Email etiquette
Email etiquette errors could prove costly…
Email is increasingly the communication method of choice for professional correspondence and job searching is no exception. Many job advertisements stipulate email applications only so any dedicated job hunter needs to have access to an appropriate personal email account to utilize in their search.
“It goes without saying that using your current work email address isn’t a very good idea, but some applicants fail to understand the importance of having a professional-sounding personal email address to use in their job search,” explains Justin Murray of Norwich-based accountancy recruitment specialists, Big Sky Additions. Common sense already suggests that informal email addresses like sweetcheeks@hotmail.com or canaryfan@outlook.co.uk certainly don’t create the right first impression on a potential employer, and Dutch researchers recently confirmed this in a study of recruiters.
Researchers at the Department of Social and Organisational Psychology at VU University, Amsterdam created six fictional CVs with a blend of both formal and informal email addresses – from sannejong@hotmail.com to luv_u_sanne@hotmail.com.
Researchers wanted to see whether those with a formal email addresses were more likely to gain employment than those with an informal address. 73 recruiters were asked to fill out an online survey assessing the cognitive ability, personality and “hireability” of the six applicants for the job of a Human Resources Specialist.
The results showed that recruiters do indeed assess the “hireability” of an applicant with a CV featuring a formal email address higher than that of an applicant with an informal email address on their CV. The researchers went on to suggest that the informal email addresses may have caused people to appear less honest and humble.
“Successful job hunting is strongly linked to making a good first impression and even small CV characteristics such as your email address can have a positive or negative impact on potential employers and recruiters,” concludes Justin, who supports candidates to find temporary and permanent accountancy jobs in Norfolk.
t: 01603 516230
e: justin@bigskyadditions.co.uk
