Do You Keep Your College Email? How It Looks on a Job App

Derek reached out to us on our Facebook page with this great question:

“I just graduated from college and am looking for a job. Should I keep my student email address? Or, should I create a different one?”

Great question, Derek! It’s great that you’re thinking about this and I know we say this a lot, but your email address is important. It’s one of the first impressions you’ll give to employers.

We suggest creating a new, professional email address specifically for your job search. This way, you’ll have all your job-search emails in one place and you won’t have to go digging through months of old emails to find what you’re looking for.

You can create free email addresses at places like gmail.com and yahoo.com. Keep it simple, just using your first and last name will come across as professional. Something like Ready2Party@email.com won’t make you look like the most reliable employee. Check out all of our advice on how to come up with that perfect email address.

Also, by creating a new email address, you won’t have to worry that your school will cut off your account and you won’t be able to see if employers are contacting you by email. Many colleges will discontinue alumni email addresses a few months after graduation, so it’s best to stay on the safe side and create a new one.

Be sure to include your education on your resume and applications, as it’s definitely something you should be proud of. Because you are including this information in your application and cover letter, there is no need to keep the student email address.

Good luck with your job search, Derek! Here’s another great tip for ya: invest in business cards.