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In information technology, email is often the most commonly used way to communicate between IT consultants and their coworkers, clients, bosses, etc.  If your emails aren’t done well, you could be communicating poorly with any of these people.  Worse, you might be ruining your reputation with various IT recruiters and IT staffing firms (and thus hurting your chances at getting new IT jobs in the future!).  Even with stellar resumes, no IT headhunters can work with IT professionals with poor communication skills.  How do you make sure your emails are making stellar impressions on your fellow IT contractors, etc and helping your reputation with technical recruiters (rather than hurting it)?  Consider these factors:

1. Clarity and brevity.  Are your emails short, to the point, and easy to understand?  You might be speaking the same language as your recipient.  However, if your thoughts aren’t organized, clear, and uncluttered, it might be the same as writing in a foreign language!  Especially if you are providing information to somebody who needs it quickly or asking for something, it’s very important that your emails are short and easy to digest for the important points.  Most people in IT just don’t have time to wade through long, unclear emails.

2. Speediness of your responses.  While it’s not advisable to try responding for speed alone, it is important to answer emails quickly.  If you’re waiting on something to be able to respond adequately, you can simply respond with an estimate of when you’ll be ready to give a final, complete response.  Your recipient will appreciate knowing that their request or question is on your radar, even if you can’t take care of it right away.

3. Politeness and respect.  Email takes away two of the best tools we usually have for communication: tone of voice and facial expression.  Since you’re only using your words to communicate, tread lightly.  Leave out sarcasm, most jokes, and anything that might look aggressive or rude.  It’s too hard to explain later what your true intention was—make it hard to assume you were being anything but polite and pleasant from the get-to.