Page 120 - Marky Stein - Get a Great Job When You Don't Have a Job-McGraw-Hill (2009)

Fearless Résumés

E-mail addresses with catchy or clever elements like that are
fun to use with your friends and family, but they really are not
dignified enough for a résumé.
Try not to use the e-mail address of the company that you
currently work for.
If you use the e-mail address of the company you are still
working for, watch out. An e-mail address like guy.henry@com-
panyIstillworkfor.net will raise understandable suspicions that
you are using your own desk, your own time, and your com-
pany’s time and resources to conduct your own personal busi-
ness. This is something that is strictly frowned upon. Even if your
former company allows you to use their resouces, it is wise to
refrain from using your old e-mail address because you never
know how the prospective employer will react.

• If the prospective employer sees that you’ve taken up
the habit of wasting your present employer’s time, why
should he expect that you wouldn’t do the same if you
were hired to work for his company?

Do use an 11 or 12 point Times New Roman or Arial regular (not bold
or italic) font. Don’t use any fancy graphics, typefaces, large-sized
letters, or layout. This kind of style, however artistic it may look,
is really more confusing to the potential employer and makes the
résumé harder to read.
Take the time to get an e-mail address that is both personal-
ized to you and professional.
If you’re going for a more professional impression, try get-
ting an e-mail account with Yahoo!, hotmail, gmail, Comcast,
AOL, or some other free e-mail provider, and pick something
that resembles your own name, such as janicegold@freee-mail-
provider.com.
Do use a regular street address. Don’t use a P.O. box, if at all pos-
sible. Although the use of a post office box may serve to protect
your privacy, employers often view it with suspicion.
Do use a professional-sounding answering machine or voice
mail system with a clear and dignified message. Finally, just a tip:
for whatever phone number(s)— home, office, mobile, or toll
free—you are listing in the name block on your résumé, be sure

107