College Interviews and E-mail Addresses

[DaddyTorgo]

Isn't the same true of people who use a cable company email address? They're not anymore settled...they could up and move tomorrow and cancel their cable.

[molson]

Ya, what type of non-work email address shows that you're "committed" to a location? Or would employers rather have people apply using their current work email address (which I would think would be a bigger red flag).

I would think resume/experience/what the applicant tells you are all better indicators of whether he's going to move soon than his email address. (Unless the email address is [email protected]

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

Honest answer from my viewpoint.
1) Gmail user may not be planning on living here long, he likes gmail portability I may hire him and he move to Florida next week.
2) Gmail user may not have a home or at best not a home computer and very good chance he doesnt have home net access, he may go to local library to access internet. I will give him a laptop but he will need to have home net access to survive in my company.


Again, MOST FOFC members will skew to the higher end of intelligence, and therefor typically skew to the higher income end as well. I and many others are often hiring on the other end. I hired a 19 year within the last year who had never owned, NOR CLAIMED TO HAVE EVER KNOWN PERSONALLY ANYONE who had a home PC. Don't forget there is still a non-net world....

Plus a stated I think Google is the debil.

Right, but the impression that I've got (not necessarily from you) is that there is something better about non-web email (i.e. the actual use of it) compared to web-based email -- something that web users are missing out on. I guess I figure, I'm smart enough, and unlazy enough to get email through something -- but why would I?

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Isn't the same true of people who use a cable company email address? They're not anymore settled...they could up and move tomorrow and cancel their cable.

Again I am just posting my experience and my personal prejudice/pereptions, not even that they are statistically valid. If you have cable company email address you at least have a house or apartment in the area and have internet. I have literally in the past hired people to learn they havent had a permanent residence in 3+ years...

Originally Posted by molson

I would think resume/experience/what the applicant tells you are all better indicators of whether he's going to move soon than his email address. (Unless the email address is [email protected]

When I am hiring, I still get the best response from either local classified ads or job search engines. It is not uncommon in today's market to get so many resumes that it is impossible to even truly evaluate them all, for better or worse I make quick decisions.

As an example I need to hire 3 new electricians/technicians in the next week. We ran an ad in the Charlotte observer (CHT, NC based paper) and on the "helpwanted.com" equivalent. They started Friday, as of right now I have 836 responses.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

Right, but the impression that I've got (not necessarily from you) is that there is something better about non-web email (i.e. the actual use of it) compared to web-based email -- something that web users are missing out on. I guess I figure, I'm smart enough, and unlazy enough to get email through something -- but why would I?

Me personally I prefer to use outlook(it integrates through calendar with my scheduling and billing software as well as my GPS employee tracking and scheduling piece seamlessly) and I know you can route gmail there, but in my past experience it wasn't without issues. For example I would randomly stop getting emails and learn that my outlook had suddenly stopped removing opened mail from the gmail server and my account was "full"

[DanGarion]

I'm just going to mention this one more time for the people that think ISP emails are better than free email services.

I have intimate knowledge because I talk our installation technicians all the time. Over 85% of our customers NEVER use our email services because they have some form of free email services they use. Of the less than 15% that use our email more than half use the web mail version of our email.

So think twice about discounting those that are using free email because you are cutting out a lot of the public.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by DanGarion

So think twice about discounting those that are using free email because you are cutting out a lot of the public.

Then again, the negative characteristics some attribute to those freemailers could also be fairly applied to a large chunk of the public as well.

[CU Tiger]

Ok...an interesting coincidence today.

Let's just say, if you are a web designer and developer and you have been talking via phone with a customer about designing 2 major websites for separate businesses with a total bill in excess of 20k and you are going to send him links to some of your other work.

[email protected] aint gonna cut it.

Ok that is not EXACTLY his email address but its real damn close. Come on you are a website designer and you cant evn have your own domain...moving along.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

No, HERE is the difference, you arrogant SOB.

Neither I, nor QS, attacked anybody at the outset. I only laid it out bluntly after you threw your cheapass jab about "tech savvy" using the f'n webmails.

My point was, then entire GD reason I went into more detail, was to illustrate that not everyone sees that choice as being "tech savvy", there are other perceptions of it.

That was the point I was making & would have been content to leave it pretty generic, but you decided to act like a typical techno prick, so it was time that someone explained how a decent chunk of the rest of the fucking world sees it.

