Hotmail address in resume-unprofessional?

[bigshotceo]

My primary email address is a hotmail.com address that is basically myname@hotmail.com. I was wondering; is this unprofessional to use on a resume? I know that, for example, chunkylover43@hotmail.com would be unprofessional, but do you think that ANY hotmail.com one looks bad?

[faken]

i think it's fine. I use my firstname_lastname@hotmail.com on my resume. Hotmail is well known! It's the same as gmail. I don't think it matters too much.. Just don't have a stupid e-mail address.

[MP3_SKY]

hotmail or any other public email is fine. Just avoid silly emaill address aka lazyboy12345@hotmail.com

LOL, I don't think they want to hire a lazy boy, haha

[jimb]

agreed. its fine as long as it includes your name.

[BornRuff]

I would stay away from hotmail. Hotmail has a lot of problems with sticking stuff in the junk mail folder that shouldn't be there. You don't want an important email about a job going into junk. Also, I do think it looks a little unprofessional.

Mainly though, every internet service provider includes a cupple email adresses with the service, so just set up one of those for buisness purposes.

[Firebot]

Hotmail.com address isn't that big of a deal, as long as the username itself sounds professional. I used hotmail.com for a long time before I got Sympatico, and used it again to land my current job after I moved and could no longer use my old sympatico address.

Use a non-web based e-mail like sympatico or rogers if you can though. You never know if you might meet a finicky recruiter.

[ZoomZoom2006]

dont you guys have an email address from the University? It's still working for at least 2 years after graduation.

[Evil Techie]

definitely stay away from hotmail

gmail has more of a professional user database so it is more acceptable in the business world

but if you are applying for McDonalds then hotmail would be fine

even ISP emails are better than hotmails

[onexeyed]

I switch between Hotmail and Gmail address. My hotmail address is quite silly but my Gmail is my name. Either way, I got interviews using Hotmail with some very large international companies and small local companies.

97% of the time, a company will contact you by telephone for an interview so I wouldn't make a huge deal about an e-mail address.

[dealtacular]

dont you guys have an email address from the University? It's still working for at least 2 years after graduation.

Every university is not like your university, and has a different policy regarding this. Also, not everyone goes to university.


I would stay away from hotmail. Hotmail has a lot of problems with sticking stuff in the junk mail folder that shouldn't be there. You don't want an important email about a job going into junk. Also, I do think it looks a little unprofessional.

Tons of people use Hotmail/Yahoo/Gmail. I really don't think the domain is analysed much. The username should be your name, and nothing like "lazyman" as pointed out in an earlier post.

I do agree about the junk mail thing, but you can avoid that issue by periodically scanning through it for real mail. Most of the time, it's not an issue.


97% of the time, a company will contact you by telephone for an interview so I wouldn't make a huge deal about an e-mail address.

Very true.

[Ziggy007]

Personally I find a gmail account appears more business like and clean than a hotmail domain.

No idea why, just a preception thing.

Might not be a bad idea to register fname.lname@gmail.com and use it specifically for your job hunt. That way you only have to log into gmail to see if you have any responses instead of navigating a crowded personal inbox.

[Evil Techie]

i even got myself my own domain name
and made a website for my profile and resume

my email is firstname@fullname.com

i was lucky that no one has my fullname domain

[MoreMiles]

Don't use any silly handle, like "cutepie@" Employers will think the person is not serious or smart enough to get a formal contact method.

[ji_hyun_jun]

I personally use my uni e-mail, colleges should come with their own e-mails too. If not, then you can use your ISP e-mail. Although in the end, I don't think it makes that big of a difference.

[blexann]

there is nothing unprofessional about FirstnameLastname@hotmail.com

[dealstime]

definitely stay away from hotmail

gmail has more of a professional user database so it is more acceptable in the business world

but if you are applying for McDonalds then hotmail would be fine

even ISP emails are better than hotmails

Define professional user database please.

I would think the other way round. Google snoops a lot on the email content to put those ads..

[funnykid]

I may be wrong, but Gmail does seem more professional to me. My university (UofT) uses Gmail servers (but their own domain name) for alumni e-mails and so do some other universities. Hotmail always reminds me of young junior high/high schoolers chatting on MSN and sending each other chain mail. Of course this is just my skewed perception (considering I was one of those high schoolers and I still use MSN Messenger to communicate with my friends), but I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who has this perception of Hotmail.

[thescream]

Hotmail is perfectly acceptable.....

Most people use anonymous e-mails such as HOTMAIL or YAHOO, even the corporate executives on Bay Street....

As you noted, just don't make the before @hotmail.com flamboyant.

