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Everyone would agree that in today’s market you’ve got to do everything possible to stand out in the crowd of job seekers, and, one of the key elements of the job search is the resume. The areas that most people focus on while critiquing the resume are the summary/objective, experience and education sections. While I do agree that those sections are critical to resume greatness, there is one area that is often overlooked by job seekers and resume writers alike – the contact information section and what it says about you.
One of the first elements hiring managers look at on the resume is the contact information section. After all, it is usually the first section on the document. While job seekers don’t have control over much of this section (name, address, phone), they do have total control over the email address they use on the resume. Utilize the email address to improve your personal brand.
Let us consider some helpful do’s and don’ts regarding email addresses to be used on resumes and job search correspondence.
DO’s
1. Keep it professional
The most commonly used email address type on resumes is the simple and effective method of using one’s own name plus one of the free email providers. The benefit of this choice is that it is virtually risk-less. The flip-side of course is that it can be boring and non-value added on the resume. All in all, it is a good way to go if you don’t want to think too hard about your job search email address.
Examples: janedoe@email.com, jane.doe@email.com, jdoe@email.com
2. Show school spirit
Many schools nowadays offer email addresses with life-long forwarding benefits. Using a school email address will capture the attention of alumni immediately and emphasize the job seeker’s value on education. This tactic is especially beneficial for graduates of top-ranked schools as well as graduate programs.
Examples: jdoe@university.edu, janedoe2009@school.university.edu
3. Hint at your skills
A great method for emphasizing your unique skills, accomplishments and goals is to put one of them in your email address. That way, every time someone contacts you they will be reminded of your single most important attribute. Consider what you might want to stress to hiring managers and recruiters in terms of your hard skills, soft skills, and other attributes such as geography or work experience. The hard part is figuring out what to emphasize, but spending the time to create a unique email address could pay off dividends. Everyone will have a different level of comfort with the word choices and phrases with respect to what is appropriate vs. cheesy. Keep the point relative to your career and job skills and you should be fine.
Examples: JaneThePPTMaster@email.com, BostonSalesExpert@email.com, JaneSixSigmaDoe@email.com
4. Buy your own domain
One way to prove initiative and entrepreneurship is to buy your own domain name! I am always impressed when I see job seekers (particularly non-tech job seekers) that have taken the time and effort to obtain their own domain name and email address for their own use instead of using a free email provider. It is not always necessary to actually develop the domain website, it will give you bonus points if you actually put something on your newly acquired site. You might as well use the space to your advantage and promote yourself.
Examples: jane@janedoe.com, janedoe@bostonsalesexpert.com, hirejane@janethesalesexpert.com
DON’Ts
1. Use nicknames
Lets face it, all of us have email addresses that we used when email first became popular, or when we were younger, that have no relative meaning to people outside of our social circles or say too much about our personal lives. Stay away from using such legacy personal email addresses on your resume. Create a brand new email address just for your job search (by following the do’s in this article) if you don’t have another more professional personal email address.
Examples: shortyjane@email.com, jDoeGoBlue97@email.com, SarahsDad@email.com
2. Try to be too smart, funny or philosophical
There is a fine line between witty and funny, and unfortunately that line is variable from person to person. I always advise people to stay away from using overt humor when you don’t have the luxury of building context with complete sentences. Also, avoid using clichés, catch phrases or overly used buzzwords as you will probably turn-off more people than you will impress.
Examples: CarpeDiemJane@email.com, RightSizeWronged@email.com, SolLegitIQuit@email.com
3. Emphasize the politically incorrect (age, race, gender, political affiliations)
This is probably the most obvious rule of the don’ts (or at least I hope it is!) These cardinal conversation sins should never grace the page of your resume – that is, unless you are applying to organizations that directly desire one of these attributes (such as a political campaign.) Avoid all connotation of your age, your race, your gender and your political affiliations – period.