Go through the rest of thread, it's pretty clear I'm not the only person who looks at it that way, hell I'm not even the only one willing to spell some of it out. What I am, however, is one that was willing to tell you to shove your techier-than-thou attitude up your ass.

No, the difference is that you are the one that resorted to calling people feeble-minded and lazy. I was merely doing the same as you, and saying that individuals in my field don't see a problem with free email services, and that they go into using such a service after researching the benefits and shortfalls of those services, despite your accusations that they are just cheap.

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

Ok...an interesting coincidence today.

Let's just say, if you are a web designer and developer and you have been talking via phone with a customer about designing 2 major websites for separate businesses with a total bill in excess of 20k and you are going to send him links to some of your other work.

[email protected] aint gonna cut it.

Ok that is not EXACTLY his email address but its real damn close. Come on you are a website designer and you cant evn have your own domain...moving along.

I think that is a different situation. If you are doing independent contracting or running your own business, neither an ISP email or a free email service is going to cut it. You should have you own domain name, and those emails can go to any of the aforementioned services, but you should have an email that is associated with your work, not an email provider.

[molson]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

No, the difference is that you are the one that resorted to calling people feeble-minded and lazy.

He was speaking generally, and you attacked him personally. That was the difference.

You just happened to pick a somewhat unsympathetic "victim". If it were someone else on the other end of that exchange people would be calling for you to be boxed for freaking the fuck out on him.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by molson

He was speaking generally, and you attacked him personally. That was the difference.

You just happened to pick a somewhat unsympathetic "victim". If it were someone else on the other end of that exchange people would be calling for you to be boxed for freaking the fuck out on him.

That's not really a great demarcation. I mean...I could speak "generally" about a specific group of people too, and if someone was a member of that group I'd expect them to get upset and fire back at me and perhaps blur the line.

Bottom line is when you generalize about a group of people (particularly a group whom you are likely addressing), you should expect to take personal flak back.

Unless you think LS should have couched his response like "people named Jon who live in Georgia (blah blah blah)" and then claimed that he was speaking "generally" as well, and that would some how have made it more acceptable.

[sovereignstar v2]

Everyone needs to stop posting in this thread or I will resort to aggressive threadkilling tactics.

[Autumn]

Wow, did that actually work?

Ignoring the personal stuff, I found this thread very eye-opening. I am in the camp of "GMail is the new professional, with-it address, along with personalized domains or work addresses - cable company, hotmail and aol addresses are looked upon with scorn." It was quite a surprise to me to read that there were people with the exact opposite opinion! I really would *never* have guessed that anyone would consider a cable company address worthy of respect or scorn Gmail addresses.

There is more to the intertubes than your philosophies ever dreamt of, Horatio.

[stevew]

my wife has Ohio certification to teach. We live just across the PA border. She's turned in dozens of apps for jobs without a response despite having good credentials. Basically we're kind of wondering if a PA addy gets stuff circular filed. Its acceptable to get an Ohio PO box for an addy, right?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by stevew

my wife has Ohio certification to teach. We live just across the PA border. She's turned in dozens of apps for jobs without a response despite having good credentials. Basically we're kind of wondering if a PA addy gets stuff circular filed.

Off the top of my head, I wonder if there aren't hire-local-first initiatives (whether official or unofficial) that could be coming into play on that kind of thing.

I mean, does the administrator of a governmental entity in today's climate want to risk getting hammered with an expose on how "officials choose out of state applicants to fill scarce openings despite local unemployment of X"?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Autumn

I really would *never* have guessed that anyone would consider a cable company address worthy of respect or scorn Gmail addresses.

's okay, it never really crossed my mind that there were very many people over 25 who thought they were at least equal, much less some sort of status symbol. That's how rarely I've seen them used by anyone for anything other than junk mail.

There is more to the intertubes than your philosophies ever dreamt of, Horatio.

Hey, somebody actually got the point of my input, I'll be damned.

[lordscarlet]

[M GO BLUE!!!]

You mean like the guy I used to work with who was born in 1969 & has the initials G.W.M. using the email address GWM69@_____.com?

[Ryan S]

That image is so accurate.

[GCCSteel]

AOL domain + "I'm computer illiterate...LOL" = redundancy department of redundancy?

For the record, I am 24 and use gmail as an alternative to my work address when the matter is not work related. I have 5 Verizon email addresses, but choose not to use them. I would rather use gmail, because I switch ISPs depending on deals and want to avoid the hassle of switching accounts (plus, my general malice towards cable companies prevents me from promoting their services with free advertising).

