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A comment on Going Beyond ‘Do You Know of Any Open Positions?’.

Re:Going Beyond ‘Do You Know of Any Open Positions?’ by bluedino on Wednesday July 12, 2023 @01:38PM (#36698490)
> I hope this message finds you well.

As an American, I find this a very odd way to start an email.

It always makes me think of Civil War letters or something.

> I have a big favor to ask, and I truly appreciate your time and consideration.

This also seems like too much, and too early in the message. Leave the "thank you" for the end.

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Re:Going Beyond ‘Do You Know of Any Open Positions?’ by JohnFen on Wednesday July 12, 2023 @01:47PM (#36698682)
As an American, none of that sounds off to me at all. It's certainly formal, but that's appropriate.
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Re:Going Beyond ‘Do You Know of Any Open Positions?’ by xtracto on Wednesday July 12, 2023 @01:48PM (#36698692)
Those two read a bit "Indian" to me; that is, like English that someone from India would write. Something similar happens when someone from my country (Mexico) writes an email/letter: You usually have to read it from the middle to the end, because the first half would be just fill-up text.
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Re:Going Beyond ‘Do You Know of Any Open Positions?’ by dewan23 on Wednesday July 12, 2023 @02:51PM (#36699860)
Curious to hear more on "Those two read a bit "Indian" to me" :)

How would you start a conversation with a stranger?

``` I want $something

EOM ```

for some folks, filler sentences are a sign of politeness.

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Re:Going Beyond ‘Do You Know of Any Open Positions?’ by dgunay on Wednesday July 12, 2023 @03:39PM (#36700503)
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/babu

> The term babu English is a disparaging name for a florid, overly polite, or unidiomatic variety of English historically associated with Indians who have limited proficiency in English.

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Re:Going Beyond ‘Do You Know of Any Open Positions?’ by bluedino on Wednesday July 12, 2023 @03:18PM (#36700246)
Introduce yourself and ask your question.

Dewan,

Hi, this is bluedino, we've spoken a few times on Hacker News. I saw that your company has openings for QBasic programmers on their website, do you know anything about this position? I'm interested in applying and would love a referral or introduction to the hiring manager/team leader if that's possible.

Appreciate your time, BD

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Re:Going Beyond ‘Do You Know of Any Open Positions?’ by crooked-v on Wednesday July 12, 2023 @02:14PM (#36699184)
The "I hope this message finds you well" is also potentially an indicator of ChatGPT influence, as for whatever weird reason it very often starts "Write a letter to X about Y" responses with that phrase.
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