You and your spouse are looking for a new babysitter, as your current sitter is cutting back on that responsibility. You've gotten the word out to friends and family who are tapping into their resources as well.
Sure enough your neighbor calls to not only suggest someone, but to also tell you to anticipate an email introduction.
Great, you think! It had taken several weeks to even get the name of your present sitter, who has been watching your two pre-teen children for a couple years now. Later that week your neighbor calls to say she's spoken to the prospective new sitter - have you heard from her?
You scroll through your list of newly received emails. What's this? You see an email name you don't recognize. You lean in closer and adjust your glasses to read:
BacardiGirl @ domain dot com
You sit back, slowly, with furrowed brow.
YOUR BRAND MESSAGE: WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?
How inclined are you to want to invite BacardiGirl into the care of your two children?
Is it such a great leap to consider, as well, how an Employer will be equally hesitant to respond to a job applicant with the email moniker Born2BWild?
In an Ohio University study, email addresses played a key factor in whether applications received a call back for 1,000 posted jobs at the MGM Grand Casino in Detroit. The lead researcher at the time, Kevin Tamanini (subsequently a Ph.D. senior consultant in Organizational Psychology), noted that "the urge to be creative may lead some people to deliberately select e-mail names that could be considered unprofessional."
First impressions are indeed important - that's not a new idea. Your unprofessional email moniker may very well create something other than a positive impression. And, that impression may very well derail you from the application process, even though you may otherwise possess all the necessary qualifications.
Some of the actual email addresses deemed unprofessional in the Ohio University study include: AllieCat@, DrunkenSquirl@, BigHotDaddy@, FoxyLady@, Gigglez217@. "The urge to be creative may lead some people to deliberately select e-mail names that could be considered unprofessional," Tamanini noted.
We've established in previous articles that job seekers must be mindful that how you communicate becomes, in fact, your Brand. Your Brand speaks to your professionalism (or lack thereof) and can either fortify or sabotage your credibility!
Think about your email address at your last job. Most companies typically use a configuration of the employee's first and last name. Your job search email address should likewise include some form of your first and last name, with the following considerations:
1. Use your full name:
GeorgeMonroe@; MaryannJones@; WalterSmith@; ClarkWeston@; ArthurWashington@
2. Abbreviate either your first or last name if they are longer:
Gregory Masterman might use: GMasterman@ or GregoryM@
Felicia Piccoriella might use: FeliciaP@ or FPiccoriella@
Patricia Clarkson might use: PatClarkson23@ or PClarkson15@
Xavier Grendelman might use: XavierG@ or XGrendelman@
3. Inclusion of numbers is acceptable, but Avoid using any type of indication of a birth year or age:
BobMarsh1952@ or GloriaLerner61@ doesn't bode well for the discerning Employer or Recruiter! Is that Bob's birth year... Gloria's age?
4. Researchers also recommend Avoid references to personal interests or hobbies including references to favorite movies, no matter how popular of a choice it may be.
FINAL THOUGHT: Retain the snazzy email moniker for dazzling your friends and family members, absolutely. But for the job search create a separate professional email address that represents you as the credible expert that you hope to convey.
Request a complimentary Resume evaluation or Coaching information by emailing Charlene at: chrleneh@verizon.net Check out Charlene on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/charleneholsendorff Check out Charlene's Blog: http://slicingbananas.com/
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