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Email ideas for common name

D

DrSalt

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 10, 2012
1
0
I'm trying to sign up for a professional email address on Gmail (not as good as having my own domain but better than hotmail, yahoo, isp etc) but literally every combination of my name is taken. first.last, last.first, first initial.last etc even adding the middle name/initial doesn't work. I cannot buy my own domain as I do not have a credit card.

So I am left with either adding numbers (really don't want to do that and have been advised not to by recruiters) or adding something else in the email. Does anyone have any suggestions about what to use in a professional email in addition to your name if it's taken? contact.firstname.lastname@gmail.com maybe or does that look silly.

Anyone use numbers or something on top of their name in their gmail?
 
DrSalt said:
Anyone use numbers or something on top of their name in their gmail?
Click to expand...

I use the unit number of my condo after my name.

G-Mail had all of my options covered too.

How about your ZIP code? At least that might be useful, although risky as it pin-points your location.
 
Do you really think potential employers will look more favorable on you if you have a gmail email address as opposed to a yahoo one? Lulz. If your recruiter told you that, fire him or her.

Have you thought of using your middle initial?
 
LastnameFirstinitialAreaCode (SmithJ555@gmail.com) - If this doesn't work, you could try LastnameFirstandMiddleInitialsAreaCode (SmithJR555@gmail.com)

It looks somewhat professional and since you're going to be putting your phone number on the application as well, it is clear it's not just some random number you made up.

The recruiter who told you to avoid numbers said that precisely so you would avoid absurd e-mails like Spaceman302942 or some other unprofessional nonsense. Having a few digits (while isn't ideal) isn't a terrible thing either.
 
rdowns said:
Do you really think potential employers will look more favorable on you if you have a gmail email address as opposed to a yahoo one? Lulz. If your recruiter told you that, fire him or her.

Have you thought of using your middle initial?
Click to expand...

well to be fair I always have personally viewed gmail to look more professional than yahoo which looks a hell of a lot better than hotmail. Hotmail.com to be just makes me think it is from a porn site.

As for email address my primary Gmail address is
First.M.Last@gmail.com
M being my middle initial.

As for numbers it really depends. I tend to just over look them. Hell I have seen them from big name companies. It is what it is. Number are not as bad as saying having an email address that is like RodimusPrime####@gmail.com
 
DrSalt said:
I'm trying to sign up for a professional email address on Gmail (not as good as having my own domain but better than hotmail, yahoo, isp etc) but literally every combination of my name is taken. first.last, last.first, first initial.last etc even adding the middle name/initial doesn't work. I cannot buy my own domain as I do not have a credit card.

So I am left with either adding numbers (really don't want to do that and have been advised not to by recruiters) or adding something else in the email. Does anyone have any suggestions about what to use in a professional email in addition to your name if it's taken? contact.firstname.lastname@gmail.com maybe or does that look silly.

Anyone use numbers or something on top of their name in their gmail?
Click to expand...

As yg17, get a Vanity Domain if you really want to go all out. They're rather cheap and easy to get and setup, assuming you have a credit card.
 
anything from a free service doesn't look professional.

especially, if you're doing anything tech related.

just buy the family_name.com domain or something similar.

if you don't have a CC, why are you trying to look professional anyway?
 
acidfast7 said:
anything from a free service doesn't look professional.

especially, if you're doing anything tech related.

just buy the family_name.com domain or something similar.

if you don't have a CC, why are you trying to look professional anyway?
Click to expand...

Hmm, I didn't know that a CC is required in order to look professional.:rolleyes:


While having @yourowndomain.com does look better than using a free service like gmail, having a gmail account will not make you look unprofessional or cause you to be passed over for a job.


As an aside, I do like the OP's username.:D
 
To all those people who say that hotmail.com looks dodgy (which it does), you do know that you can pick @live.com (short for Windows Live) rather than @hotmail.com, right?
 
rdowns said:
Do you really think potential employers will look more favorable on you if you have a gmail email address as opposed to a yahoo one? Lulz. If your recruiter told you that, fire him or her.

Have you thought of using your middle initial?
Click to expand...

First impressions matter, and people do judge you by your email address. In college, we were taught to apply for jobs with our school email address -- because it sticks out and the employer knows that some random schmuck can't get a university address.

Of all the free email addresses, gmail's probably the most well-known and respected -- as somebody above stated.
 
Capt Underpants said:
First impressions matter, and people do judge you by your email address. In college, we were taught to apply for jobs with our school email address -- because it sticks out and the employer knows that some random schmuck can't get a university address.

Of all the free email addresses, gmail's probably the most well-known and respected -- as somebody above stated.
Click to expand...



What a crock. I was a recruiter for 3 years and I've been a hiring manager for almost 20 and I couldn't care less what your email address is unless it was something like ilikeboobs@aol or similar.

It's hard to find good people to hire. Any manager worth his or her weight will not disqualify a resume over an aol or hotmail email address.
 
acidfast7 said:
anything from a free service doesn't look professional.

especially, if you're doing anything tech related.

just buy the family_name.com domain or something similar.

if you don't have a CC, why are you trying to look professional anyway?
Click to expand...


In the tech world of the free email services Gmail looks the best.

But I have never really seen someone look down on or be unprofessional for using something than their own domain email service.

I tend to agree of the free email services gmail tends to look the best and Hotmail by far looks the worse.

Surely said:
Hmm, I didn't know that a CC is required in order to look professional.:rolleyes:


While having @yourowndomain.com does look better than using a free service like gmail, having a gmail account will not make you look unprofessional or cause you to be passed over for a job.


As an aside, I do like the OP's username.:D
Click to expand...


I see companies using email address @gmail.com all the time for their email. It is not a big deal. For a personal email address gmail I think is fine hell I think it is great. Hell I got my first job out of college with a gmail address and I received 2 job offers in the tech field with @gmail.com address.

My aunt who works as an HR consulted told me for email address the free ones are fine. The key part is your user name. Using some corny or nick name in your email address is a bad idea. Something like First.Last is great. Just look at one companies use.
 
rdowns said:
I couldn't care less what your email address is unless it was something like ilikeboobs@aol or similar.
Click to expand...

Well, be honest now, the reason this email address is reflecting poorly is because the owner clearly has no imagination and can't even come up with a compelling reason he/she likes boobs. Now something along the lines of ilikeboobscausedeybouncentastelikecandy@aol.com may be a bit loquacious for an email address, but at least you know the owner has at least put marginal thought into it.
 
rdowns said:
What a crock. I was a recruiter for 3 years and I've been a hiring manager for almost 20 and I couldn't care less what your email address is unless it was something like ilikeboobs@aol or similar.

It's hard to find good people to hire. Any manager worth his or her weight will not disqualify a resume over an aol or hotmail email address.
Click to expand...

Just passing on what I was told. Anecdotally, I got more interviews after I started using my university email. Coincidence? Probably.

You're older and more experienced, and I believe that you don't discriminate based on email addresses. Of course a person's email address has no relationship to their qualifications. But I grew up on the interwebz, and if you've got an AOL email address, I will judge you.
 
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