How to Introduce Yourself in an Email | With Examples

When introducing yourself in an email, you need to choose an appropriate:

• Greeting (e.g., “Dear Mr. Chan”)
• Sign-off (e.g., “Best regards”)
• Level of formality

These will depend on the purpose of the email and whether you know the name of the person who will read it.

Introductory emails also use a lot of fixed phrases (e.g., “looking forward to hearing from you”), which mainly come at the start and end of the correspondence.

How to introduce yourself in an email to someone you’ve never met

To give your name in a formal email, use the phrase My name is [First Name and Last Name].

But keep in mind that it’s unusual to explicitly state your name like this in a formal introductory email such as a cover email for a job or internship application. The reader is expecting your name at the end of the email and will see it in the sender line as well.

If you’re writing in an informal style, then just give your first name: My name’s [First Name].

Greetings for introductory emails

If you’re writing your introductory email to a company or organization and you don’t know the name of the recipient, you can use one of these greetings to start your email:

• Dear [Team, Department, or Job Title],
• To Whom It May Concern:
• Dear Sir or Madam,

But always use a specific name if you can. You can often find a name in the job/internship advertisement or on the organization’s website.

If you’ve identified the name of a specific person, then start with Dear [Title and Last Name] in a formal email. Use the title Ms. or Mr. unless you know they use another title such as Professor or Dr. If you don’t know the person’s title, you can use their full first and last name instead.

For informal emails, you can use a more casual greeting such as “Hello” and can address the person by their first name only.

Reason for writing

The phrase I am writing… is often used to state the purpose of an email (e.g., “I am writing to apply for the junior accountant position”). You might also remind the person of a mutual connection or prior contact.

Ending an introductory email

At the end of an email, we often use fixed phrases to invite a response, say thank you, or refer to our next contact.

Sign-offs: introductory emails

If you’ve started your email with To Whom It May Concern, then a good sign-off is Sincerely. Best regards is generally a good choice for both formal and informal introductory emails.

Give both your first and last names at the end of a formal email to someone you’ve never met before.

In an informal email to a person you don’t know, you also normally give your first and last name at the end. But if you’ve already introduced yourself with My name’s [First Name and Last Name] in the email itself, then finish with just your first name.

How to introduce yourself in an email as a new employee

When you join a new company, you may have to write an email in which you introduce yourself to:

• a colleague or colleagues in your department or team
• an employee in a different department or team
• a senior member of staff
• an important contact who works at another company
• a potential new customer or partner

You need to use a level of formality that is appropriate to the culture of the company or the industry you are working in. If in doubt, use a neutral style until you get a feeling for what is suitable.

How to introduce yourself in an email for a job

When applying for a job, you often need to write an email to your prospective employer with your resume (curriculum vitae) and cover letter as attachments.

In these short cover emails, you need to include:

• A subject line
• A greeting (salutation)
• The reason for writing
• Where you saw the job advertisement
• A polite closing phrase
• A sign-off

You may also want to send your resume and a cover letter to a company that is currently not advertising any suitable positions. This type of application is called an unsolicited application.

Other interesting articles

If you want to know more about job applications, research, or language, make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Frequently asked questions about how to introduce yourself in an email

How do you professionally introduce yourself in an email?

Some useful phrases for professionally introducing yourself in an email for a job include:

• I am writing to apply for the position of [Job Title] as advertised on [Name of Website/Social Media Platform] on [Date].
• Please find my resume and cover letter attached.
• Thank you for considering my application.

If you are sending your email to a company or department, try to find the name of a specific person to address your email to. If you cannot find a name, you can start your email with Dear [Team, Department, or Job Title] or To Whom It May Concern.

Some useful phrases for professionally introducing yourself as a new employee include:

• I’m the new [Position] in the [Department Name].
• I’m very excited about joining [Name of Company] and wanted to take a moment to introduce myself.
• In my previous role as [Name of Role] at [Name of Previous Company], I was responsible for…

How do you greet someone in an email?

Ways to start an email formally include:

• Dear Ms./Mr. [Last Name],
• To Whom It May Concern:

Informal salutations include:

• Hi [First Name],
• Hello [First Name],

QuillBot’s free Paraphraser can help you find the perfect wording for your emails.

What is the best sentence to introduce yourself?

In informal situations, we usually introduce ourselves with the phrase:

• My name’s [First Name].

In formal situations, we also give our last name:

• My name’s [First Name + Last Name].

We also use the phrase I’m…, particularly if there is a reason that the person might already know who we are, e.g.:

• Hi, I’m Maria! Thanks for coming. [Maria is the host of a party and is introducing herself to a party guest who she doesn’t know]

• Hello, I’m Leanardo Sanchez, the new marketing assistant. [Leanardo is a new employee and is introducing himself to one of his new colleagues]

After you’ve given your name, you can say “Pleased to meet you.”

These phrases can also be used to introduce yourself in an email.

QuillBot’s rewording tool can help expand your writing in new ways.

How do I start an email to a professor?

When starting an email to a professor, it is best to take a more formal approach to avoid making a poor impression. In the greeting, use “Dear” followed by a title and the professor’s last name (e.g., “Dear Professor/Dr. Willow,”).

You can follow the greeting with a number of opening lines before diving into the purpose of your message, such as:

• I hope this email finds you well
• I hope you’re having a good/productive week
• I hope you’re well

You can also use “I’m reaching out …” if you prefer to come straight to the point.

You can adapt the tone of your emails according to the professor’s response. For example, if they greet you with “Hi/Hello” in their reply, you can adopt the same style.

However, continue to use their title (unless they explicitly give you permission to address them otherwise), and avoid using overly informal language like slang or “Cheers.”

You can automatically rewrite your sentences to express your intended meaning using QuillBot’s tools.