Using Mail Merge for Sending your Application to All Agencies in the List

You can use the downloaded agency list to quickly send your application with mail merge to several translation agencies using Office 2000. The two applications that will be utilized are: Microsoft Word 2000 and Microsoft Outlook 2000. Several free mailing applications like FletMail are also available that can be used for sending mass mail with merging. This is an overview of the process you need to go through to successfully complete a mail merge.

1. Prepare your files: to create a mail merge you need two files: a data source and a main document.
   • As a data source with individual recipient information you will use the .csv (comma separated values) file downloaded from TranslatorsCafe.com. (A data source is a file that contains the information to be merged into a document, for example, the list of agency names and e-mail addresses you want to use in a mail merge.)
   • As the main document you can use your cover letter and your résumé (main document: in terms of a mail-merge operation in Word, the document that contains the text that is the same for each letter).
2. Add or customize a merge field in the main document. (Merge field: A placeholder that you insert in the main document. For example, insert the merge field "Company" to have Word insert a company name, such as "ANVICA Translations" that is stored in the Company data field of the data source file.)
3. Send your customized application to all agencies in the data source.

Following are more detailed guidelines that are still short; use help of MS Word and MS Outlook for complete instructions on how to do every step.

1. Select agencies using the necessary search criteria and click the Download the Table button on the Selected Agencies page.
2. Save the file on your hard disk.
3. Open MS Outlook and create a new folder with the name Agencies under Contacts for the agencies you want to use for mail merge.
4. Import to MS Outlook the list of agencies from the .csv file you have downloaded from TranslatorsCafe.com.
   • On the File menu, click Import and Export.
   • Click Import from another program or file.
   • Select Comma Separated Values (Windows) file type.
   • Follow the instructions in the Import and Export Wizard.
   • When a prompt to map custom fields appears, click the Map Custom Fields Button.
   • Drag the values from the source on the left and drop them on the appropriate destination field on the right: Agency Name to Company, E-mail to E-mail, Human Resources E-mail to E-mail 2.
   • Click the Finish button.
5. Prepare your application: cover letter and résumé. It is better to make one file and do not send you résumé as an attachment.
6. Click the Agencies folder you created earlier, then on the Tools menu, click Mail Merge.
7. Click Existing document, click Browse, and then select the prepared application document.
8. In the Merge to list, click E-mail, and then in the box that appears, enter the subject line for the e-mail, e.g. "Application of EN-FR freelance translator".
9. Click OK
10. Your application document will be opened in MS Word. In addition to the standard toolbars, you will see a Mail Merge toolbar.
11. Click the Insert Merge Field button and select Company to place in the current cursor position the name of an agency to which you are going to send your application. You can check names of agencies if you click the ABC and arrow buttons on the Mail Merge toolbar.
12. Click the Merge button on the Mail Merge toolbar, then in the box that appears to begin sending your application to all agencies.
13. To check how everything is working without actual sending, create a dummy agency in the Agencies folder of MS Outlook having your e-mail address.