Now that I’m on the job market, I’m considering changing my gmail address, but I’m having trouble deciding between the alternatives.
My current address (created in ’05 or so) consists of two words. This has the advantage of being easy to say, but the second word is a bit long and I feel slightly silly writing it on a CV.
On the other hand, it’s 2014 and almost every reasonable gmail address has already been taken. The exceptions in my case are a slightly l33t version of my name, a version of my name with vowels removed, and my name followed by a random number.
So, LW, which of the following do you feel is the most useful email address?
[pollid:729]
I don’t use G+ anymore, so I’m ignoring various social costs associated to changing my Google account. If you think of a better alternative, go ahead and list it in the comments.
A good alternative might be to buy your own domain name (only around $20 a year), and put up a small personal site. You can then have your email address get redirected to your normal gmail one (and with gmail, it’s easy to have it send messages from your new address also). This may also look more impressive on a CV since it signals some level of technical competence. Of course, you still have to choose a domain name, but it gives you a bit more flexibility.
For example, I have the address adele@.org which redirects to my gmail account I’ve used for years.
Agree with this one. It’s not hard to set up, for example, an account on NearlyFreeSpeech.Net, deposit $15, register a domain name through their system & forward emails to your existing Gmail account.
Varies. I still use dgerard@gmail.com rather than (anything)@davidgerard.co.uk, because if I say the first on the phone it’s ridiculously more likely they’ll get it right without me spelling more than the username.
Maybe it’s just me but I also feel silly writing a gmail-address on a CV. May I suggest MyKolab instead? It’s a professional (not too expensive) secure open-source e-mail service. Your address could be john.smith@swisscollab.ch.
There are about three million people with the name Smith in the US. Figure another million or so in other English-speaking countries, a quarter of which have Gmail accounts (might be an underestimation; there are more than 400 million Gmail users), and you’re left with a million Smiths using Gmail. How many of them tried that username format? I have no idea, but since there are only 676 possible strings of two Roman letters, it’d have to be less than one in a thousand and change. (Gmail addresses are not case sensitive.) Not holding my breath, in other words.
You might have better luck playing with . breaks between words. I’ve got the Gmail account firstname.lastname@gmail.com, although I’m blessed with an uncommon surname.
Now that I’m on the job market, I’m considering changing my gmail address, but I’m having trouble deciding between the alternatives.
My current address (created in ’05 or so) consists of two words. This has the advantage of being easy to say, but the second word is a bit long and I feel slightly silly writing it on a CV.
On the other hand, it’s 2014 and almost every reasonable gmail address has already been taken. The exceptions in my case are a slightly l33t version of my name, a version of my name with vowels removed, and my name followed by a random number.
So, LW, which of the following do you feel is the most useful email address?
[pollid:729]
I don’t use G+ anymore, so I’m ignoring various social costs associated to changing my Google account. If you think of a better alternative, go ahead and list it in the comments.
A good alternative might be to buy your own domain name (only around $20 a year), and put up a small personal site. You can then have your email address get redirected to your normal gmail one (and with gmail, it’s easy to have it send messages from your new address also). This may also look more impressive on a CV since it signals some level of technical competence. Of course, you still have to choose a domain name, but it gives you a bit more flexibility.
For example, I have the address adele@.org which redirects to my gmail account I’ve used for years.
Agree with this one. It’s not hard to set up, for example, an account on NearlyFreeSpeech.Net, deposit $15, register a domain name through their system & forward emails to your existing Gmail account.
I do this as well. peter@peterhurford.com. Also gives me some nerd cred as “someone with their own personal website.”
Varies. I still use dgerard@gmail.com rather than (anything)@davidgerard.co.uk, because if I say the first on the phone it’s ridiculously more likely they’ll get it right without me spelling more than the username.
Maybe it’s just me but I also feel silly writing a gmail-address on a CV. May I suggest MyKolab instead? It’s a professional (not too expensive) secure open-source e-mail service. Your address could be john.smith@swisscollab.ch.
Not clear what the benefits of Swiss hosting are. I’m not sure I want to signal that much paranoia, either.
What’s your middle initial? Is J + Middle initial + smith @ gmail available? That’s how my gmail address is formatted. or maybe john[MI]smith@gmail ?
All permutations of my name with middle initial are also taken.
Also, my name isn’t actually John Smith.
There are about three million people with the name Smith in the US. Figure another million or so in other English-speaking countries, a quarter of which have Gmail accounts (might be an underestimation; there are more than 400 million Gmail users), and you’re left with a million Smiths using Gmail. How many of them tried that username format? I have no idea, but since there are only 676 possible strings of two Roman letters, it’d have to be less than one in a thousand and change. (Gmail addresses are not case sensitive.) Not holding my breath, in other words.
You might have better luck playing with . breaks between words. I’ve got the Gmail account firstname.lastname@gmail.com, although I’m blessed with an uncommon surname.
Gmail actually ignores the dots. first.name.last.name@gmail.com and firstnamelastname@gmail.com are treated the same.