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Get an email address that sounds professional...please!by Andy Johnston, CPCEmail is now the standard method of everyday, written communication in the business world. While I will never discount the effectiveness of the handwritten note or a hard copy marketing piece, email is now more commonplace than the classic memo format that you had to learn if you took a business communications course. I see businesses using email for all types of business communications: internal scheduling, customer interaction, vendor interaction, marketing, and yes, even recruiting and selection. Since email has become an important mode of business communication, many resumes now include the candidate's email address. For me as an executive recruiter, resumes are less of a marketing document and more about cutting through appearances and getting straight to the facts. However, there is one "appearance" factor that is tough to work around if it is not up to par: your email address. The email address that you selected to stay in touch with your college buddies (beer_bonger1974@...) or the one you thought was so cute on MySpace (glitt3r_princess41@...) may not be projecting the image that you want to present as a candidate seeking a new opportunity! In today's business world, odds are that you will send at least one email in the recruiting and selection process. In fact, many times we have five or six rounds of correspondence via email with candidates. If you don't already have one, you should take the time to set up an email address that is professional and effective. How do you set up a new email address? Most people have an email address that was given to them by their Internet Service Provider (Comcast, Time Warner, Charter, etc.). Many times, your ISP will allow you to create multiple email addresses for your household. You may want to check with your ISP and see whether this option will work for you. If you call the Customer Service department of the ISP, they should be able to help you. Another option would be to use a free web-based email service. You can go to sites like www.gmail.com, www.inbox.com, www.hotmail.com or www.yahoo.com to establish a free email address. My favorite out of all of these is Gmail. It is getting a little crowded, but with a little creativity (or a unique last name), you can establish an email address that will help you put your best foot forward as you communicate with recruiters and hiring managers. Here are some tips for choosing your email address or username: 1) Try to select an email address that is based on your name or initials. This may be tough if you have a name that is fairly common like John Smith or Susan Jones. However, you can usually include punctuation like a period "." or an underscore "_" to make your common name into a unique email address. Here are some examples: johnsmith@... john.d.smith@... j_smith@... john.doe.smith@... 2) Don't be afraid of using your real name. When you're marketing yourself, you will eventually be sending your resume to a recruiter or hiring manager. You want people to know who you are in this case. If your real name is not already taken in the email service you selected, lock it in and use it! 3) Try to avoid using a long string of numbers or other special characters. Because email addresses must be unique, this is sometimes tough to get around. If you must use numbers in your address, steer clear of using your age, date of birth, street address, or ZIP code. Use numbers only when necessary to differentiate your address and create a unique address. Keep in mind that a username already taken on Hotmail.com may be still available on Gmail.com (or vice versa). OK, you ditched your email address from a prior life (at least for the purpose of finding a new opportunity). You've created a great new email address that sounds professional and resembles your name. Now what? Here is a final tip: email has caused the world to move a little faster. Instead of dropping an envelope in the mail and having two to ten days' transit time, email is literally delivered within seconds of hitting the "Send" button. Common etiquette for responding to messages in the business world is 24 hours (unless it is not urgent or junk mail, of course). The last thing you want is to put off responding to the person who represents the opportunity of a lifetime! I hope this has helped you to come up a little higher in your search for a new opportunity. Having a professional email address won't get you the job, but it just might keep you out of the "reject" pile! ©2008 Andy Johnston / LumberSearch. All rights reserved. |
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