# Using hotmail for job applications...



## edthedrummer (May 30, 2007)

Hello all! 

I've recently sent an email to a potential employer via a hotmail account. 

Its an account I have created specifically for this task, and this task alone, so as to cut the crap from the inbox, and also its a more proffesional email address than my usual one. 

My question is, do hotmail accounts automatically go to the junk folder of a business email system? I imagine this would defeat the object of being able to email your application in, because surely lots of people dont have access to any other form of email? 

Ed.


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## vxripper (Nov 20, 2012)

From what I can remember, not all of them do. I'm pretty sure when it senses that the email looks potentially dodgy and something that you do t want it will go in to the junk folder without it telling you too! 
But I'm also pretty sure you can change the settings and make it send all of it to the inbox


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## edthedrummer (May 30, 2007)

Thanks, I guess I will just hope for the best! And maybe a cheeky phonecall to introduce myself and enquire the receipt of my email...


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## RichardM (Mar 1, 2009)

Generally using a hotmail account on your CV or to apply for a job doesn't look good to a potential employer. Get yourself a gmail account mate.


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## Will_G (Jan 23, 2012)

No they dont go straight into the spam folder

you've done the right thing though by setting up a more professional sounding email address. The amount of people who have sent their CV's to me with some weird and wonderful addresses is astounding.


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## edthedrummer (May 30, 2007)

RichardM said:


> Generally using a hotmail account on your CV or to apply for a job doesn't look good to a potential employer. Get yourself a gmail account mate.


Easier said than done, I wanted an email address with absolutely no bull****. No numbers or odd names. Just my name(s). but Gmail had none available, unless i had all three of my names, which didn't make for easy reading. Hence why I had to hotmail it up.



Will_G said:


> No they dont go straight into the spam folder
> 
> you've done the right thing though by setting up a more professional sounding email address. The amount of people who have sent their CV's to me with some weird and wonderful addresses is astounding.


Thankyou, it has been mentioned to me in the past, as words of advice. Something i had completely overlooked.


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## Vossman (Aug 5, 2010)

Gmail for me too :thumb:


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## RichardM (Mar 1, 2009)

edthedrummer said:


> Easier said than done, I wanted an email address with absolutely no bull****. No numbers or odd names. Just my name(s). but Gmail had none available, unless i had all three of my names, which didn't make for easy reading. Hence why I had to hotmail it up.


Have you tried surnamefirstname or adding . or _ in there?


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## willwander (Nov 30, 2012)

I dont think anyone is going to judge you on using hotmail and it won't get stopped by their spam filters, at least on the exchange servers I've set up.
As long as it's not an embarrassing email address I think hotmail would be fine.
Another decent one is http://www.outlook.com which is a newer offering run by Microsoft


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## Alex_225 (Feb 7, 2008)

RichardM said:


> Generally using a hotmail account on your CV or to apply for a job doesn't look good to a potential employer. Get yourself a gmail account mate.


I wouldn't totally discredit it.

I've applied for every job I've gone for with a hotmail account, the last two of which have been city law firms where the snob value is higher than most.

You'll find most employers themselves use a Hotmail account personally so appreciate that your home one is quite possibly something from Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo etc.

As long as the e-mail address is professional and straight forward you'll be fine. No '[email protected]' but '[email protected]' will be absolutely fine. :thumb:

They'll be more interested in your CV and covering letter than what domain your e-mail address comes from.


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## Will_G (Jan 23, 2012)

Alex_225 said:


> They'll be more interested in your CV and covering letter than what domain your e-mail address comes from.


This I fully agree with you on this. Some of the formatting & spelling is terrible and whats even more annoying these days is that people dont even seem too bothered to research the company or role that well prior to an interview.


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## Guitarjon (Jul 13, 2012)

Am I missing something here? How come having a hot mail account looks bad? I have an msn and have recently acquainted a gmail account too. Both my msn and gmail address are nice and simple. 

Only got a gmail account as the new boss uses google calendars. I've noticed a number of other google apps that are very useful too recently. Google drive is like an online web drop box type function. Only found it tonight but have left some things to open at work tomorrow to test it. If it works ill never need to worry about loosing my USB stick again.


