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My potential employer emailed me for a skype interview as following:

I will call you tomorrow at ##:##.

Please provide me with skype ID to reach you on.

[Name of Potential Employer]

My reply would be like:

Sounds great. My skype ID is XXX.

Talk to you soon.

Best,

[My Name]

Emails have been sent back and forth couple times already. My potential employer's tone in his emails is somewhat business casual. I am grateful if you could provide me some advice for replying this email with professionalism.

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  • 11
    Sounds great to me.
    – New-To-IT
    Jun 23, 2016 at 21:00
  • 4
    I've worked in some pretty big corporates and use this phrase regularly. You might be overthinking this :)
    – Jane S
    Jun 23, 2016 at 22:05
  • It's usually acceptable in most environments. It's slightly to the casual side, but not inappropriately so. Anyone who would have a problem isn't someone worth working with.
    – Old_Lamplighter
    Jun 24, 2016 at 13:51
  • 1
    Sounds great to me. However, don't overdo it either, because it could do easily sound sarcastic in certain contexts.
    – Masked Man
    Jun 24, 2016 at 15:03

4 Answers 4

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If they have a problem with such a meaningless and insignificant thing such as saying "Sounds great" versus something more formal then I would rather not work there then to have to worry about meaningless nothings and sell my soul to a mindless, drone like company.

Even places like Google, Apple, Microsoft, Sony, Fords, GM, GE, etc. don't care about those things. It is part of what gives people personality and voice...never let a company silence that or change it, it is not worth it.

If you feel that you are not a good fit for the culture, maybe you should take that as a sign. Otherwise, it could just be the personality of the individual.

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  • They won't have any problem, providing OP is giving the information asked for. I believe the point of this question is to control how OP is perceived by a prospective employer. Which is very different than replying in-house post-hire.
    – R Star
    Jun 24, 2016 at 13:51
  • @RStar I think the OP was more concerned with how his/her phrase was conceived by the employer and how that was affecting his/her chances for employment. My point is: if you have to worry about nothings like that then you probably do not want to work there. This holds true if he/she is hired or not. If it is a concern he/she is noticing (without being told directly) while in the hiring process then he/she is wondering what kind of culture the employer has and if it would be a good fit. These are the small things people often miss which leads to them accepting jobs with poor fitting culture.
    – G.T.D.
    Jun 24, 2016 at 15:47
  • Let me add on as well. My answer really boils down to 3 things; be yourself, understand others' personalities, focus on the important details/don't overthink things. Avoid using a chainsaw to open a letter if you get what I mean. I guarantee that e-mail got about 2 seconds of the hiring manager's attention and he forgot about it 20 seconds later....it had only 1 piece of information that he/she wanted (the Skype ID).
    – G.T.D.
    Jun 24, 2016 at 16:02
  • Yes, we wouldn't want to work for a company that actually adds weight to, or bases a decision on, something so trivial. Conversely we wouldn't want to choose our employer based on their views of something so trivial. I understand your point. Every exchange with a potential employer will flavour the decision they make. It's not that they will hire you because you pressed your shirt or not, it's how pressing your shirt either leaves a positive impression or avoids a negative one. That 2 seconds of email is 2 seconds where you can influence how you are perceived.
    – R Star
    Jun 24, 2016 at 16:11
  • Let‘s review some details. There are 3 things considered by @G.T.D.: 1. be yourself, 2. understand others' personalities, 3. focus on the important details/don't overthink things. Yes, 1 and 3 are always important. Perhaps the focus on the question boils down to #2, which may seem meaningless in a single email, but is not meaningless in the long run: writing with proper tone is comparable with body language: if nothing goes wrong, nothing is remarkable, but the opposite is true as well. Learning how to read and write properly in the work place to convey manners can go a long way.
    – nilon
    Oct 22, 2020 at 14:26
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I am not English mother-tongue but from my experience I would consider your reply appropriate in terms of message content.

Consider another relevant parameter: your response's length. No need to add "Thank you very much", or "Talk to you soon", or lengthy email signature, but limit to the core of the message, that is:

  • acknowledgement of his meeting: "Sounds great" looks OK;
  • provide relevant information requested: in this case, the skype ID;
  • formal salutation: "Best," is enough

A view of professionalism is to consider other's time as valuable, if not more, than yours; provide information at the minimum investment of reader's time needed, and in the long term people will be grateful.

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  • I agree with being concise and taking a minimalism approach where appropriate, but adding a single line such as "Talk to you soon." is not really going to "waste" anything more than maybe 1 second (literally) of a person's time and often can show enthusiasm (if done right). Adding a paragraph...yeah, snooze fest. :)
    – G.T.D.
    Jun 23, 2016 at 22:34
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"Sounds great" is perfectly acceptable business informal, Don't worry about it.

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I don't think that you are are overthinking this. How you are perceived by a prospective employer comes across in every word you give them. Though this is true for emails and digital communication throughout your career, once you exist in an organization emails to your boss and coworkers can be more organic.

Your reply does everything that an email should do: you are acknowledging the information given and providing exactly what was requested of you, no more, no less. It would be rude to reply either: "Skype ID: XX", or a lengthy email outlining points that will be discussed on the call.

How can it be improved? Because these few words are representing you, you want the most bang for your buck. You are wanting to say "This information pleases me", without sounding like a cartoon villain.

Personally, My reply would be:

"Looking forward to our call, [employer first name].
My skype ID is XXX.
[Name/Signature]"

With this, you've acknowledged both of their sentences and addressed the email to the recipient. It's clean and simple without puffery; formally informal.

Addressing emails to their attending recipients is very important, especially if that email has a chance of being forwarded or has multiple CC's. If I am sending an email to 3 people, I'll name all 3 of them: "John, Mark, Frank, ..."

Saying "sounds great" may give the impression that you are reserved in your enthusiasm. It doesn't just sound great, it is great. The call is going to happen, it's not conceptual. Try not to say words like sounds, feels, seems,etc. You want to be definitive.

Saying "great" on its own has risk of sounding sarcastic IMO, and exclamation points should never be used in emails. Replace "great" with something like delightful, excellent, marvelous, wonderful, fantastic, fabulous, splendid, etc.

Also, you know exactly when the call is. Replace the vague "talk to you soon" with the definitive "talk to you then". This affirms you understand there is a call and that is will be happening at X time.

I often put 'Thanks' (for more informal emails) or 'Kind regards' (for the more official ones). Most emails don't need anything! This is an interesting article on the subject of closings: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-02/the-best-e-mail-signature-is-actually-the-worst

This gets the job done too: 

"Splendid, [Emp. first name]. 
My skype ID is XXX.
Talk to you then. 
[Name/Signature]"

The little things can have as big an impression as the big things.

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    When you are meeting in person, most of the communication is happening with body language, eye contact, tone, etc. The words that are being said are of secondary importance. When writing emails, they are needing to replace everything that would be conveyed in person. Thankfully you can take the time to craft them before hastily replying.
    – R Star
    Jun 24, 2016 at 14:11
  • This is a highly underrated response. It attends to data and events, persons, and proper tone. It even gives example to follow on each item. It is even a blueprint for formal communication. Details matter.
    – nilon
    Oct 22, 2020 at 14:29

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