20

I am about a graduate from my university. Will it be OK to use my personal email if I am looking for faculty jobs/postdoc positions. Will it somehow give a negative impact on my application as compared to those who apply through any institution's link?

Improve this question
1
  • 13
    Note that outside of academia this would be a non-question - one always uses a personal email. Note also you can CC your institutional address to show that you do have it.
    – Keith
    Jul 16, 2019 at 5:50

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
22

If you have an institutional email that will still be accessible for the foreseeable future, I would suggest using it. When I see applications for academic positions that use @hotmail.com or something, I sometimes (subconsciously perhaps) judge the application to be of lesser desirability.

However

This momentary judgement of the applicant's email address is quickly dismissed if the rest of the application is quality. If you are using a good @gmail.com email address or something similar, there is no shame in that. It should go without saying, but obviously do not apply for faculty positions with an email such as [email protected] (or whatever). Even an email like [email protected] should be avoided.

I would suggest creating a nice gmail address specific for just your applications.

[email protected] (assuming one's name was actually Roger M. Turley)

This will allow you to be professional in your presentation as well as funnel all necessary correspondence to a specific and single purpose email account.

Improve this answer
12
  • 27
    Don't underestimate the importance of using an email address that you'll continue to have- In the past I've tried to contact candidates whose previous institutional emails had been shut down and it simply wasn't possible to reach them.
    – Brian Borchers
    Jul 15, 2019 at 21:58
  • 9
    Don't use a gmail address if one of the qualifications for the job is that you have an understanding of computer security and privacy. You might not care that google read your mail and use it to target advertising, but other people do, and might be shocked that you don't.
    – Michael Kay
    Jul 16, 2019 at 7:48
  • 32
    @MichaelKay - email is completely and utterly insecure by it's very design. Anyone who thinks that using a different email provider is more secure knows literally jack shit about electronic security. Using PGP encryption is an absolute minimum to consider emails even remotely secure.
    – Davor
    Jul 16, 2019 at 8:16
  • 33
    @MichaelKay I would auto reject someone who believes that applications should be rejected solely because the applicant uses one of the largest email providers in the world
    – alexdriedger
    Jul 16, 2019 at 8:49
  • 4
    @MichaelKay Is anything truly private in this world? I'm pretty sure than my current employer screens all of my emails anyway right now. In fact, I signed paperwork acknowledging that anything I do on an institution machine "including all forms of electronic communication" is property of my employer. I had to sign a similar agreement when I worked at a private company a few years ago. I've just learned that the only way to ensure privacy is to never engage in the public domain.
    – Vladhagen
    Jul 16, 2019 at 15:31
10

No, there's no negative impact. In many universities your email account stops working after you leave, and you'll definitely want potential employers to have valid contact information. And everyone knows and understands this.

And your current university will be listed in your resume and application, and will be confirmed by other means than having an email address.

Improve this answer
7

There is a third possibility here, which is also worth considering: establish a professional address that is linked to a professional society rather than your current institution.

While not all societies do this, some will offer you an address at their domain as one of your benefits of membership (IEEE and ACM are examples). If the professional societies in your field do this, it can be an easy way to have a long-term professional email address that is respectable and clearly indicates your professional affiliation without being tied to your current institution (e.g., [email protected]).

Improve this answer
2
  • And most such professional email addresses can be auto forwarded to any more convenient one if you like. ACM, for example, does this.
    – Buffy
    Jul 16, 2019 at 16:39
  • 8
    One of my friends got criticized by a recruiter for having an email on a "non-serious" domain ieee.org. "What is this? A yell or something?" Come to think, it's even for the best: let the incompetent recruiters filter themselves out.
    – IMil
    Jul 16, 2019 at 23:03
6

Another way to show a distinct level of professionalism is to take the time to register your own domain. As this will be used for professional purposes, its name should reflect that usage.

With a bit of learning you can use the same domain to host a resume. This can all be done for under USD$20-30 per year so beware of unscrupulous services offing to do it for you for much more.

Any employer is likely to be (perhaps even subconsciously) impressed by [email protected] vs. [email protected].

Improve this answer
6
  • 1
    If you use GitHub Pages you can host static files for free with custom domain HTTPS
    – Carl Walsh
    Jul 16, 2019 at 22:52
  • 2
    I would either go with mail@firstnamelastname of if I can get it for any common top level domain firstname@lastname. Avoid "new" TLDs like .website. Ironically, not even .email is a good choice for e-mail. People are just not used to them and do not remember them correctly and they make a not that serious impression because they are (still) less known.
    – allo
    Jul 17, 2019 at 8:19
  • Hosting an email server can run into a whole set of problems. If you don't set up the server correctly many receiving and intermediary servers will not accept your email. Google is notorious for this.
    – NDEthos
    Jul 17, 2019 at 13:53
  • @allo I have seen a good exception to your rule about 'new' TLDs - I saw someone who had the domain firstname.surname where their surname was a TLD. Of course this option isn't available to most of us, but I see that e.g. .green is a TLD with public registration
    – stuart10
    Jul 17, 2019 at 16:38
  • 1
    @stuart10 I think that's even worse than other unfamiliar TLDs. Non-technical people likely won't recognize firstname.surname as a valid domain and will think something is missing. Even if you know 'surname' is a TLD people might wonder if you just forgot the TLD or not.
    – kapex
    Jul 17, 2019 at 17:59

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .