride, but they really should not be coaching the students.

So it stays in the students. Because the adults will know.

Well, hello, I’m Lisa marker Robbins. And I want to welcome you to episode 10 of college and career clarity, a flourish coaching production. I’m going to do something a little different because it’s early spring, 2022. I want to do a solo episode because the time of year has me thinking about our topic at hand, and that is our students reaching out and being bold and appropriately communicating.

Those are the colleges, those at their school, those maybe that can connect them as they build their network. So I’m doing a solo episode today with some of my tips and tricks to build confidence into students, for what can feel like a very scary process. Sometimes the reason this is top of mind today is this time of year.

I have seniors that I’ve worked with that are trying to make that final decision on where to enroll for college for the next four years. And as they do so they’re maybe working their network, talking to students who have gone to those colleges before them talking to. Alumni reaching out to the colleges themselves and asking what feels like bold questions so that the student can get clarity to make informed decision.

I’m working with juniors who they know that the deadline to apply is staring them down. As soon as their junior year is over. If they follow my recommendation, they are already writing essays for college applications and filling out applications. There’ll be hitting submit by fall of their senior year.

They will have a menu of schools that feels like it fits, but how do they get to that fit? They have to, again, reach out, ask the right questions, get on campuses either virtually or in person. Interact do their research. And we’re in a new cohort right now of my launch career clarity course. It is my college major in career coaching course that I do with 16 to 25 year olds.

And as I’m working with this students in that group, I’m asking them to do bold things as they figure out what future college major, and first step into career aligns with who they are. They’re building a network, they’re doing research. And they too are getting on campuses. So as I going through my work week, I have a lot of students that I’m asking to do brave interaction with adults so that they can get clear on what comes next.

So to make it feel less scary for our students, because the reality is they need to do the communicating. The student needs to be in the driver’s seat, not the parent. So to make them brave, to inspire them to do so. I’ve developed tips, tricks, and templates so that it can make it feel more figure out. I’m grabbing that term from Marie Forleo.

And I fully believe that everything is figure out-able many times the parents are. Tempted to intervene and jump into their student’s email and send an email on behalf of the students. And I caution you stop don’t do it. These college admissions professionals, they are used to interacting with young adults and teens, and they know the voice of a teenager, which is very different than the parent voice.

So. Move to the passenger seat, coach your student, moved to the back seat. Try not to be a backseat driver or get ready to get out of the car and put your student in the driver’s seat. That’s where they need to be. Okay. So I want to go through what some of my tips and tricks are for students being bold to enter.

Intelligently be well-spoken and appropriate and to elicit a response from those they’re interacting. First of all, I already said this, but I’m gonna repeat it again because it’s probably the most important lesson. The student should be the sender of all emails to colleges, potential employers, those for whom they want to do an internship or just do a job shadow with the student needs to be the.

The parent might be along for the ride, but they really should not be coaching the students. So it stays in the student’s voice because the adults will. Now, who do you write to when you’re reaching out to people, if it’s college, you might want to dive into their website, figure out if it’s somebody in the business department you’re reaching out to, or perhaps somebody, the admissions office who the appropriate person to write to is if you’re seeking a job or a job shadow, or an extracurricular involvement that you want to do, you’ll probably know the person.

We started to call them Mr. Or Ms. And start out more formal. I would rather you err, on the side of being more formal than too casual to begin with and you’ll know over time as you interact. If you can you move into the more casual space of first names. But for the times that you can’t find an exact name of a person to write to it’s okay.

You can go ahead and write to whom it may concern that is fully acceptable because it can be difficult. Some schools actually make it difficult, other websites to find out whom you should be communicating with. So to whom it may concern. Dear college admissions officer. Or anything like that is perfectly fine.

Now, before you write your email, whether it’s to a college, a potential job that you’re applying for, or someone you’re asking to do an informational interview about their career, or ask for a job shadow to your research, you have to be well prepped. So let’s say going to engage with. Go to the website, thoroughly search and scan, use keywords.

Try to find your answers before you write your email. Okay. If it’s about job shadowing at a particular company, or you’ve got an interview for something research, the company researched the position, research the person’s. Whom you may be job shadowing or interviewing with do your research. We don’t want to waste people’s time by asking questions that are easily answered on a website and.

When you are, obviously well-researched and informed by how you write your email, then you’re going to stand out from the crowd. You’re going to appear as if you are serious and invested, and that will increase the likelihood that you’re going to get engagement and a recent. Speaking of getting a response research shows that when anyone, not just your students, but when any of us sent an email to someone that we’re not already fully engaged with, we need to ask at least one question.

But not more than three questions to increase the chance that we’re going to get a response. Now you might hear that and think, but Lisa, I have six questions, seven questions. I need to know so many things when. Hit pause, pick your perhaps three most important questions and lead with them. Once you create a connection, you can always continue the conversation.

So your first email is likely not your last email. If you get a response, but research does show that when you ask more than three questions, it decreases the likelihood of getting a response. So one to three questions, that’s it. Obviously we want to ask at least one. Okay. How do you end your. I researched this and studies show that the best email ending on your inquiry is thank you in advance, which shows both appreciation for the person taking the time per reading it.

And an expectation that you will likely get a reply. It plants that seed. So use the thank you in advance a little more formal than thanks and best and things like that, but show your appreciation and plant the seed of expectation that you will get a repeat. Give the person time to reply to you. Don’t start worrying.

Why you wait. Everyone is very busy. So patience is the name of the game. While you’re waiting to hear from someone don’t Badger them is completely appropriate though. If after. A week to 10 days, you’ve not heard from them to reascend the original email, keep the original. And they’re an add something at the top, you know, dear so-and-so I just wanted to reach out again, in case this landed in your junk mail or your inbox is overflowing and check in with the below.

You don’t need to re type everything. So let them know this way that it is a recent. In a very nice way. You can always put rescinding on the subject line and that may catch their attention as well. This time you could also go ahead and sign it with respect instead of thank you in advance. So those are some tips.

To hopefully give you a framework that makes it easier to interact with colleges, adults, potential employers. And I think. And I know that most students high school or college can benefit from this advice as they build confidence and build their network. So I’ve got something special for everybody.

That’s listening to this episode, this short episode, this time, this solo short, and that is a downloadable tips and tricks. And I even put. A couple of my templates in there that you can borrow some of my language from and make it your own when you’re interacting, particularly with the colleges. So go to the show notes, I’ll have a link to go over and click to download my tips, tricks, and templates.

And I hope that those will be helpful to you as you engage with people and plan for your. If today’s episode was helpful to you, please share it with a friend who needs us to sharing, following the podcast rating and reviewing helps us resource more students to launch into a successful future. Thank you for listening to the college and career clarity podcast, where I help your family move from overwhelmed and confused to motivated, clear and calm.

About your teens future .