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## CraigQQ (Jan 20, 2011)

Will_G said:


> This I fully agree with you on this. Some of the formatting & spelling is terrible and whats even more annoying these days is that people dont even seem too bothered to research the company or role that well prior to an interview.


That's true, I actually got an interview for a job I applied to when I was young that I knew I was under qualified for but just went for it anyway. The reason according to the interviewer was that out of 34 applications mine was the only one without spelling mistakes or grammar errors.

(I know, there are errors in the above grammar.. but this is a forum and not a formal letter haha)


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## edthedrummer (May 30, 2007)

RichardM said:


> Have you tried surnamefirstname or adding . or _ in there?


Yep I tried the lot! Just wasn't happy with the outcome  the hotmail account of first name-surname was much easier on the eye.

Thanks for all the replies though everybody.

Ed


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## martin_46 (Aug 7, 2012)

Personally I don't think it matters about your email on a CV...In the last 6 years I've changed jobs 3-4 times and never had a problem with using hotmail for the contact, but could be worth a call just to make sure. Good luck :thumb:


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## RichardM (Mar 1, 2009)

In IT at least I have heard from several sources it does not make the best impression and is best avoided. It probably won't cost you the job but the CV and covering letter/email is all about creating the best first impression.


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## MA3RC (Jun 19, 2012)

I honestly cannot see why using a hotmail account is frowned upon when applying for a job. An email account is an email account, my hr manager even uses hotmail for her personal emails lol. Personally I use Gmail but it's just preference


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## empsburna (Apr 5, 2006)

I always think about this comic...

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/email_address


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## lobotomy (Jun 23, 2006)

My brother set up a domain years ago which we all have family email accounts with. I use this for applications/formal work.

So all it is is myname@surnamemail.co.uk

Obviously I don't want you guys (or the internetzz) spamming me so I've sanitised it lol!


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## LittleMissTracy (May 17, 2012)

I hope you don't mind if I share my BF's experience on this one. We both have our own domain (BF has 3 with his name variants . - _ etc) he has been sending his CV to job sites using just one and he believes that they send of your info as the one email address he uses solely for jobs gets loaded with spam, he reckons monster.com is known for this but cannot prove it.
If your sending to a company, I wouldn't be too bothered I think they'd be fine.
Good luck in job hunting.


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## umi000 (Jan 14, 2011)

As mentioned, get an outlook.com email account. This was launched just a couple of months ago, so there's a better chance that your name has not yet been taken.


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## Nanoman (Jan 17, 2009)

RichardM said:


> Generally using a hotmail account on your CV or to apply for a job doesn't look good to a potential employer. Get yourself a gmail account mate.


IMHO this is utter BS.

And to answer the OP's question it's entirely up to the admin that runs the system which criteria they use to block e-mails.


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## jlw41 (Jun 5, 2011)

umi000 said:


> As mentioned, get an outlook.com email account. This was launched just a couple of months ago, so there's a better chance that your name has not yet been taken.


I just set up an outlook account only place ive been able to get just my first name then last name on an account :thumb:


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## SteveyG (Apr 1, 2007)

Nanoman said:


> RichardM said:
> 
> 
> > Generally using a hotmail account on your CV or to apply for a job doesn't look good to a potential employer. Get yourself a gmail account mate.
> ...


Absolutely BS. I often screen CV's for electronic/software engineer jobs and I've never looked at an e-mail address as part of the process. Would you screen someone out because their phone number began with 075 etc?  lol

Ridiculous.


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## Bero (Mar 9, 2008)

Should be no technical problem with hotmail, I've used my personal one to send various work related emails within and outwith the company when in a tight spot (work system goes down, or on holiday and can't get onto my work account), never had them be deleted or classed as spam.



LittleMissTracy said:


> I hope you don't mind if I share my BF's experience on this one. We both have our own domain (BF has 3 with his name variants . - _ etc) he has been sending his CV to job sites using just one and he believes that they send of your info as the one email address he uses solely for jobs gets loaded with spam, he reckons monster.com is known for this but cannot prove it.
> If your sending to a company, I wouldn't be too bothered I think they'd be fine.
> Good luck in job hunting.


