I just discovered a terrific blog called The Pongo Blog where I found a post by Julie O’Malley called Good and Bad Resumes: Want to See the Difference?
I highly recommend this post as well as a browse through the other articles. Lots of good stuff.
Julie brings up one thing that I’ve been meaning to mention and never got around to doing. And so now I will.
Pay attention to your e-mail address during a job hunt!
Now you might think that’s not all that important. And some might even say “if they don’t like it, then it’s not the right job for me. ” But honestly…jobs are hard enough to come by. Why make this your Alamo?
For instance, Julie shows these examples of bad e-mail addresses:
- likesbeer@email.com
- harleydude@email.com
- crazyforcats@email.com
Seriously dudes..what are you thinking? And don’t think these are isolated instances. I’ve seen many just as unprofessional. Job hunts are tough. Don’t make things harder for yourself for no good reason.
So…if you don’t already have one, just go ahead and create a professional e-mail address for yourself to use during a job hunt - on your resume, on your cover letter, and when you correspond with the company. There are plenty of free e-mail providers like Yahoo, Google, AOL, etc. Just use your business smarts when creating a new name for yourself. 
Hope that helped someone out there. And that means you dirtydude@email.com or funsarah@email.com or even devilboyphilbo@email.com. Those are great handles, but not for a job search!
Good luck.
8 responses so far ↓
1 Sonni Carr // Jul 13, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Wow! I imagine if you sent a resume’ with a email address like those it might not go over so good.
Of course, mine isn’t the best either, not very professional. I like your whole blog theme it has a lot of great information. I’ll have to bookmark it.
Sonni
2 Ronnie Ann // Jul 13, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Thanks for the visit Sonni and the lovely comment!
I’ve screened many resumes in my career, and every now and then you see an e-mail address that just makes you wonder “What were they thinking?” Or more precisely, “Were they thinking?” A professional resume that shows attention to detail is much more likely to get picked. It’s that simple.
BTW…I saw your e-mail address when I got your comment and it’s not too bad. Of course, you can always create a more professional-sounding one just for job hunting if you like, but it’s certainly not as bad as the ones mentioned above!
Had an enjoyable visit to your blog. Topics near and dear to my heart. Please do drop by again and I’ll do the same.
Ronnie Ann
3 Dataceptionist // Jul 13, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Hahahah I used to think this ALL the time when we were hiring for staff when I worked in retail.
And then again when we were hiring for a reception junior. I don’t want to see sxybtch756@hotmail on the top. Or hottsurfer_blake@yahoo
4 Ronnie Ann // Jul 13, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Hahahahahahaha! Those are great, Dataceptionist! Always enjoy your visits. Hope all is well.
Still smiling.
Ronnie Ann
5 Terry B // Jul 14, 2008 at 12:51 pm
For some reason, many people think of their email addresses as social security numbers, engraved in granite, as it were, and one per customer. It’s actually good to open a separate account for work and job search related things. That way, when you’re using it or checking it, you’re focused on your career, not some amusing anecdote from Aunt Millie. And as you pointed out here, choose an email address that isn’t embarrassing!
6 Ronnie Ann // Jul 14, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Exactly! I hadn’t thought about it quite that way, but I guess some people do see it as their unique identity. Thanks, Terry B.
Ronnie Ann
7 Dataceptionist // Jul 14, 2008 at 9:31 pm
goodness I must be schitzophrenic then, I have about 5 email addresses!
I remember seeing on a wedding website once that it was a good idea to create an email address specially for signing up to stuff, that way after the wedding you just close it and don’t get bothered by spam down the track…
8 Ronnie Ann // Jul 15, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Of course, Dataceptionist, I see all those e-addresses as healthy manifestations of a multi-dimensional person. But then I have a bunch myself. (-;
And yes…that’s a great tip. Having an e-mail address just for signing up for stuff is very useful. Who needs their main e-mail address getting even more spam?
Ronnie Ann
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