Examples: hotmamma1980@email.com, puertoricangal@email.com, republicanjane@email.com
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Comments
03.20.09
I personally don't use my personal IM account for work purposes - work/life separation reasons. If I have to use IM, I create a new account.
As far as email goes, I am not too keen on "hinting at your skills". BostonSalesExpert@email.com is the exact same to me as CarpeDiemJoe@email.com
For professional emails name@domain.com is the way to go as far as I am concerned
03.20.09
When I worked for a staffing agency and I looked through the resumes I was always amazed at the email addresses that used nicknames. Nicknames are to be used between friends, not when your trying to seek employment.
Don't choose an email address that your going to regret later.
03.20.09
I've read before to never use .edu emails on a resume because it screams "entry level" position. Any truth to that?
03.20.09
I never use my @university.edu - unless I am taking some continuing education class and my professors need to get in contact with me. My .edu account forwards to my gmail. I tend to agree that an .edu email screams entry level *unless* you are already established and you are donating to that institution and want people to know about it :-)
03.20.09
This made me laugh, not because the content isn't good, but because the email address i use is beermann@gmail.com. It happens to be my last name though. Typically people will realize depending on the context in which they see your email address. Good points all around though.
03.20.09
Great email tips. My problem is that I need to consolidate... I have too many addresses.
03.20.09
Great post, Christy.
In the modern age of Twitter, everyone seems to select names that adhere to the rules you've posted. There are JohnPSmiths, and JohnSmithMarketingGuru handles abound. I agree that it would be totally inappropriate on a resume, but I miss the old nickname formats. I recently saw a few people on Twitter who used the (nickname)girl(23) format and it totally tapped into areas of cybernostalgia I knew not existed. Those silly screen names and email addresses ("addys") were awesome in their own special way. (reflective pause)
Additionally, I half-jokingly recommend to those applicants using JSmithSalesExpert@email.com that they leave the address in lowercase format. This allows for the employer's eye to subconsciously recognize the single occurrence of "SEX" in your email address, and can increase your chances of being remembered by up to 40%. It's a quick, easy and seemingly unintentional method used in applicant recall psychology - and in this job market, no one should shy away from subliminal appeals such as this one. They're going through hundreds of resumes, give their brain a break!
People who have used this technique have reported seeing an increase in job market penetration.
03.20.09
Hilarious Alan! Thanks for the comments. Those nostolgic names make me stop and pause too, but are often not appropriate for professional jobs. However, I could see the benefit of using an old nickname universally if the job seeker is in social media or tech, where people would get the joke.
03.20.09
Hilarious Alan! Thanks for the comments. Those nostalgic names make me stop and pause too, but are often not appropriate for professional jobs. However, I could see the benefit of using an old nickname universally if the job seeker is in social media or tech, where people would get the joke.
03.20.09
I can't believe that these things still need to be said. Part of me wishes we would stop giving this information out, and if you aren't smart enough to figure it out - maybe a job in the real world isn't really your thing.
03.20.09
Hi Josh Bauerle,
Thanks for the comment! .EDU email addresses aren't for everyone. I don't advise putting undergraduate email address unless they are big schools with big alumni bases and you live in an area with a lot of that school's alumni (for example, University of Michigan or University of Wisconsin - Madison in Chicago), or if you went to a top school that is prestigious for your field (ie. Babson for entrepreneurship, University of Chicago for economics, MIT for math.) If you went to graduate school it could be good to put that email address on your resume as well - for example, I know of quite a few people who use their Wharton email address on their resume because they got their MBA at Wharton.
I can see how some people would think that using your school address might mean to suggest that you are fresh out of school. However, it should be totally clear from the content of your resume how much experience you have.
Hope that helps.
-Christy
03.20.09
I remember working for a company where people give us their emails for records - addresses like 'sxydevil', 'qtpie', and 'rockchick'.
I suppose it's not too bad compared with explicit emails, but at the same time it's just so surprising how many people would resort to these kind of nicknames for a professional setting.
03.21.09
Great post. Here is some caution we all need to look out for!!
