Is your email address killing your job hunt?

October 27, 2009 at 3:44 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

You might think your whacky/crude/quirky email address is clever and “cool” but when plonked on a resume it can see your job application binned instantly.

I’ve heard plenty of hiring managers, recruitment consultants and HR boffins moan about “silly” emails and I have sent plenty of those weird email addresses myself from people emailing CareerOne for resume tips.

Let me share some favourites from my real life collection. For privacy reasons, I have not included email providers. Here goes: fricken_idiot@; sweet_not_innocent@; shy_baby@; chatterbox@; creepyscamp@; hot_little_kitten; babelicious_wants_you; product_of_hankpanky@; lazybugger@; fat_n_creepy@; nigel_no_friends@; typical_blond@; vivid_dreamer; madmonkey@; fatflyingpig@; and xxxbeautyqueen@

Who wants to sit next to “Creepy Scamp” at work? Or “Chatterbox”? Okay, so some people might want to share a pod with the xxx beauty queen.

I could go on. In fact, I could go on and on and on as I have so many to refer to. I’ve seen plenty of email addresses using the word “devil”, “murder”, “xxx”, “moon”, “monkey”, “cheeky” and “bitch”.

Before you cry about how you should be judged purely on your skills and experience, slap yourself around so I don’t have to.

A resume is a marketing document and you are the product. What are you saying about yourself as an employee with: chic magnet@; boofhead@; cheeky_chick@; buggerface@; iloveme@; big_mouth; nuts@; sexual_chocolate@; daddysprincess@; trigger-happy@; badgirl4u?

You think people have the sense not to use these email addresses on job applications? You think I am exaggerating? Sadly, ask anyone who has waded through big piles of resumes and they will tell you “crazy” email addresses are too common and make them see red.

When I email back some resume improvement pointers to people starting with the need for them to create a professional sounding email address, they do get it. It’s amazing how oblivious people are to how they are projecting themselves.

Original story here

THE NEWS

Customs nab man with pythons taped to body in Norway: “CUSTOMS officials in Norway say they had arrested a man who tried to illegally import 14 snakes and 10 lizards into the country by taping the reptiles to his body. The snakes, king pythons that are large in size but not venomous, were rolled up in socks and taped to the man’s torso, while the geckos were found in small boxes taped to his legs. The identity of the man, who was arrested on Sunday in the southern town of Kristiansand after disembarking a ferry from Denmark, was not disclosed. “He told us he was crazy about reptiles,” the head of the local customs office, Helge Breilid, said. The unusual load was discovered during a body search after customs officials found a tarantula in the man’s luggage.”

Sex inspires females to do housework: “In a discovery that will upset feminists everywhere, researchers have found that sex stimulates female fruit flies to do the housework. While the male fruit fly rests after sex, his sperm contains a chemical that gives his mate an energy boost which sends her into a flurry of domestic activity. The chemical is so strong that she can spend days making house.”

Grotesque. A five-year-old with a six pack: “Five-year-old Giuliano Stroe has been entered into the Guinness Book of Records after performing an incredible physical stunt. Giuliano Stroe has been training since the age of two in Italy, where he lives with his family. He was entered into the record books after performing some impressive “hand-walking” skills to a panel of judges and an astonished audience on an Italian TV show. The exceptional pre-schooler performed the fastest ever 10m hand walk with a weight ball between his legs to the delight of the studio audience. “He has been going to the gym with me ever since he was born. I always took him with me when I went training,” his father Iulian Stroe, 33, said. He added there is no danger of the Romanian-born youngster harming himself, saying: “I have been training hard all my life myself. “He is never allowed to practice on his own, he is only a child and if he gets tired we go and play.”

Sexy teachers a no-no: “A New Zealand single primary school teacher [above] is facing the sack for appearing naked in several racy photos on the Australian Penthouse website. The woman, who goes by the name of Lexy in the article, is 27-year-old Rachel Whitwell, Stuff.co.nz reports. The New Zealand Teachers Council is investigating the matter, after racy photos, including two totally nude and two topless poses, appeared on the website. “I am a 26-year-old single school teacher from New Zealand that would love to get into modelling,” she told Penthouse. “I’ve written erotic stories for an R-rated magazine and run my own pole dancing studio.” It is reported Whitwell is currently on leave from teaching but hopes to return to the job when her young daughter grows up. Teachers council director Peter Lind told Stuff.co.nz there would be an investigation. “What is private and what is public is always a grey area but when they intersect we investigate,” he said. “When a teacher is in the public arena we must say that it does impact on their ability to do their job.”

Jackson kids all in therapy: “All three of Michael Jackson’s kids are in therapy, La Toya Jackson has revealed. The Thriller singer’s sister told the British newspaper The Mirror that the three children were dealing in very different ways with their father’s death four months ago. Prince, 12, Paris, 11 and Prince Michael II, 7, also known as Blanket, are being raised by their grandmother Katherine Jackson who was appointed their legal guardian after Jackson’s sudden death on June 25. “Blanket is just a very sad, shy little boy. He cries – he really does cry. It’s so painful for him,” La Toya said. She said Paris had covered her bedroom in Michael Jackson posters. She watches old videotapes of him, and is upset that she never got to see him performing live. “Paris thinks and writes about her father all the time. She’s doing very well, writes a lot and she wears his shirts every day,” La Toya told The Mirror. She said Prince “just doesn’t want to speak about it. He won’t even watch the DVDs … it’s too soon. “They all go to therapy and I truly hope Prince especially will be able to open up,” she said. All three children are being home-schooled in Los Angeles.”

And don’t forget to catch up with all the Strange Justice before you go.