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At The Black Sheep, we manage teams of students at over 50 schools around the country, and a major part of our initial recruitment process is via email. Although sending out waves of emails may seem fairly self-explanatory, there are a few tricks that can help you get students to actually open and read the emails you’re sending out.
If you’re offering a paid position, put that at the forefront. College students are always looking for a way to make a buck. If you’re looking to fill a paid position, include that in the email title. Mentioning payment is an easy hook to get more students to open emails. Even if you’re hiring a variety of positions that aren’t all paid, highlighting the paid position in the title will lead to more interest across the board.
Make it short and sweet. College students are constantly bombarded with emails from professors, friends, email lists, stores, and other companies trying to hire them. The Black Sheep has sent thousands of emails to recruit staff members, and we’ve found that if you make emails short and to the point, you’ll get a lot more interest. College students just don’t have time to read paragraphs of text, and if an email is too long, they’ll likely just delete it.
It’s an internship, not just a job. The word “job” can have negative connotations. A “job” can mean anything, ranging from sales associate to pizza delivery person. But using “internship” makes a position sound more valuable and looks better on a college student’s resume. Describe your internship and why it benefits students. The Black Sheep offers payment or class credit for many positions, so be sure to mention any perks involved with the internship.
This is an opportunity for students. In your email, try to avoid looking pushy or like a spam message. This isn’t just a job you need filled ASAP, but a valuable opportunity for college students to gain experience, learn more about a field, and understand how to work in the real world. If you make the position sound like a killer resume boost and positive experience, you’ll get a lot more applications.
Style is important. Although content should be the main focus, if your email doesn’t look nice, interest from college students drops immediately. Avoid wild colors or crazy fonts - college students often see these as juvenile. If you need to make a point, try bolding a few words. And rather than pasting long, cumbersome links, use small hyperlinks or shortened links instead.
Make it personal. To avoid looking like spam, make your emails more personal. Address the group you’re emailing by name, or include specific references to the university you are reaching out to. These little things add a nice touch that can go a long way. If a student thinks an email is specifically targeting them, they’ll be more interested and thus more likely to look into your company and what you’re trying to accomplish.
Put it all together in the email title. The title of an email is the first thing a student sees. If you combine all of our tips together, it will rack up the number of email opens. The title, “Paid Internship Opportunity for ___ Students” will get a lot more interest than, “Hiring for ___ Position”. The title sounds more personal, less like spam, and intrigues students to take a closer look.
While this may seem tedious, know that hiring one student can go a long way - you’re not just hiring an intern, you’re hiring someone who will represent and recruit their friends and classmates as well. With a little bit of tweaking, your emails can reach even more students and result in great hires.