If I'm suspicious of the company I'm giving info to I alter my name to reflect who I'm sending info to, this may not be suitable for online CV companies but other places where you are forced to give an email address and suspect spam coming your way. E.g. fill out their form

Forename - Dave-Monstercv
Surname - Smith
Email - [email protected]

-------

Now if you get an email addressed 'Dear Dave-Monstercv, I thought you might be interested in.........' you know EXACTLY where the info went from and to. I've done this for years, companies are *a lot* better than they used to be.


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## TooFunny (Sep 18, 2012)

RichardM said:


> Generally using a hotmail account on your CV or to apply for a job doesn't look good to a potential employer. Get yourself a gmail account mate.


I fail to see how using a Google email account over a Microsoft one gives you any more or any less of an advantage??


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## DarrylB (Feb 17, 2006)

I have all the ones mentioned! outlook.com, hotmail.com (x3 accounts), gmail and my own domain email.....and my work email! 

I doubt it really matters what email system you use, what MIGHT raise an eyebrow is if you have some sort of obscure or weird email address like "[email protected]" or "[email protected]"


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## SteveyG (Apr 1, 2007)

DarrylB said:


> I have all the ones mentioned! outlook.com, hotmail.com (x3 accounts), gmail and my own domain email.....and my work email!
> 
> I doubt it really matters what email system you use, what MIGHT raise an eyebrow is if you have some sort of obscure or weird email address like "[email protected]" or "[email protected]"


How did you find out my e-mail address?


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## Saamm93 (Nov 9, 2012)

I often send email between my work and personal account. Never once they gone into the junk/spam folder


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## Will_G (Jan 23, 2012)

just looked through my inbox for one of the last recruitment campaigns and there is "******[email protected]" where ****** was his name now that puts me off not the hotmail bit!


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## Bero (Mar 9, 2008)

My job was applied for with the worst CV I've ever seen, and had an email address of Cheesey(surname)@.... not only unprofessional but includes a spelling 'mistake' when compared to the traditional spelling! It was cobbled together while I was studding for final exams, I still got the job out of 200 applicants. However, after exam time I made a proper CV and started a new email address (hotmail incidentally) and was glad to hand the 'updated' copy to the interviewers when I sat down at the 1st interview.



Will_G said:


> just looked through my inbox for one of the last recruitment campaigns and there is "******[email protected]" where ****** was his name now that puts me off not the hotmail bit!


Better than *********[email protected]!

The guy in my flat is [email protected] I should maybe have asked for email applications!

More seriously as long as your email is profesional there should not be an issue. I would not get on with/could not work for someone who throws out an application because it was @hotmail.com, it's irrational and stupid!


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## TooFunny (Sep 18, 2012)

Bero said:


> My job was applied for with the worst CV I've ever seen, and had an email address of Cheesey(surname)@.... not only unprofessional but includes a spelling 'mistake' when compared to the traditional spelling! It was cobbled together while I was *studding* for final exams,


Did you do final exams in horse shafting then?? :thumb:


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## RichardM (Mar 1, 2009)

SteveyG said:


> Absolutely BS. I often screen CV's for electronic/software engineer jobs and I've never looked at an e-mail address as part of the process. Would you screen someone out because their phone number began with 075 etc?  lol
> 
> Ridiculous.


It's not a new subject, it's something that has been discussed for years:
http://dailyworth.com/posts/784-Want-a-New-Job-Ditch-That-Old-Email

Whether it has really cost anyone a job? Who knows. The theory is it portrays you as being no tech-savvy.

Whenever I see a company that has a hotmail email address on their van I cringe, it's so cheap to buy your own domain especially compared to the cost of sign writing.


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## Bero (Mar 9, 2008)

RichardM said:


> It's not a new subject, it's something that has been discussed for years:
> http://dailyworth.com/posts/784-Want-a-New-Job-Ditch-That-Old-Email
> 
> Whether it has really cost anyone a job? Who knows. The theory is it portrays you as being no tech-savvy.
> ...


For a company there is no excuse! If a anything hotmail should make you look MORE tech savy/experienced, they've been around since 1997, Gmail has only been out of beta for a couple years.


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