First impressions are important when it comes to job seeking, and an email address can make quite a first impression. Often times, the email address is the first thing a hiring manager sees – before even seeing your name! Before you send out your next resume, consider what your email address alone might say about you. Do you “appear” professional?
As most job applications are sent via email these days, your email address alone can play a huge role into whether or not your resume is opened. I have heard numerous stories from hiring managers about applications getting tossed simply because of someone’s email address. Often times, email addresses at face value appear to be spam and are never even opened. Email addresses like “sexykitten0007” or “bigmuscles”, for example, might be automatically filtered into a spam folder by an email server because of word content.
The good news is that hiring managers are quite straightforward in what they believe makes up an “unprofessional” or unappealing email address. While it may sound harsh that most hiring managers critique email addresses, it does happen because they do create a first impression.
Below are 7 deadly email sins to make sure to stay away from so you don’t end up in the “unprofessional” pile.
1) Wrong Name: John_smith@….com (when your real name is David Jones)
Don’t confuse the reader from the start! Is your name John Smith or David Jones? There is no reason to have the hiring manager ask this type of question at the start of your resume.
2) Fantasy Name: Invisibleman@….com
Are you applying for a job or are you auditioning for a video game?
3) Creepy Name: collegestrangler@….com
Given the fact that over 80% of companies now run background checks on potential employees, there is no reason to give an employer the impression that you may have a criminal record.
4) Sportsperson: tigerwoods50@….com
This might have been ok when you were in high school, but not in the workplace.
5) The numbers: 998877665544@….com
Confusing! You are just asking for someone to send an email to the wrong place.
6) The Crude Name: hairychest@….com
Not a good first impression. Also, many of these email addresses contain words that will usually get filtered into the spam folder.
7) Confess love email address: bonjovilover@….com
Again, you are applying for a job, not a role as a groupie.
So…what should you do? Stick to the basics. The best email addresses will contain your full or partial name, followed by either characters or numbers. Think about how most workplace email addresses are set up – most of them contain a combination of an employee’s first and last name. Try to mimic this – a professional email address represents a professional job candidate. Don’t give your reader the wrong impression!
