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Does a Lame E-Mail Address Really Matter?
theodp writes "Over at the Chicago Tribune, freelance writer Nancy Anderson makes an embarrassing confession. It's 2010 and she still has an AOL e-mail address. 'You've got to get rid of that AOL address,' her publicist sister told her five years ago. 'It's bad for your image.' Image, shmimage, Anderson thought. 'If I do good work,' she asks, 'does my e-mail address really matter?' Good question. Would an AOL e-mail address — or another 'toxic' e-mail address — influence your decision to hire someone?"
but it sure will make you look a bit dopey if you're still rolling with hotmail or aol.
I see usa.net is still around too, I had one of those a long long time ago too.
Now if you're not rolling your own domain, gmail or at least a respectable ISP in the very least your co-workers will give you a bit of shit.
If it's a technology person, that's a red flag. I'd expect them to at least have their own domain name. It doesn't cost THAT much and looks far more professional.
Heck, even my cat has her own domain name.
If it's a non-tech field, meh, I don't care that much. But I have to chuckle when I see a small business with a website and their own domain name, but still using @comcast or @aol on their business card for email.
Well where I work, we did in fact throw a number of resumes out the window specifically because of hotmail and AOL email addresses.
But then again, I work in IT, those people SHOULD know better.
When I'm looking at a resume, I don't want to see RoxxyFoxxy@somewhere.com. Or something completely weird and difficult to decipher and type out. It's not hard to maintain a FMLastname or Firstname.Lastname@gmail.com and direct it to an address that expresses your individuality or whatnot.
Basically, I'm looking for professionalism. That means a resume with no typos or obvious errors/exaggerations ("Proficient in C, C+, and C++" is a gem that springs to mind), and appropriate attire at the interview. Having some kind of in-joke or bizarre reference or obscure handle as your username on the resume is kind of like wearing a tshirt with a weird slogan on it to the interview, although certainly not so severe.
"weave"
there isn't a joke that hasn't been made about girls with weaves
"RogueyWon"
you're roguey? is that like sarah palin being mavericky?
"thepainguy"
hello mr. S&M. go spank behinds somewhere else
"Southpaw018"
ah yes, the proud left handed type, always announcing his left handed status without prompting. almost as annoying as the proud "i don't watch tv" type so damn proud of what nobody cares about
"91degrees"
makes me think of that lame pop band 98 degrees
"Pharmboy"
do you spam c1alis emails? or do sell adderall on your local college campus?
"MistrBlank"
i'm sorry for your reproductive issues. in vitro fertilization offers wonderful outcomes nowadays
point being: prejudice is ignorant, all-pervasive, and easy. the idea is not that you should conform your email/ nickname to such small minds, but that if you lose a contact, or a job, due to such small minds, you should consider yourself LUCKY for the loss of contact with such mediocre people
i know well-respected medical doctors with aol addresses from the 1990s. because they don't have time to play mindless little image games like this one. this whole issue is stupid
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Things like @aol.com and @hotmail.com don't bother me, what bothers me is before the @ symbol. joe_middlename_bloggs@ is fine, even from things like Hotmail, but xXxXx_BuBbLe_PrInCeSs_1987_xXxXx@ is going to find its way to my trash folder very, very quickly.
How many people can read hex if only you and dead people can read hex?
On my CVs I use:
:).
:).
<recipient tag>@<tag>.<mydomain>
For example if I'm applying to Google it could be something like:
googlehr@google.mydomain
That way if my CV gets passed around later on, I might have an idea of who did it.
My CV is also typically in html. It looks about the same on most browsers, but depending on the circumstances the reader might see different content. I might also get notification that someone is reading my CV
So far I guess I'm lucky that it hasn't stopped me from getting jobs
And more importantly, if you have a domain name you're not tied into the webmail provider OR your ISP.
I have firstname@lastname.com as my email address (yes, it's a bit generic - ha!). All my email accounts on my domain are consolidated within a gmail account, but now they allow me to properly use my own SMTP server via GMail, I can completely invisibly do this. So nobody sending mail to or receiving mail from me knows it's all done by Gmail.
Not only am I completely decoupled from my ISP, I'm also decoupled from my mail provider. If Google does something I don't like, or something better comes along (unlikely, but possible) I can switch my email instantly at no cost. Likewise, if I'm unlucky enough to have my mail suspended for some reason, again, I'm not at GMail's mercy.
Complete lack of reliance on mail provider and ISP is the only way to be sure.
I wouldn't hire someone with an AOL address, not for any technology job. It just shows that they're not too smart, since they pay extra every month for a useless online service primarily for email when you can get free email addresses from Yahoo or Gmail.
Now, I definitely would NOT exclude someone because they had a Gmail or Yahoo or Hotmail address. That seems rather silly, as those are the largest webmail providers, they're free, they don't go away when you change ISPs or employers, etc. In fact, what alternatives do job-seekers have for email?
1) Company email addresses: this is pretty stupid. Only an idiot would list his current work address when looking for a new job. This would be the first person whose resume I'd throw in the trash (even before the AOL users). Is this employee so inept that he doesn't know how to get an email address that isn't tied to his employer? What does he think is going to happen to this address when he leaves his job (which he's obviously interested in doing)? And what is he doing blatantly using company email for personal purposes? I don't want someone like that around.
2) ISP email addresses: another big sign that someone is not internet-savvy. Are you so clueless that you don't know how to sign up for a Gmail account (which lets you download your mail by POP if you want)? What do you think will happen when you have to change ISPs, such as if you move to another state for a job? Really, having to update your email address with everyone you know or do business with is so 90s. This is exactly why we changed to Gmail, Yahoo mail, etc., so we'd have one address that would always stay the same.
3) Other paid email services: why pay for something you can get for free, especially when Gmail works so well? Unless you own your own domain and have email through that (which actually is a good sign), this just doesn't have any advantage over Gmail et al. And as someone who's had an account with Netidentity.com (now owned by Tucows), it can be a big PITA when their service goes down for days at a time due to their ineptness. Google doesn't have this problem; when Gmail goes down for 45 minutes, it's front-page news.