Is " :) " OK?

Only if you're a girl randomly named kevin

Would Burt Reynolds use :) in his email when contacting analysts or HR?

You're welcome.

lol, unfortunately I'm a straight male.. its just a habit; so you suggest that I should stop?

To me it indicates you're either a girl. Or have a slight mental retardation.

uh stop, especially if you don't/hardly know the people to whom you're writing...

I'll occasionally sign off a yachting-related email with:

Fair Winds..._/)

but never on anything business related. C'mon dude.

this thread is so -_-

I would discontinue that ummmm.... show of personality.

I understand man.. I'll make sure to avoid doing that again~ I thought its just an expression to make the interaction more Face 2 face like..

Also, ditch "lol."

What about if you're a girl and use :) ?

I only wrote that to HR and Analysts to whom I am familiar with since they are more closely related. I never wrote to Manager or associates with that sign.

yeah, stop that shit.

Just don't do it. Would you email a client a smiley face?

People might ding you if you do that. Please stop.

girls can use smiley whenever they want. It's only a problem when a guy thinks it means the girl is flirting.

I use them, but only between my team. I think emoticons are important when sending emails back and forth to communicate emotion. I read something a while back (maybe in the hbr) about how they improve understanding of emails and have been using them ever since.

I prefer ^^ or if you want to show your fighting spirit Q(','Q). If you get dinged I send them a t(''t).

You can try ";)" with female ED

I used to do that

..

when i send emails, I always replace the S with $. Nothing like subliminal messages to convince HR to pass you through the system

Absolutely not ok

Make sure you put lots of them in your resumes- but misspellings are even better. At least, that is the advice of one person I know who considers unemployment insurance a "vacation"- interrupted by mandatory job applications.

Quick rundown of one resume he showed me:

Objective: Zumbit A Rezyumay So Connteenyu Collectying Unemploymyent Inshurrrance. ; )

Experience: Yes, Iy Amm Very Very Experienced.

Acaddemics #1 in clazz in Engrish As Seccond Language.

ETC.

As a taxpayer, it is INFURIATING, but I can only laugh when I imagine the look on a hiring manager's face when he gets one of those resumes. Actually, I have a great tale about an activist organization that pranked Halliburton and Phillip Morris at a career fair when I was a Freshman, but that's another story.

LOL KevinK I know you are smarter than this haha

I'm reminded of one of my favorite movies, It's a Wonderful Life, when Nick the barman explains his place to Clarance the angel...

"Hey look, mister - we serve hard drinks in here for men who want to get drunk fast, and we don't need any characters around to give the joint 'atmosphere'. Is that clear, or do I have to slip you my left for a convincer?"

Let me echo my compatriots and vote "no" on the fucking emoticon in a business email. WTF?!?!

Here's a sure fire trick to get an offer.

"8========D =) Your dick and me, if you give me the offer."

Only works if you are female and hot though.

Dude, you're not showing enough of your "attitude", you need:

8====D ~~~~ O:

try

This is my signature for all outgoing mail:

I wanna suck some ( o Y o )!

I dont know, maybe its just me, but I am a girl and I would still never use a smiley face in a professional email. Just seems too childish / Im a middle school girl- ish to me.

That's known as being normal Flyout.

However, a text version of the ORLY owl is encouraged for responses to stupid statements.

If you have to ask people whether it's OK or not, then probably not. Treat HR and other analysts as would treat the CEO of your bank.

I usually put this in my signature block:

8====ijjjj===D~~~~ (.Y.)

N/A

Communicating genuine interest and understanding through concise writing is a vital skill. Until we live in a regressed world where emoticons are officially part of the English alphabet they do not serve writing well at all.

Thoughts on exclamation marks?

"Hope you have a great weekend!" "Congrats on ____!" etc.

I usually refrain from using them since they make the text sound overly enthusiastic, but there are other times where not using them makes me seem emotionless.

Nothing gay like "Hey how are you?!?"

I try to avoid using exclamation marks, but there is one girl I deal with who always uses ! and smiley faces so I'll say "Have a good weekend!" to reciprocate her enthusiasm. With everybody else, I keep things pretty formal.

Unless I'm talking to people in India, then anything goes.

wait wait wait! what if that person uses the smiley face first? assuming theyre not gay and not a chick, is it alright to send one back?

haha hilarious thread.. thanks noobstar

Good stuff. I also encourage you to try "

No upside/limitless downside 

8===D is preferred

Dude, seriously do whatever you want. Except to a client (that’s business).

I add emojis and memes sometimes when chatting with VPs and below. It makes communication feel more chill…

Of course depends on the team/recipient. I assume everyone here has enough EQ to evaluate whether or not in any given situation it would be appropriate. I use it occasionally when chatting with colleagues who use it on their own too. Seems more weird if someone all of a sudden is acting super serious, even with close colleagues. This whole „would you send it to your CEO“-bullshit is totally off (just assuming everyone can answer that to himself).

Back then as an intern I used it constantly with certain assocs and higher, with whom I was fairly close with and we kept our chats casual. I still remember though how some of my friends couldn’t believe I was using it - but guess who got his offers and who didn’t. Show some personality and don’t act stiff

Yeah it’s totally ok. Maybe don’t do it every time but when you say like “Well done :)” or “have a good weekend :)” totally fine