And… it’s playing in the background as I write this email. Guess what? I’m on vacation! And I do love my occupation.
Generally, people will indicate that they will reply to the email when they return.
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I am currently on annual leave and I return to the office on Monday 21st September. I will reply to your email as soon as possible.
I struggle with naming a contact too. My current job doesn’t really have emergencies, so while my second in command could handle stuff I normally would, should she have to? Also, 98% of the people that would get my OOO would know who to go to anyway if they actually needed something urgent. I hate to make someone else’s life harder for my own convenience when it’s not even needed.
I should note that our voicemail system has a pretty straightforward feature to put an end date on an out-of-office voicemail message. I am baffled why this person does not use the feature.
Setting an auto-response email is probably not the first thing on our mind before we jet off on holiday. But if we don’t do it, we risk eroding the trust between ourselves and our customers. It’s important to remember that response time is a non-verbal sign that shows clients and business partners how responsible and professional a company is.
I’m not bothered by it, but I use “when I return” instead. I don’t want people to think I’m checking emails when I’m out.
It is not appropriate to say in the message that you will get back on the day you return from your vacation. You may have a lot of work to take care of on your first day after getting back; you don’t want to promise something you won’t be able to fulfil.
I feel like this is the only reason to do this, otherwise its just a big piss off.
As someone who sends out emails every week, I get tons of OOO messages in return. From HR-approved to the wacky and wonderful, here are five best OOO messages I’ve received from Wantedly’s very own users that you can copy this season.
Others like to take the opportunity to inject a little personality and make the reader smile, like our very own Rachael’s summertime out-of-office:
If your request is urgent, don’t sit around. Send your request to [contact’s name] at [contact’s email].
Please note that [date], is [holiday name]. The store will be closed all day and will open again at [time] on [date]. We hope you will enjoy the holiday with your family and friends. For those of you who plan to go skiing, please come back safely.
I worked at an office where we used OOO messages on voicemail pretty regularly and if we forgot to change the message, our callers were quick to tell us the outgoing message was outdated. That end date feature would have been a big help for us! A local council in Wales needed to get a road sign translated into Welsh. (All official signs in Wales have to be in both English and Welsh.) They got an out of office message in Welsh from the translator they contacted, assumed that was the translation and printed the out of office message on the sign. They didn’t realise their mistake till a Welsh speaker pointed it out…
I agree, especially coming from a SVP. It’s not just a funny OOO message then. It’s a subtle reminder that if someone that high feels they can step back away for a few days without things falling apart without them, chances are the same could be said about you. Leading by example indeed and in a way that gets their point across to probably lots of people that may not have noticed otherwise.
How to Format the Closing and Include Your Signature. Always remember to follow up the close with a comma, as in the examples below. Your typed name will go after the complimentary close. If you are sending a hard copy letter, leave four lines of space between the closing and your typed name. When you print out the letter, this will give you
Our offices will be closed today for the Queen’s birthday public holiday. Our team will be back in the office tomorrow morning from am. Enjoy your holiday!