That said, I can definitely see the potential for bias and admit I didn't consider that previously. I have to admit, however, that the pros of a gmail account pitted against the cons of presenting it on a resume are stacked in gmails favor. If anything, I would create a temporary account with my ISP specifically for the 'anti-bias' +1 factor to reference on resumes.

As a further aside, I do not get the 'does not have home internet service' and gmail connectivity unless this is strictly based on the fact they do not have a [email protected] format address. If that is the case, I would say that is poor logic along the lines of 'he doesn't own an automobile because he rode a bicycle to work'. I do understand others may make that initial judgment even though I would not.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by GCCSteel

AOL domain + "I'm computer illiterate...LOL" = redundancy department of redundancy?

For the record, I am 24 and use gmail as an alternative to my work address when the matter is not work related. I have 5 Verizon email addresses, but choose not to use them. I would rather use gmail, because I switch ISPs depending on deals and want to avoid the hassle of switching accounts (plus, my general malice towards cable companies prevents me from promoting their services with free advertising).

That said, I can definitely see the potential for bias and admit I didn't consider that previously. I have to admit, however, that the pros of a gmail account pitted against the cons of presenting it on a resume are stacked in gmails favor. If anything, I would create a temporary account with my ISP specifically for the 'anti-bias' +1 factor to reference on resumes.

As a further aside, I do not get the 'does not have home internet service' and gmail connectivity unless this is strictly based on the fact they do not have a [email protected] format address. If that is the case, I would say that is poor logic along the lines of 'he doesn't own an automobile because he rode a bicycle to work'. I do understand others may make that initial judgment even though I would not.

I disagree with your last paragraph. I don't think you took it far enough. it's akin to logic along the lines of "Since I did not see him get out of his car here at my office with my own eyes he must not own an automobile."

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by Ryan S

That image is so accurate.

IWS

[Ryan S]

Originally Posted by GCCSteel

For the record, I am 24 and use gmail as an alternative to my work address when the matter is not work related. I have 5 Verizon email addresses, but choose not to use them. I would rather use gmail, because I switch ISPs depending on deals and want to avoid the hassle of switching accounts (plus, my general malice towards cable companies prevents me from promoting their services with free advertising).

I use gmail as my primary personal email, though I have two separate domains forwarding emails to the account and I have also changed the default "Send mail as" settings, so I never give my gmail address to anyone unless I might want to speak to them on google talk.

I used to have email forwarding set up to my ISP email accounts, but I much prefer the flexibility of gmail and moved everything over in '06, and last time I changed ISP I did not bother to set up an email account. I have not had an email program installed on my home PC for almost two years.

If you change accounts regularly I strongly advise buying a domain name and setting up forwarding. You lose the free email stigma and you are no longer tied to any one email provider.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by GCCSteel

As a further aside, I do not get the 'does not have home internet service' and gmail connectivity unless this is strictly based on the fact they do not have a [email protected] format address. If that is the case, I would say that is poor logic along the lines of 'he doesn't own an automobile because he rode a bicycle to work'. I do understand others may make that initial judgment even though I would not.

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

I disagree with your last paragraph. I don't think you took it far enough. it's akin to logic along the lines of "Since I did not see him get out of his car here at my office with my own eyes he must not own an automobile."

Just because I feel like this is directed particularly at my statements, it is not an assumption or a jump of logic rather it is an observation. The majority of my employees are blue collar, un or barely educated individuals. The experience and distribution of this forum does not equate to anyone who would interview for 99% of the positions I hire.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

Just because I feel like this is directed particularly at my statements, it is not an assumption or a jump of logic rather it is an observation. The majority of my employees are blue collar, un or barely educated individuals. The experience and distribution of this forum does not equate to anyone who would interview for 99% of the positions I hire.

Fair enough.

[digamma]

Bump. Wondering if the feelings on gmail have changed in the last three years.

I have no fancy e-mail address to add to the discussion otherwise.

[stevew]

How many out of wedlock kids does icepickkilla have by now?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by digamma

Bump. Wondering if the feelings on gmail have changed in the last three years.

I have no fancy e-mail address to add to the discussion otherwise.

Aside from my own wife (of all people) I still only see work-related emails from gmail accounts in rare emergency/backup type situations.

I'd say they're more common for that purpose today than they were 3 years ago, otherwise I really don't see much change.

