How to Create a Professional-Looking Email Address
A Professional Email Address
Email etiquette extends beyond the content and format to the address itself. Just as some phone numbers are easier to remember, having an email address that readily comes to mind when someone needs to contact a suitable professional can lead to greater opportunities in business or when headhunters connect you with potential employers.
Our email addresses typically consist of an ID followed by a domain like Naver or Daum. The issue arises because many of us signed up for these domains at a very young age, often through services like “Naver Junior” or similar childhood online platforms. Consequently, most of these IDs are often whimsical, based on character names, or simply “cute.” It’s similar to the embarrassment one might feel when recalling an old “Buddy Buddy” (a popular South Korean messenger service from the past) ID. This embarrassment isn’t confined to the owner; consider how recipients might perceive an email from such an address.
If you intend to communicate with international universities, companies, or individuals, it is highly advisable to avoid using such outdated email addresses. If creating a new address feels inconvenient because you’ve been using your current one for a long time, we recommend utilizing email forwarding.
Recommended Email Formats
We generally recommend adhering to the following rules, with the core principle being “easy-to-remember.” While you can use initial letters or abbreviations for the words in each rule, using full words is generally more memorable.
- First Name
- First Name + Last Name
- Generic: A name appropriate for the email’s purpose (e.g., a role or department)
Here are some examples:
If you use Gmail, it offers some excellent features that are worth leveraging:
- Dot (.): You can freely insert dots to enhance readability. Emails sent to addresses with dots will automatically forward to your original email address (without dots).
- Example: aaron.ryu@domain.com (forwards to aaronryu@domain.com)
- Plus (+): This allows you to receive emails with specific filters applied. Like dots, these emails also forward to your original address. For instance, if your resume lists the email as
aaron.ryu+recruit@domain.com, emails sent to this address can be automatically filtered under a “recruit” rule.- Example: aaron.ryu+recruit@domain.com
Handling Duplicate Email Addresses
When I tried to create a Gmail address for myself, I found that the desired address was already taken. In such cases, platforms often suggest adding numbers to your ID or reversing the order of your first and last names. However, it’s generally best to avoid these suggestions. Westerners typically use the “First Name + Last Name” order, and adhering to this convention is advisable. Otherwise, people might mistakenly address you by their perception of your “Last Name.”
Furthermore, including your birth year provides unnecessary information, especially to Westerners who are generally less sensitive about age than East Asians. It forces them to recall your birth year every time they think of you.
So, what’s a better approach when your preferred address is unavailable? A simple solution is to specify your job role, or, if you’re willing to take a slightly more involved step, create your own personal domain.
If you’re concerned that having your name repeated in both the ID and the domain (e.g., aaronryu@aaronryu.com) might appear unprofessional, you can rest assured that this is generally not the case. On the contrary, having your own domain can convey a sense of personal brand ownership and give the impression that recipients are communicating directly with you.
