NAMING EMAIL ACCOUNTS, RESUMES & RELATED DOCUMENTS

“There are four ways, and only four ways, in which we have contact with the world. We are evaluated and classified by these four contacts: what we do, how we look, what we say, and how we say it.” ~ Dale Carnegie

Names are important – just ask my kids. We have three young kids and anytime a new stuffed animal comes to the family we try to have a naming ceremony for the animal. We place all the other stuffed animals in a big circle in the playroom. The kids then choose a few animals that either don’t have names or “need” new names, in addition to the new one, and bring them to me. I then solicit name ideas from the kids and suggest lots of others. They love this ritual and our oldest, John, now 7 ½ , remembers way more of the names than I do.

You want to be remembered – but in a good way – so I suggest you take some time to think through the names you use as part of your personal branding strategy. Every communication you have with a prospective employer is an impression. The way you set up email addresses and other things that employers see gives them another opportunity to form an opinion about you.

EMAIL ADDRESS

On the front end of a job search is a good time to think about your email address. Think about how many email exchanges you might have with the eventual company that hires you. You want to communicate that you are a competent professional who will fit with that company’s culture. This is a good time to consider a change in your email address. You want to make it simple, clear and professional. I think it’s best to use a free service like gmail, yahoo or similar because you can KEEP that address even if you move. What if you get upset with your provider and want to switch or decide the cable is an expense you can cut? Your brand – your email address – is then dependent upon that company’s name. So at the front end of a job hunt is a good time to set up a new account that is free, professional and portable. You don’t even have to abandon your @cox.net or @sbcglobal.net address for your other communication. This can be a gradual change.

It’s pretty easy to set up a redirect from that web based address (your new, professional one) to your existing one that goes directly to your outlook or other email program.

Think for a moment about your previous work email addresses. How were they styled? They were based on just your name “at” your company, right? Some of the most common that I’ve seen are:

FLast@company.com (where “F” is the first initial of your first name and “Last” is your last name.

First.Last@company.com

First.M.Last@company.com (where “M” is your middle initial. When there is no middle name many companies just use “X”.)

You can also use the “_” underscore as a divider between first and last name.

Therefore, I suggest you set up something similar @gmail.com or @yahoo.com.

Sometimes, this can present challenges if you have a common name like Bob Smith or Mary Jones, chances are you are going to have a hard time finding any variation available on any of the big free services. I have a friend with a common name who is in Tulsa and plans to stay here, so he set up his address as first.last.tulsa@gmail.com . Another similar solution would be to do first.last.sales@gmail.com or first.last.accountant@yahoo.com to clearly identify your profession.

Here in Oklahoma many people are passionate about their football teams so they may want to have “Soonerfan” or “GoPokes” in their address. Maybe this works in your favor if you’re applying to a like-minded hiring manager, but what if you’re applying at a company full of the other team’s fans? Don’t forget, most hiring managers are looking for how well you’ll FIT with their company’s culture as well as your competency. Are you willing to risk broadcasting you’re an ardent fan of the team they root against? I might offer one caveat to this if you actually played for that college team. Most Americans respect and appreciate the discipline and sacrifice associated with playing a sport at a high level – even for the enemy. Still, the safe choice is to stick to just your name.

Another common mistake is adding your birth year to your name to come up with your email address. Right now, I don’t really care that I’m 39, but in 10 years, I might really cringe if 1970 is in my email address. Your age might be something you’re working to conceal, so broadcasting it in your email address gives employers another opportunity to pass judgment on you. If you need to add a number, avoid numbers that could be read as dates of birth or graduation.

I’m also opposed to trying to do something clever with your name for your email address. Take my blog as Exhibit A. I would never put dangerruss as part of an email address that would be on a resume and I should probably change this blog name too. However, the name danger-russ came from some high school kids when I was in full time ministry. They started calling me that because I was the opposite of danger and they thought that was funny- and I agree. Thank you Edison Eagles! I still suggest you stick to the basics as best you can. Do as I say, not as I do!

What about hobbies? I’m a woodworker and you might be a skydiver but if you mention either of those someone in HR is bound to look at that not as “interesting” but rather as “higher insurance risk”.

What about something innocuous like “coolguy” or “prettylady”? Chances are if you are those things, it will be better for people to find that out themselves instead of you telling them. Using these might communicate something beyond healthy self-confidence.

Lastly, avoid negatives like “badatmath”, “techchallenged”, “notasalesguy” or “spealingchampeeun” because even if they’re funny or tongue in cheek, these aren’t things that best identify you.

RESUMES & OTHER DOCUMENTS

Most often, you are going to attach or upload your resume, including the file name to lots of people. Based on what I have seen, people do better in this arena, but deliberate thought here certainly can’t hurt as you seek to project your brand out to the audience.

One issue that I see quite a bit is when people have several versions of their resume for various types of jobs, so they add some differentiating word to the document name. For Example:

Russ_Knight_Sales.doc

Russ_Knight_Banking.doc

Russ_Knight_Manager.doc

Really, none of those would be bad. I prefer to use my name and the date only, like Russ_Knight_1209.doc, you could also use a specific date, like Russ_Knight_120709.doc and know that is your “sales” resume and 120609 is your Banking, etc. Whatever system is comfortable for you, use that.

Be sure to avoid using negative words like “non-manager” or “temporary” or “draft” for anything you ever submit to a prospective employer. You want to be sure you are putting your best foot forward.

The reason I’m writing this is I regularly see mistakes from my friends who are on the job hunt and I want to be an encouragement. As you can see, I am certainly not a perfect or even a good example of this. Please feel free to add your own thoughts, ideas and experiences regarding email addresses or document names if you think it would be helpful to others. Blessings to you in your search! I hope this has been useful in your search and in your web presence going forward.