Hello to all,

I'm in the situation where I wish to do PhD in computer science. I will be finishing my Master's in Operations Research next year, and I want to start contacting some professors I am interested in. I am wondering what should be mentioned in the email when approaching the professor for the first time?
Obviously I don't want it to be too long, but I don't want it too short either. What are the main points that should be covered in the email, and also how long should it be in general?
If you guys can share experience on how you find a supervisor, that would be great.

Thanks a lot!

p.s. most of the professors that I wish to contact do not have prior experience working with me

Thanks for the reply! I'll snoop more around for info.
By fast-track, i mean some universities, especially in Canada, often allow people in Master to jump directly to PhD without completing the Master. It's supposed to save time for people who know they want to get PhD and want to avoid the trouble of spending the extra years to get a Master

I'm currently doing my Masters and I am thinking about fast-tracking to PhD. I am quite certain in the end, I want to go into industry (I'm in the biocomputing field).
What I am wondering is: does your PhD subject define what you do later on life? Are you limited to pretty much that specific narrow field, or could you still get a job in a different area (that is still somewhat relevant)?