Your Resume: Contact Information
What seems like the least significant part of your resume is in fact one of the most crucial to pay mind to—the contact information section. I’m not talking about formatting here, as I apply a wide variety of styles based on industry, job type and informational presentational needs. What I’ll address here are the pitfalls and checks one must heed in writing this very small amount of data.
Your Email Address
The email address you select for your job search should be for just that and just that alone. Even if your personal email is professional enough (e.g., firstname.lastname@emailprovider.com), I’ve been the recipient of too many emails intended for another Brian, for the entire address book or for some personal purpose. Stop emailing your recruiter or professional contact with non-professional emails you feel impelled to send along to multiple parties. And maintaining a separate account for job search, career advancement and networking purposes alone ensures that you’ll never “drink and dial.” Yup, seen a lot of that, too. Pick a brief and professional email that is memorable, short and meaningful: Paul.Gomez.MBA.SPHR@Gmail.com is a great example. It reinforces name and credentials.
At this point, I hope I do not have to caution the reader against using her work email on the resume. This only works if you are a consultant open to future engagements and every rare other instances, such as for the independent attorney looking to join a certain firm. I think you get how rare this should be.
Your LinkedIn URL
Go to your Profile Page.
Scroll to bottom.
Click on “Help Center” at bottom left.
Type “Custom URL” into the search box.
Follow the instructions from the first search result.
Create your custom URL.
Great examples include: www.linkedin.com/in/pgladstone; www.linkedin.com/in/CPAGail; www.linkedin.com/in/MarkPaulCFA.
Keep it short and professional.
Exclude your home address
The only mail you’d be getting is a reject letter, and this practice still exists in very few places. There are identity theft and stalking concerns as well. I know a young gal who was pursued aggressively by an HR Assistant. This “kid” sent her flowers at home. Not cool. Some nurses in a certain state were recipients of chain letters that threatened loss of R.N. licensure should they not pass along this letter. Odd thing they had in common were resumes on the same job seeker site.
Pick a name and stick with it
Are you Carol Sheen Haley, Caroline Haley or Caroline Haley-Dobbs? Is your email then Caroline.Dobbs@Yahoo.com? Pick one name and stick with it across LinkedIn, Email addresses, resumes and cover letters. Use your legal name or the name you are most typically bound to be recalled by as a professional. Always use your full legal name on any job application (yes, some entities, even very advanced ones, still insist upon an actual application, and some are hard copy forms). When you are asked on said application about any other names that you have gone by, it’ll all look pretty silly if you’ve been having a neurotic identity blast.
And speaking of your name
List your credentials behind it to whatever extent is most prudent. For instance, an SPHR in California with state-specific credentialing is “SPHR-CA.” That person may also be PHR and necessarily is SPHR, so just listing the SPHR-CA is enough. MBA, R.N., R.N.-BC, and CFA are great examples of what to never leave out. Brina Jackson, B.S., RN-BC, MHA tells me that Brina is a Bachelor-level nurse with board certification and a Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration. Considering the 5-7 second scan a resume gets before it wins further reading, have ‘em at hello.
List your city, state and zip
For the purposes of search optimization, always list your zip code in addition to city and state. If you live in Jamaica Plain, MA, a borough of Boston, choose Boston, MA instead. Don’t get weird and pick the little name used for your locale. Go big. Live in Turtle Creek? Just put Dallas. West Hollywood, just put L.A. STOP! Be careful to write out the full city name, even if no one calls the city by its full name. The computer will. So go with Los Angeles. Chances are a zip code radius search will be used at some point, so that protects you, but think about what works as relates to markets. Are you in the Chicago market? The Seattle market? Put the city name but use your specific zip.
Adjust your margins and avoid headers
I rarely use headers. I only do when the readability benefits from it. That said, this is so rare that in most cases, I rip the contact information out of the header (or footer!!) when found there on my client’s existing resume. Writing your contact information on one line under your name is fine, or you can segregate according to left-right categorization. Maybe name with location to the left, and phone, email and LinkedIn URL to the right, in that stacking order.
Pick one number, Puh…leaze!
Your work number is totally inappropriate to include, and no one wants to talk to your kids. Unless you and you alone control a dedicated home phone, use your cell. If you insist on having a back-up number, get a distinctive ring or second line at home for job search only—and speak to your family about this.
Let’s conclude with voice mail and ring tones, and some advice
I’ve lost so much respect for people in a heartbeat when I hear daffy voice mails or ring tones that range from television show scores or songs known or unknown. No one cares. No one wants to hear your stupid ring tone on the subway any more than they do instead of a single ring alert in their ear when calling you. I say this with such disdain because the number one thing we forget as job seekers is that the more blank the slate, the better. It’ll keep you out of the picture entirely until the formation of ideas around your candidacy is complete.
That said, keep personalized jewelry and perfume out of the interview process if you ever contacted by any of the means above and it leads to an interview. That’ll eradicate all your good efforts.
This may sound like advice suited for the green applicant or the candidate who needs to bleach out some persona stains from their overall presentation, but I assure you that I have seen these egregious errors at the C-suite candidate level.
And don’t worry, you’re not being a phony. No one says you have to advertise your favorite song when seeking a job. You’re certainly not selling out. You’re buying in. You can still play that song on your earbuds. And softly, please, if you are at the onsite wellness center at the new job you got because you followed my advice on this topic and many others.
BEST OF LUCK TO ALL!
Brian Brandt is devoted to helping his clients cultivate a strategic mindset and technical aptitude in their career quests. He has served Forbes Top 40 Under 40 clients and numerous high profile executives. Familiar with Silicon Valley hiring authorities and big name consultant companies, he was the sole recruitment vendor to Massachusetts General Hospital during The Great Recession, filling challenging openings in oncology. Brian serves a wide array of clients ranging from technicians to C-level executives. Industries served include IT, high tech, construction management, channel marketing, engineering, healthcare, medical device, sales, accounting and finance/banking. Brian excels at career transitions and combating ageism. He’s a total star with new grads, including those in STEM fields or fresh out of MBA programs.
Brian is the founder of VenatiQuest, a Boston-based boutique recruitment agency focused on Medical, IT, and Engineering, and founder of Questory, a Providence-based career services consultancy with unmatched résumé writing performed only by writers with writing credentials, publication, business experience and the added must-have of experience as a hiring manager, human resources professional and recruiter.
Brian’s businesses have achieved expert status in many fields. Please visit his LinkedIn profile to learn more.
Questory provides online networking tips and tricks that reach far beyond those found in even the most cutting-edge blogs and posts. Questory will help you identify, find and contact key companies, contacts and other gateways to opportunity. In addition to this, we advise you on just how to make contact. We provide cover letter and email introduction writing services as well.