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How to write a networking email comes down to length more than anything else: seven sentences is the ceiling, and five is the sweet spot. That's the single most useful thing Chris Greene told me, and it took him about twenty seconds to say it.
Chris Greene put in 25 years at IPG, Omnicom, and other agencies before building YoPro, a coaching platform for students and young professionals. Before building it, he talked to 35 parents and students and 25 entry-level recruiters to see exactly where job seekers were getting stuck, so I had to know what he found.
How do you write a networking email?
Chris's rule is specific: "the networking email shouldn't be three paragraphs. It should be no more than seven sentences. Five is the sweet spot." School taught most of us to write long, and a working inbox never rewards that.
Applied, that's five sentences doing five jobs: who you are, one specific thing you found in their work, why you're reaching out, one clear ask, and a thank you. Something like: I'm a recent grad interested in performance media. I read the piece you wrote on programmatic buying last year and had a question about how your thinking has changed since then. I'd love fifteen minutes to hear how you got into the role you're in now. I know your schedule is tight, so I'm happy to work around whatever time is easiest. Thank you for considering it.
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How many times should you follow up on a job application?
What shocks Chris's clients the most is when he tells them to follow up again. They sent one message, got nothing back, and read the silence as a no, when the person on the other end likely has a demanding job, a family, and an inbox they're losing to.
In my own experience booking guests for the show, it usually took three to five messages before I heard back, and by the fifth one it starts to feel awkward. That's the exact pattern Chris sees with his clients too. That tends to land a response, and the apology is almost always first. "If that's like the one thing that you focus on in your career, you're gonna be successful."
Why aren't you getting called back?
You're fighting the portals before a recruiter ever gets a chance to read your name. Most companies run resumes through the same handful of AI screening platforms, and Chris was direct about what that means: "If you get rejected from one job, it's gonna wipe you out across all of them that you applied for."
So his program prioritizes networking way more than application volume, and that makes sense. That's the route where you still get a real person picking up.
Which jobs build the skills recruiters want?
Chris steers students in the direction of five jobs, and it's intentional. "The best jobs are bartender, server, lifeguard, nanny, golf caddy," he told me, and more than half the people he coaches came in with no internship at all.
Those are the ones getting offers. A server bridges front and back of house while telling a customer their order is gone, a caddy has to talk a decent golfer out of the wrong club without it landing as criticism, and a nanny or lifeguard handles the safety piece while the parents watch the whole thing. That's what happens when you communicate under pressure, and it stays with you.
Watch the full conversation
Watch the full episode for Chris's take on why his own age makes him the wrong person to coach you through a networking call, how he built YoPro to 85 clients and counting, and the honest side of new business pitching: What 25 Recruiters Say Actually Gets You Hired In Marketing & Advertising.
Watch next: A Media VP On How To Get Into The Advertising Industry
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