6 ways to sign off an email and ones to avoid

You know the score. You’ve delved into the depths of the job jungle and found your dream role.

You’ve smashed the cover letter, your CV is looking pretty darn polished and let’s be honest, you pretty much aced that interview.

The perfect sign off

After you’ve done the hard part, there’s probably still one thing that you’re struggling with. Yep – the dreaded email that follows. How exactly do you sign off? Is thanks really enough? Should you add a little sprinkle of creativity? Is it ever okay to write love? Just a heads up – it’s definitely not.

But it’s crucial to know just how you end an email to your potential employer, because you don’t want to go through all that time and effort showing off your perfectly honed career goodies, only to blow it all on a less than favourable sign-off.

With that in mind, here are 6 of the best – and 6 of the worst – ways to sign off an email in the race against that potential golden job ticket.

Best

Best by name, best by nature.

According to Aliza Licht and business etiquette experts, Barbara Pachter and Will Schwalbe, authors of “SEND: Why People Email So Badly and How to Do It Better”, it was determined that this simple sign off is quite frankly, one of the BEST you could choose.

Inoffensive? Tick. Universally appropriate? More or less always.

Warm Regards

If you’ve gotten to the interview stage – go you – and are following up, “Warm Regards” can be used as a way to say thank you for their personal time. 

It’s an appropriate level of sign off after meeting with the hiring manager.

 Many thanks

Adding a little extra oomph to the simple “thanks” or “thank you”, a sign off such as “many thanks”, shows that you value and appreciate the time your prospective employer has put into your search.

Whether this be the initial application or communicating about your interview.

Sincerely

This one is simply a matter of tone. If this is to accompany your cover letter, and you’ve started your email with “Dear so and so…”, it can work well and show respect for both the company and hiring manager.

 Best Wishes

It can come across as a little ‘greeting card’ but it’s polite, states good intentions and as Schwalbe states, is “good for initial contact”.

Just don’t add any visual aids, and your wishes are pretty much good to go.

 Looking Forward

When emailing your potential employer, this one has a very specific intention. For example, if HR has contacted you about scheduling an interview “looking forward” shows politeness, eagerness, and optimism pretty darn well.

You can also utilise “I look forward to hearing from you,” when making initial contact in your super sparkling cover letter. Confidence and response worthy indeed.

Love

Eek. Nope. Never. Just… No. You’re not writing a love letter, or a spectacularly personal poem. This is about business and you want to be taken professionally, right? Save this one for your significant other, friends, family and, well, anyone who isn’t going to be your future boss. 

Even if you do love the idea of working for them.

Yours Truly

Hmm. This one is a little in the old-fashioned in the signing-off ranks, and suits letters of a more handwritten nature. Perhaps not an overly forward-thinking approach when looking to sell yourself to your new boss. 

As Licht puts it, it can come also across as “fake.” When genuinity is high on the priority list, this could scupper your chances. 

Yours

Formal or just downright confusing? As Licht puts it, “I never understood this one.” “Yours what?”

It’s a good question and one that you may not want your potential boss to be asking themselves.

Thx

Abbreviations R fine 4 txting, but perhaps not the best when it comes to a potential employer. You want to show effort and attention to detail after all. Shorthand = laziness. K?

Cheers

You’re not at the pub. Or celebrating your new job… yet.

If all goes well and you do get the job, quids in. Now you can take advantage of the saying. Until then, avoid like a bad hangover.

Thanks for your consideration

It’s understandable. You want to say thanks. You want to be polite. You want to be humble. But you also want the job.

This is almost like saying, “Okay, I have the skills and experience but I may not be the only one. I get it, I’m rejected”. Sooo not the message you want to send when seeking your dream job.

By following the examples above, you can look to set polished foot onto the right career tracks from the get-go. And if you’re really struggling with whether or not you’re coming across as too casual, too friendly or too cold?

Just chuck a “Best” in there and hope for the, erm, “best”.