First impressions count just as much over email as they do in person. If you’re a student about to enter the workplace, you need to stand out in what is a crowded marketplace. You will face a lot of competition for job roles, so you need to really grab prospective employers’ attention. That’s why you should use a professional student email signature.

Email signatures for students are designed to convey professionalism and personality in order to make the best possible impression over email. Email is the most common digital communication channel, making an email signature an important part of your digital identity. You will be sending large amounts of emails, so you want to ensure that you don’t come across as just a name. Creating the right student email signature will make you instantly recognizable and easy to contact.

The benefits of using a student email signature

Using a strong email signature design is not just good practice for when you enter the business world. It’s also the perfect place to present your digital self and personal brand to a wide audience.

The email signature template you design can be used for the following purposes:

• Promoting academic achievements

• Growing a professional network

• Showcasing your portfolio of work

• Highlighting that you are job hunting or looking for an internship

• Making it easy for recipients to recognize you

• Providing a link to your CV

Creating a well-thought-out design will immediately grab a recipient’s attention immediately and showcase why they should engage with you. In terms of design, it is best to stick to one font and one plain color. Remember you are trying to give a professional impression and using brightly colored fonts will not help.

What should you put in your student email signatures?

The most important thing to remember when creating professional student email signatures is that they should be simple with clear contact information. A common issue with student email signatures is that they include too much detail.

We recommend keeping your signature very basic by including just important details like your full name, main telephone number, and email address. You can also include your degree, university/college, and your graduation year, particularly if the degree is relevant to the job you are applying for.

Remember that your email signature is not your CV. You can’t fit everything into the template, so avoid promoting ALL of your accomplishments. Ask yourself if you need to promote an award you won or provide lots of links.

1. Your full name

This means your middle name as well. Nicknames should never be used but do add your preferred gender pronoun if you wish.

2. The name of your college or university

3. The year you graduated (if you have graduated)

You can also state your qualification if it is relevant to the job you are applying for. This increases your credibility.

4. Your direct phone number and email address

This is to make it easy for someone to contact you directly. Including your email address is important if your email is forwarded to another recipient.

5. Professional website and social media links

Email signatures for students are the perfect place to promote your portfolio of work or a relevant website/blog. Doing so is a great way to promote your work to potential employers easily.

However, do not include personal IM, Facebook, or Twitter links unless they are work-related. Also, ensure that you are using official social media icons.

6. Headshot photo

This is optional, but your email signature will have more impact if you use an email signature photo. This helps to humanize your emails, making your email signature more personal and giving a face to your messages.

Make sure the image you use is high quality and doesn’t exceed a limit of 40kb. If you don’t want to use a photo, many email signatures for students utilize university/college logos.

7. Consistent fonts and colors

Ensure your fonts and colors are consistent throughout. Otherwise, your email signature will look messy and unprofessional.

Stick to one or two neutral colors and use one web safe font like Calibri or Arial, Being a student means you need to make an extra effort to create a good first impression.

Summary

The process of job hunting after university or college can seem daunting. You will be competing for the same position with other fellow students, so need to make yourself as visible as possible.

By designing a professional student email signature complete with your contact details and a distinct personal touch, you will more likely impress potential employers and ensure you end up at the front of the queue for any job role.

For more tips, make sure you take a look at our guides on email signature design and our template gallery for additional inspiration.