[jstaneon]

get a more professional email address at http://www.mail.com/

They have email addresses for specific professions.

[Bamelin]

I've worked as a Recruiter and Employment Counsellor for the past six years.

Do not use hotmail. In general we advise people not to use ANY free address although if you are going to do it use gmail or alternatively use one that is not recognized as being "Free". Hotmail is the worst of the lot, instantly identified as being a "cheap" "free" "throwaway" email.

You guys have to remember that presentation is everything when you are looking for work (particularly if you are going for a corporate job). Yes using a free email address isn't a "big" deal, but it's multiple little things that add up to give the employer an overall impression of you.

What does using hotmail tell the employer (conciously or unconciously) about you? You are too "cheap" to have a "real" one. You can't afford a real one. You don't want to give them your "real" email address so you are giving them a "fake" one. Maybe you have something to hide. These are BAD impressions to leave an employer.


Rule of thumb: When putting an email address into your resume, the most professional one to use is one that looks like your personal ISP one ie: myname@rogers.com

[Drthorne]

my company's email server automatically sends all hotmail email to the junk bin due to the amount of spam, something to keep in mind

[Javeman]

Like someone mentioned before, I think registering your own domain name and then creating a first@lastname.com email at least shows you're not cheap and if it's an IT related position you're applying for, it shows you at least have the knowledge to set something like that up.

I have my first@lastname.ca registered but it redirects to my hotmail since I don't have time to check many inboxes. It will only cost you around $5/year.

[dealtacular]

I've worked as a Recruiter and Employment Counsellor for the past six years.

Do not use hotmail. In general we advise people not to use ANY free address although if you are going to do it use gmail or alternatively use one that is not recognized as being "Free". Hotmail is the worst of the lot, instantly identified as being a "cheap" "free" "throwaway" email.

You guys have to remember that presentation is everything when you are looking for work (particularly if you are going for a corporate job). Yes using a free email address isn't a "big" deal, but it's multiple little things that add up to give the employer an overall impression of you.

What does using hotmail tell the employer (conciously or unconciously) about you? You are too "cheap" to have a "real" one. You can't afford a real one. You don't want to give them your "real" email address so you are giving them a "fake" one. Maybe you have something to hide. These are BAD impressions to leave an employer.


Rule of thumb: When putting an email address into your resume, the most professional one to use is one that looks like your personal ISP one ie: myname@rogers.com

Having done recruitment and hiring myself in the past, I almost entirely disagree. I found most people used free providers (usually Yahoo, Gmail, or Hotmail), students would sometimes use school accounts, and very few would use ISP email addresses. Generally, we would communicate with candidates by phone.

It's really does not matter much if you use a free email address. The problem with using an ISP one is that it will change if you change ISPs - for some people, this happens quite frequently, especially students and new graduates who may be moving to and from school etc. My "real" address is actually from a free service provider for this exact reason, and I think this is true for many others as well.

Based on this logic, recruiters could be biased or won't even be familiar with all domains, so all sorts of perceptions are possible. What if your ISP does not provide high speed internet - would you be judged as a "cheap" candidate for that? What if someone uses Rogers, and the recruiter favours Bell, will that have an impact? At this point, it becomes overthinking.

As I mentioned previously, if your address (before the @) is something other than your name, I could see it looking unprofessional and potentially having an impact on some people.

However, there is a valid point (in another post) that Hotmail in particular may have issues due to spam blockers. I have never heard of anyone having a problem with this, but I could see that happening somewhere. A company that does this would be wise to communicate this to potential candidates if they are trying to attract the best pool of applicants they can to ensure they don't miss anyone.

[MoreMiles]

get a more professional email address at http://www.mail.com/

They have email addresses for specific professions.

They are slow and full of popup / banner ads unless you pay for premium service.

[molala]

I don't think the server matters, it's the subject line that matters. I've been using my hotmail for like what.....10 years now? And I ALWAYS get the job/interview that I want when I send resume using my hotmail account.

Some college don't even give you an email, back in he days in college, I communicate with my prof using my hotmail account. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, one oif my prof used hotmail instead of the school email.

I don't know why hotmail would look cheap, isn't it yahoo and gmail are free too?

I would stat away from your ISP account, I don't know about you but I change my internet server from time to time and with my hotmail, I keep all the contacts there.

[nightwalker]

i don't think it really matters
people seriously over-think about stuff way too much these days.

just as long as it's not ghettoboy69@hotmail.com, i think it should be fine.

[coolspot]

No one cares what e-mail provider you use, provided your e-mail address is appropriate. Please no s*xystud@pronstar.com.