[Alan T]

Still the same as I wrote back in 2010. I commonly see people professionally use gmail accounts these days and from what I have seen it is not looked down upon.

As I wrote previously, my opinion still remains that certain type of free email accounts are viewed more juvenile than others, specifically though I have not seen anyone at all give any negativity to someone using a gmail account.

[claphamsa]

Fascinating thread!

I review a ton of resumes, but they are all .gov, that being said, I cannot count the number of times I have called a number on a resume to set up an interview and it was a wrong number... WTF! Applying for gov jobs is not a simple process, make sure your phone number is correct!


On a personal note, I did once get not picked for a job in Hawaii, and the stated reason was, you dont have an 808 number, you wont stay long term. Thats when I decided to move back to DC!

[Travis]

Had many a chuckle catching up on this one. I've been using a gmail for quite some time now (standard first initial, last name format) and don't hesitate to use it on a resume. Part of one of my previous jobs was formatting business cards for some of our clients and there were definitely some lol worthy user names, but I'd never really thought to look down on anybody using a free account whether it was for their business cards or when we got resumes in to review.

I've never been a big fan of any of my ISP email services as it seems like (at least around here), you're better off swapping companies every few years to get the best bang for your buck (TV, internet, phone, etc).

As some have said before in this thread, if I'm ever excluded from a job opportunity because I list my gmail address on my resume, odds are that they're doing me a favor as anybody who puts that much judgement on something like that probably isn't somebody I want to work with/for.

[CU Tiger]

I can say with certainty that my opinion has changed 180 degrees.

Partially because I no longer hire techs and partially becuase I moved away from a service area of the local cable company who had supplied my email for a decade.

Im a pretty ardent gmail user these days (I have like 5 accounts I think?) however last week I did have a business interaction with a guy who used a gmail address and it gave me pause. Wasnt a deal killer but it did catch my attention.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

I can say with certainty that my opinion has changed 180 degrees.

Partially because I no longer hire techs and partially becuase I moved away from a service area of the local cable company who had supplied my email for a decade.

Im a pretty ardent gmail user these days (I have like 5 accounts I think?) however last week I did have a business interaction with a guy who used a gmail address and it gave me pause. Wasnt a deal killer but it did catch my attention.

One interaction with one person would change your entire thought process?

SI

[Buccaneer]

I had to go back to see what my post was and thinking that had not not changed.

I think if I was in my 20s now and knowing how many times I had moved (4 states on both coasts), something much more portable would be ideal. But since I have the same house, job and cable service for decades now, no reason to change.

But the biggest thing for me is spam and junk emails. I still perceive that a more high-end service does a better job than one that depends upon ad revenues (ala google, yahoo, etc.). Checking my Junk Mail folder for comcast, I have received 47 junk/spam mail in 3 years. I wonder how many those using hotmail or gmail gets?

But to the issue at hand, no, what someone's email address is should not matter. Using Live Mail, I don't even see what the addy is, nor do I care.

[nol]

Well, this helps explain why so many people at college were so boring

The timeframe on this is very interesting because 2005-2006 was probably around when the first generation of kids 'raised' on the Internet came of age, and there was a kind of permanence of having a single unique screenname you used for everything.

The e-mail address I use to log into Facebook (which I signed up for in late 2006) is some super unprofessional one that I probably made for myself in 4th/5th grade, but by the time 2007-2008 rolled around, it was common sense to have an alternate address for stuff like applying to college, or to just use your parents' e-mail.

Curious as to whether this same sentiment exists when looking at resumes that only have a mobile phone number listed. I'd be hard-pressed to name a single friend living on his/her own who has a landline.

[Desnudo]

If ninja dragon email made it onto your college application then there's no one to blame but the parents for not double checking and coaching you properly. I prefer getting a mobile # on a cv as it means I'll actually be able to reach someone.

[albionmoonlight]

I do some client intake for work, which includes getting email addresses.

A surprising number of people use "69" in their email addresses. All of whom assume they are being clever. Enough people do it that it manages to be both a middle school sex pun AND unoriginal.

Again, if this is your email address that you've had since 6th grade and that's how all your friends know you--great. But you really need a better email address for your lawyer.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by nol

Curious as to whether this same sentiment exists when looking at resumes that only have a mobile phone number listed. I'd be hard-pressed to name a single friend living on his/her own who has a landline.

