Naming Names
Think about it: we live our entire lives with a name that we did not choose. Actually, we were not even involved in the decision making process in the selection of our names. Very few of us go the legal route of a name change. Our name is
our identity. Pass the teenage years; we tend to like our names OK.
In the digital days, we were given another opportunity to pick a name to use in the electronic world. This name can be a user name of an e-mail account that we use on social media and in communicating with others. This is a name we have chosen! These names can range from cute to obnoxious.
Select your digital name wisely. I am not talking about cyber-security rules such length of names and letters, use of comas or special characters. I am simply talking about a logical and a decent name to use when communicating with school officials and potential employers. The wrong e-mail address can definitely create a negative first impression. One never gets another chance to make a good first impression.
If you are a prospective student or a recent graduate working on your résumé, look at your email. I receive hundreds of e-mails from students on a monthly basis.
And I have noticed quite a few e-mail addresses that are less than appropriate and I have included some below.
You can guess what my thoughts were when I saw these addresses. I have modified the provider names in all of them: Hotmama@____, sexybabe@____, rockyourworld@____, supermankick@$$@____, clueless@____, foreverlost@____, and missbitchy@____.
It's so easy to get a new e-mail address; Most ISPs allow you more than one e-mail account. Just make one more appropriate for official purposes. Also, there are numerous free e-mail accounts available online through Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo and more. It looks better on a résumé.
Avoid anything sexual in nature or politically incorrect terms. Religion or cartoon characters are not an appropriate place in your e-mail address.