First impressions are huge for job seekers and one of your first with potential employers is your e-mail address. Is yours making a good impression?

Granted, once you have one for a while you don’t really want to change. So, why not have two? You can set the new job-seeker address to re-direct to your first one so you only have to check in one place. Here’s some simple instruction on how to do this with Gmail.

With that out of the way, let’s chat this week about five types of email addresses that might create a bad impression and two that will work great.

All In the Family

Example: markandemily@gmail.com)
E-mail addresses are free and most people have more than one nowadays. Never use a shared one. It makes it look like you never got around to it, don’t know how, or that you may not actually get the message. None of those impressions are positive for a job seeker.

Provocative or Vain

Examples: 2hot4u@gmail.com or bicardigirl@gmail.com
It used to be fun or cute to come up with interesting or unforgettable e-mail addresses – sorta like a vanity license plate – but that’s was the 1990s. When applying for a job, you really need to convey total professionalism.

Too Much Information

Example: emily1976@gmail.com
Sometimes when we can’t have just our name we put it in combination with something like an important year in our life.

Caution: for those sensitive to age discrimination this may be a dead giveaway.

So don’t use the year you were born, the year you graduated high school or year you created the account.

Not Enough Information

Example: emr90@gmail.com
Some create cryptic addresses or ones that just have some combination of initials and numbers. These addresses are harder to type or easily messed up.

If it’s hard to quickly understand, you run the risk they will type it wrong and you’ll never hear from them (even though they tried).

Mixing Work with Personal

Example: emily@monarchdental.com
Some employers give you an e-mail address… for work (servicing clients, communicating with suppliers, etc.), not for personal reasons.

You’ll put a bad taste in a potential employers mouth if you use your work e-mail to apply for a job. Whether true or not, they might assume you sent it while at work – an even bigger no-no.

Really Good Examples

Examples: emilyjonesRDH@gmail.com or emilyRDH@gmail.com
Create an address with your first and last name and throw in RDH at the end or another acronym.

There’s a good chance that adding a professional credential, like RDH, will guarantee you can include your first and last name without any need for numbers or symbols.

Your name is your most important brand symbol (think of it as your company name) – you want that in front of potential employers as much as possible so it sticks.

Also Acceptable

Examples: emilylovesteeth@gmail.com or smilemakeremily@gmail.com
If you want to express your passion create something fun or memorable.

I still don’t think this type is best but I also don’t think it will hurt your chances.

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Doug Perry is an expert resume writer and job search coach. He and his wife, Tracie, who is a dental hygienist, created GetHiredRDH in response to the challenging dental hygiene job market and have helped thousands of dental hygienists through tips and individual services. If you need individual, click here to contact Doug.