Do you need a better email for your job search?

Do you need a better email to give the right first impression?

Is there a better email?

Headlines last week talked about Yahoo’s emails being hacked in 2014 and the 500 million users affected. Additionally, in 2013 they believe another 1 billion users were impacted by a different hack. How this will impact the $4.3 billion deal between Verizon and Yahoo is still unknown.

I received an email today from a former client that I almost opened until I saw it was sent to a large group of people. It was from someone in the military and it wanted me to click a link.

I am sure I would have unleashed something nasty. Later I got another from the same person saying he got hacked. His email was an aol. Many people hold onto aol from the early days in computing. These older emails are often targets of hackers because the security is much less than more robust services like Google or Outlook.

What does your email say about you?

Email will play a part in your job search. These are reasons I often suggest to clients that they get a better email for their job search:

• Use of a Work email — If you are in an internal job search, using your business can be okay but if you are seeking outside your company, you should be using personal.
• Not using your name — When email first rolled out, many people didn’t really know what it would do. Many people avoided using their names and ended up with usernames. Use your name today as part of your branding for your job search. It gives a better impression, especially if your email is dirttanks@ or hellokitty@.
• Use of an old email provider — Many people are afraid of changing. But the message you send is you are not current on technology.

Change providers?

Personally, I am a gmail fan. Google sold me on the integration between their programs (especially gmail and Google Calendar) and between my devices. I can open gmail not only on my own devices but as long as I can log into a computer somewhere, I can access gmail.

When I teach seminars on resumes and job search for colleges or other groups, I often use my gmail account to access resume samples that I emailed myself for the seminars. It makes it much easier to have the samples readily available.

What are hazards of old?

Aside from what your old email says about you, the hazards of using an older program are much greater. As the many people affected by the yahoo hack learned, there is a big potential for someone to invade. In addition, since many people use the same password for everything, if someone hacks your email, they may be able to hack into many other accounts.

Are you sending the wrong signal with an old or bad address in your job search? Think about whether you should rethink your usage in general. You will look much more technology-savvy and most likely your conversations will be more secure.

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