<p>worry, my professional address is the same except @ aol. I think that makes me even more of a geezer! (I tell my kids it shows I was ahead of the curve.) But I already know all the good gmail addresses for my name have already been taken. (There’s someone with my name who is a radio host, and another who is quite a good artist.) I have my graduation year in my gmail address - I supposed someone might think I am 22 years younger than I am because of it. :)</p>
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<p>I prefer not to be a lemming. Also, I do actually look at resumes for hiring purposes. I pay little attention to someone’s email address in the same way I don’t really care what his or her phone number is. There is plenty of information right there on the resume itself to telegraph what kind of person this is, how old he or she is, what technical competence they have (I work in IT), etc. If someone’s email address is <a href="mailto:iluvbunnies@gmail.com">iluvbunnies@gmail.com</a>, then yes, I’d probably remember that. But for me, at least, I don’t really care whether it is @aol, @hotmail, etc. Maybe I’m the only one who doesn’t care, but like Gandhi said, “Be the change…”</p>
<p>“I have been told by my son, who is a computer jock, that among computer people, having to put numbers in your gmail address could count against you professionally because it means that you were too stupid to get gmail when it first came out.”</p>
<p>And this is why people roll their eyes at computer nerds! Maybe it’s a huge big deal for them, but for normal people and situations, as long as the name is professional and appropriate for a work setting (first name / last name or some variation), normal people don’t care whether there are extra numbers (everyone understands that common names are taken), or whether the ending is gmail, yahoo, hotmail or for that matter Comcast or even aol. Someone who “judges” on that basis needs a life.</p>
<p>Edit: just read fignewton above. Exactly right. I look at resumes all the time, too. Couldn’t care less. Would laugh out loud at a coworker who did. It sounds like dorks are trying to make up social rules for who is cool, and failing miserably in the process.</p>
<p>Your years in the workforce may dictate how you do business and looking for experienced workers is way different than for new grads and new professionals. In the current market people are going to professionals to.help make them more marketable and this seems to be the current standard. And you might say that this is a way of making money, but many of these services are free. Whether you believe this or not, your email adress can say alot about someone. Having an email address with <a href=“mailto:firstlastname@prestigeu.edu”>firstlastname@prestigeu.edu</a> may be more apt to have a second chance than the circular file. These young job seekers have a lot to deal with and anything that makes them stand out is all the more better. This is information obtained from individuals who look at resumes everyday,all day.</p>
<p>If you can look outside gmail, maybe you can try ymail? It is yahoo email without the ■■■■■■.com ending.</p>
<p>I’m the same person looking for experienced people and newbies, and I’m telling you, none of the recruiters I’ve worked with and none of the business settings I’ve been involved with – no one cares about the email address beyond that it’s a general first name / last name or similar with no embarrassing iluvbunnies type of name. </p>
<p>Again, I’m sorry, I think the supposed uncool factor of aol or hotmail or whatever is dorks trying to convince one another that they finally have a handle on what is cool. It is as stupid as judging someone on whether their cell phone area code is city or suburban.</p>
<p>I’m interviewing people today. Their email addresses are:</p>
<p><a href="mailto:Lastname19@hotmail.com">Lastname19@hotmail.com</a> and <a href="mailto:firstnamelastname1@yahoo.com">firstnamelastname1@yahoo.com</a>.</p>
<p>Perfectly fine. </p>
<p>Indeed, I hired someone recently for a relatively senior position whose email was something along the lines of …
<a href="mailto:wooohoooo@aol.com">wooohoooo@aol.com</a>. Not terribly professional, but eh, she was great in every other sense, and she has an irreverent spirit about her that was suited to the job, so who cares?</p>
<p>Shakespeare wrote, “What’s in a name?” I guess that has become “What’s in an e-mail address?”</p>
<p>This has turned out to be quite an interesting discussion. Thanks to all for your suggestions and for sharing your points of view!</p>
<p>pizzagirl, your opinion is fine, but I dont feel everyone else’s opinion is either “dorkisk” or “stupid”. One can take it or leave it. These are just opinions. No one said anything about what is cool or not. You can choose it your way and that is fine. Not everyone else in the field is as “cool” as you or thinks as you do.</p>
<p>This thread has me thinking about my own Gmail address, and I’m wondering if it still looks good to have something that isn’t quite as obvious as your first and last name. My high school gave out computer logins that were part of our last names and our first two initials. When I got Gmail in 10th(?) grade, I used that as my username.</p>
<p>To give you an idea, if my name was Molly Sheehan (middle initial A), my Gmail address would be <a href="mailto:sheema@gmail.com">sheema@gmail.com</a>. I just wanted something simple and without numbers, and by now all combinations of my (very common) full name without numbers are taken…</p>
<p>Does something like that look unprofessional, especially because I never put my middle initial/name on my resume?</p>
<p>FWIW, and I am in the computer industry, pizzagirl’s opinion is far closer to reality than whoever is saying “gmail or else”.</p>
<p>When I look at the resume of someone I am going to interview, I don’t even look at the e-mail. I just don’t care. Of the last 20 people I’ve interviewed, I have no idea how many had gmail addresses and how many had something else.</p>
<p>Places full of early adopter types who would notice whether or not you use gmail, and whether your id has a number in it, probably do exist.</p>
<p>However, if you are not one of those types yourself, you probably don’t want to work there, anyway.</p>
<p>My daughter just recently changed her email address to <a href="mailto:FirstInitialLastName@whatevermailitis.com">FirstInitialLastName@whatevermailitis.com</a>. She had a whimsical email address from highschool. I think she’s growing up and realizes a different email that sounds more professional is better.</p>