I can say that it did exist at one point (to whatever extent) but with the portability of phone numbers these days I think that's kinda died down.

I mean, my 87 y/o mother-in-law brought her landline phone number with her from Tennessee to Georgia, transferring it to her cell phone. Who the hell can tell what a number actually is anymore? Yeah, there are a few numbers I happen to recognize as cell prefixes but in a major metro? WTF knows what a number rings to these days?

[nol]

To clarify: my 'goofy' elementary school e-mail address had long since been relegated to my spam/sign up for stuff address by the time I was in high school. Just find it funny that thanks to Facebook, I'm reminded pretty constantly of an e-mail address that I'm sure has long since gone inactive.

I honestly did not put much thought into applying to colleges until my senior year of high school, so maybe a lot changed between 2005 and 2008, but it was definitely something that had already been instilled in everyone - don't remember any pamphlets or meetings that were like "Change of plans! Colleges actually don't like when people use e-mail addresses like koolsoccerbro420@yahoo!"

Still, this is somewhat biased against people with pretty common names; I'm sure the person who has to use michaelzhang5267 as his user name because all the other ones are taken doesn't feel super professional in doing so.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by stevew

my wife has Ohio certification to teach. We live just across the PA border. She's turned in dozens of apps for jobs without a response despite having good credentials. Basically we're kind of wondering if a PA addy gets stuff circular filed. Its acceptable to get an Ohio PO box for an addy, right?

My wife eventually did get hired in Ohio to teach. Now I'm not sure if her Ohio Area Code Phone # did anything for her, but maybe it did. Who knows, anyways we were just talking about this the other day.

[QuikSand]

Fun thread. Topic came up in a recent conversation. My colleagues agreed with me on gmail still representing the sweet spot.

Also interesting as a side note -- what about someone who uses an obviously active work-based email address for a job application? It just suggests poor judgment to me, even if there's some sort of office "anything goes" policy. And if she's not willing to take ten minutes to set up a gmail or comparable account for that...then will she take the ten minute harder route toward doing a more thorough, thoughtful, secure, or responsible job when employed by me?

Seems like a fair question. I am a pretty committed fan of thin slicing, and I feel pretty good about it here.

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

I do some client intake for work, which includes getting email addresses.

A surprising number of people use "69" in their email addresses. All of whom assume they are being clever. Enough people do it that it manages to be both a middle school sex pun AND unoriginal.

Again, if this is your email address that you've had since 6th grade and that's how all your friends know you--great. But you really need a better email address for your lawyer.

An underrated comfort of public-sector legal work representing public-sector clients: no crazy, distracting emails; instead, the wash of firstname.lastname@ or flastname@ addresses.

[MalcPow]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

Fun thread. Topic came up in a recent conversation. My colleagues agreed with me on gmail still representing the sweet spot.

Also interesting as a side note -- what about someone who uses an obviously active work-based email address for a job application? It just suggests poor judgment to me, even if there's some sort of office "anything goes" policy. And if she's not willing to take ten minutes to set up a gmail or comparable account for that...then will she take the ten minute harder route toward doing a more thorough, thoughtful, secure, or responsible job when employed by me?

Seems like a fair question. I am a pretty committed fan of thin slicing, and I feel pretty good about it here.

I think you've got it right. I tend to trust the judgmental side of myself that overweights cover letter/introductory email typos as well. I have no doubts that the person on the other side is better than that, but, come on man, give that thing a couple reads and make it hard on me.

[wustin]

What about .edu accounts? My school email is permanent even after I graduate as long as I still actively use it.

[albionmoonlight]

At some point, gmail totally won the web-based email war.

This weekend, I had a sign-up list for an event at my church. And every single person who did not have a university email address had gmail. Not one Yahoo or AOL or hotmail or anything else.

[albionmoonlight]

dola: no work-based emails either, even though I assume most people have one. Whatever time existed where people used their work email as their only email has passed.

[Drake]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

dola: no work-based emails either, even though I assume most people have one. Whatever time existed where people used their work email as their only email has passed.

...rats...

[CU Tiger]

Everytime this thread comes up I can't believe how different my current opinion is than it was when it was present.

My wife still uses a hotmail address and I cringe when she gives it to someone.

Whats odd to me, is I still think Gmail has the worst interface of all of them, ever. Why TF can I still not sort by user?

[Edward64]

I use gmail for personal but an outlook.com for professional, non-work (e.g. job search) just to keep things separate.