What Does Your Email Address Say About You

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.

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.

Fantasy Name: Invisibleman@....com

Are you applying for a job or are you auditioning for a video game?

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.

Sportsperson: tigerwoods50@....com

This might have been ok when you were in high school, but not in the workplace.

The numbers: 998877665544@....com

Confusing! You are just asking for someone to send an email to the wrong place.

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

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!

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Comment by Jackie Burress on February 16, 2012 at 12:49pm: Being that I recruit for largely hourly/non-exempt call center positions, I come across this everyday. If I screened out all candidates following these 7 "deadly email sins" I would hardly have a candidate pool, but there are several that are zero tolerance. For instance, I have seen candidates with email addresses containing numbers that refer to illegal activity such as "420" or other inappropriate number/letter combos (6969, or xxx).

And to add, I would suggest not adding numbers into your email address that contain a birth date - this could be used by employers as an indication of age leading to discrimination. Also, I see tons of email addresses such as destinysmommy@...com or neveahsdad@...com... I konw you're a proud parent, but just don't.

Comment by Gavin Redelman on February 16, 2012 at 3:59pm: Great comments guys!! ....

I came across another favorite of mine just yesterday - "The couples" email address:

TimandTina@ or tim_tina@

Really!!! - I understand couples can have a shared email address but when it comes to job hunting are both of you applying for the same job - Ditch the couple email address!!!!

Comment by Kathleen Smith on February 16, 2012 at 5:13pm: We start off every presentation to job seekers with this point and it is amazing how many go "Ah Ha!" Another point that has been brought up by my students is to not use email services that can indicate your age such as AOL, Comcast or Hotmail. In our industry - security cleared- there is also a fear to use gmail as it is the most hackable email service.

Comment by Jackie Burress on February 16, 2012 at 5:52pm: I almost forgot about couple email addresses! Off topic, but couple Facebook profiles really puzzle me too.

Comment by Sandra McCartt on February 16, 2012 at 6:06pm: Couple Facebook profiles are for those who want to make sure the other one is not "messin around on the net".

Comment by Gavin Redelman on February 16, 2012 at 6:14pm: For all those Seinfeld fans out there - the couples email address reminds me of the "schmoopy" episode ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mii8aJklEOg

Comment by Gavin Redelman on February 16, 2012 at 6:14pm: Kathleen - Great point about the AOL, Comcast or Hotmail email addresses - very true!

Comment by Gordon Basichis on February 16, 2012 at 6:32pm: Some definite weirdness with the Facebook couples. Doesn't say much for strong individual identity, and I would be questioning the ability to "work independently." And, yes, as Sandra wrote, this double photo posting should keep one or the other from messing around. Save for maybe threesomes, but then I digress.

Most of you, being recruiters, get individual emails, where we as a background checking firm tend to get more corporate emails. But when we do get the individuals, especially those with the cutesy or funky emails, chances are they are either asking about their own criminal records, or pursuing details about errant lovers, or some other aspects of human behavior that doesn't exactly give you the warm and fuzzy glow.

As you know better than I, it's a tough and crazy job market out there. You would think one would do whatever it took to get that little edge up on the competition. But from some of your postings, getting them to see your point, is like trying to turn on the lights after a vagrant tore out all the copper wiring. Isn't there an island somewhere, where such applicants can be shipped to leave by their own meager devices. Emails could read....BunnyCuddles@dumbassisland.com

Comment by Sandra McCartt on February 17, 2012 at 1:25am: Ok Gordon I chortled over the island. For many moons I have advocated that all drunks, druggies, perverts and crazies should be shipped off to an island as opposed to all these soupy rehabs. My take is if they had to spend every waking hour with loons just like themselves it might actually rehab a few.

A friend of mine mentioned that somebody in the mists of history already did that. It's called Australia, and the evidence is clear they tuned out just dandy so your theory and mine has been proven by past history and current events.

Whackadoodle@dumbassisland.com

I got an email in response to an ad , from fuckyou@hotmail.com. Great IT candidate.

A bit surprised I called him, we had a good talk. At the end he asked if I were going to move forward with his resume. Indeed I will but I think we need a new email address. He asked what was wrong with the current one. I suggested it might not present him in the most favorable light. He finally got a little flustered and said he did not understand hat I was talking about. When I clarified what I had received I thought he was going to strangle. It seems that was an email address he used to respond to spam mail. He had set it as his default email while responding to several and forgot to change it. I have not had that many apologies since the day I called a candidate ,from a blocked number ,who had just received three obscene phone calls in a row. After that guy was explicit as to what I could do my phone. I splained that I would give his suggestion serious consideration but I was not sure how I would dial the phone to confirm his interview.

Email addresses can cause some serious embarrassment as well as buying a ticket to "dumbass island"