Then we’re experiences some major sub-cultural differences here, because I know very few people these days who maintain a paid ISP E-mail account for personal purposes. I finally gave up my private ISP account just a few months ago, and it hasn’t been my principal E-mail address for some time.
There are some in my acquaintance who have their own domain names, but they are all Web developer types. About 95 percent of the people I know have (1) an E-mail address supplied by their employer and (2) a Yahoo/Hotmail/Gmail account. And nearly every resume I’ve seen has a Yahoo/Hotmail/Gmail account listed in the contact information.
This might be a source for another difference. Most people I know work in large organizations and none of them receive job applications directly by E-mail. Applications go to the HR department who then distribute them to the people who need to know about them.
I missed the part about this being for a resume. In that case, if you graduated from a university/college somewhere, check with them. I have a nice professional email address from them that I get for life that I use for ‘official’ personal business (nothing that would get me on spam lists).
If you dislike your middle name that much, how about making up a new one? You could use a nickname or variant of your middle name, or your mother’s maiden name (or any other family name that appeals to you). Any name will look more professional than including the word “work” in the address.
I’m going to second this. Most people I know in my particular corner of the tech universe have a professional email at their employer’s domain and a private email with a free service. No one sees anything wrong with having an address like <whatever@gmail.com> as long as the “whatever” is reasonably mature. In fact, it might actually be preferable to having an address with an isp with a “newbie” reputation, like AOL.
I don’t use ISP e-mail because it has ZERO portability. If I ever change ISPS, poof, theres goes my contactability.
I’ll check to see if my university offers me an alumni address. I was under the impression that I only got it if I paid for alumni membership… which I happen to be too broke to do right now(i’m moving).
I’ll also check into registering my own domain. Um, any tips of where I should go for that one?
… Looks like i’m going with my full legal name e-mail for now.
**Harmonix **and **Absolute **nailed it. ISP email is not portable, but a “freebie” is. Many Internet professionals I know use gmail by preference over any other email address, because of its feature set.
The only part of the email address that tells me anything is the part before the @. How you choose to name and present yourself matters. If you choose something like Firstname.J. Lastname @ gmail.com, I’m thinking you may be taking the whole “means of communication” thing seriously. If you choose something like HairMetalQueen @ gmail.com, I’m going to think you’re not taking me seriously.
Harmonix, I don’t like the form of appending “work” to your name, but it would fall into my first case – I’d think you were taking the whole thing seriously. It should be a safe choice, if not a particularly euphonious one.
Which is why your own domain name is so great - you simply set it up to forward to whichever your current favoured email address is.
And as noted, you can set-up GMail to send using your domain name, preserving continuity.
For example, my contact@e-logic.co.uk address is forwarded to my hotmail account and my current ISP account. Certain messages - e.g. fax2email - are also sent to my current office email.
When I move jobs or ISPs I just amend the forwarding rules but no-one emailing me can tell any difference.
Harmonix - I would suggest looking at sites such as:
I have three domains with them and they are great.
Excellent prices, and decent support teams. Plus they are owned by Pipex which means you get the power of The Hoff behind you!