How to best use E-mail addresses during a job search

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Here's a tip for your resume that I've written about before:Use an E-mail address that sounds professional, is easy to read and copy, and is not cutesy and suggestive. Your first initial and last name is perfect.I live in a state where college football reigns, so many E-mail address cheer on favorite college teams. But you don't want to show off a "Bama" E-mail address to an employer who graduated from Auburn. Since E-mail programs are plentiful and free, keep your "for fun" address, but add another for business. It will pay you to present a professional image. Remember that most E-mail addresses are lower case letters, and it makes it difficult to read letters and numbers that look alike, like "l" and "1". Be careful and be professional. According to my colleague, J. Michael Worthington, Jr., at resumedoctor.com, showing off a professional E-mail address is not only a convenience for potential employers, but it exposes your familiarity with technology. Worthington says that studies show that more than 27 percent of job applicants forget to include their E-mail address under "contact information" on their resume. Make it easy for employers to contact you. Include your E-mail address on all correspondence. It's practically the only way I can communicate with my own family!A couple of other tips I picked up scanning one of my wife's magazines, but these tips work for men and women:- Pinstripes for men and women are in, and have been for decades. That's a good thing because studies have shown that wearing stripes makes a person look more professional, slimmer, and taller - and other studies show that taller people get hired, get promoted faster, and make more money. The stripes should be vertical, not horizontal.- According to new research at the University of Washington, making nice to a potential employer may win you more brownie points that boasting about your qualifications. Flatterers received higher ratings than flaunters because interviewers believed such applicants shared their beliefs and attitudes, indicating a potentially good fit at the company. It also shows that an applicant took the time to research the company before the interview. Be careful though ... keep your flattering professional and business-oriented, not personal. The last two tips are compliments of Woman's World magazine.Marvin Walberg is a job search coach. Contact him at mwalberg(at)bellsouth.net, marvinwalberg.blogspot.com, or PO Box 43056, Birmingham, AL 35243.