The beautiful thing about a good domain name is that every domain name is unique and can be a sustainable competitive advantage even for the “little guy”.
But beware, I do put a word of caution out into the community that there are a lot of registrars that when you type in the name to see if it is taken, they immediately register it for themselves (if you don’t). This is a disgusting practice and from what I understand http://www.rnrstuff.net does NOT do this. That is why I use them to do the first uploads. Cheaper than almost all the big time sites but honest thus this far.
The domain business is still “finding its way” so be careful out there.
03.21.09
As someone who reads a lot of resumes/CVs, I can also note that email addresses from some of the older/less functional services - AOL, for example - suggest an applicant who is not quite up to date.
03.22.09
I love the .edu idea. I think it could also work if you've done some background work and know the company is founded by an alum of your school or if students from your school have often landed internships and positions with that company. And of course if you're applying for an entry level job it certainly can't hurt to let them know you're a Ivy League applicant.
As for free servers...Gmail is probably the gold standard right now and all of the related applications(Google docs, rss feeds, etc) are so useful in the job hunt that if you are still on Hotmail this is the perfect time to make a switch.
All these little tips can add up to a big advantage, thanks!
03.26.09
It does make a bad impression to use unprofessional email address on your resume. In my case however, I was somewhat appalled with the email address that my college gave to me. It's vargass3@xxxxxx.xxxx.edu. See the "ass" in Vargas. Some people might not immediately realized why there is an extra "s" in Vargas.
03.26.09
At least your name wasn't Sylvester Largeas!
03.26.09
Re the "janethesalesexpert" option, like Alan, I saw the "sex" part first and then went back to decipher the real meaning. I would be hesitant about someone who wasn't savvy enough to see the "sex" in that name and fix it with the simple solution of using Upper&lowercase to have it read properly. I'd say that's a negative subliminal message and looks either stupid or sleazy.
03.26.09
Lol you are a genius! I didn't see that "sex" in "janethesalesexpert"
04.29.09
I wished that I would have been able to use my first name @ domain as a handle, but all the techies and eggheads got there first.
07.20.09
If you're unable to find <lastname>.com consider a .me domain. It's meant to be 'personal' and allows you to have first@last.me.
07.20.09
Christy,
I totally get your point. Once had a client with an email address of 'coondog477@xxxxx.com' Yepper, the email address tells a LOT about a person/applicant. --eResumes4Vips
08.14.09
Hi Christy,
Thanks for the great post here. I believe many people have more than one email address, and they can use one for personal use, and the other for professional use.
08.22.09
i like to be using "hint your skill" method,this can be another and easy way to tell people who am i.
Nice post!
08.22.09
i always using my name for my email.This is look profesional for me,and easy to remember.
09.11.09
Thanks for the tips christy.I have my own domain name but still i use yahoo's email id.I think its the time to show some professionalism.Nokia 5530 review
09.11.09
Thanks for the tips christy.I have my own domain name but still i use yahoo's email id.I think its the time to show some professionalism.Nokia 5530 review
11.13.09
Very truse I always tell clients to use an info@ too for the general email as on one of our clients for a Boston Apartments website. Many people also use webmaster@ as well which is very common as well.
12.10.09
Can someone guide me how to use maid associated with domain name.I don't know how to create one so i continue using Yahoo mail ID. Hotels in Atlantic City
12.10.09
Can someone guide me how to use mail associated with domain name.I don't know how to create one so i continue using Yahoo mail ID.http://www.atlantic-cityhotels.net/hotels-in-atlantic-city.htm
12.20.09
Try to always keep it short too, maybe to 5-6 characters or just a name... for instance one of our clients for Back Bay Apartments had one that was 12 characters it was definitely too long. Its good to shorten them!
02.03.10
I saw an article on http://www.nytimes.com that said the same thing. Its always good to use your @domain its more professional. I just read an article about this on Somerville Apartments, especially with resumes its very important. Its amazing how many people will apply for a job and use a funny email address. I make sure I always use my work email address.
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