If you are applying to job postings and contacting companies, but you are not hearing back, you might want to take a quick look at a couple areas to make sure that you are sending out the right message. It’s not just your work history and education that will affect employers’ reactions to you. Everything from your email address to the fonts you use has an impact on the “image” that you leave. If you are job searching, here are some areas that you should examine:

Your E-mail Address:
Is it clear who it belongs to? Does it reveal unprofessional or personal interests? The ideal e-mail address to use in a job search lists your first and last name. If your name is not available, you can add some numbers to the end, but do not use your birth year. In addition to risking discrimination, it is better to not have your name and birthday available for anyone to access (for security reasons).

Many providers (such as Gmail, Yahoo, and MSN) offer free e-mail accounts. Creating an e-mail account just for your search offers the added bonus of helping you stay organized.

Your E-mail Signature/Text
If you use an e-mail signature, make sure that you only include relevant information (such as your name and contact information) and that it is clean and easy to read. Stick with traditional fonts (not twirly hard-to-read scripts), and do not use quotes in your e-mail. Quotes reveal your personal interests/beliefs, and the job search process is not an appropriate time to introduce those interests to an employer.

When you are writing to employers, do not use ALL CAPS because it implies that you are YELLING, and employers will not understand why you are yelling at them.

Also, do not use twirly script fonts in the body text of your resume because they are too difficult to read. Hiring managers are busy, and they will not take the time to decipher your message.

Your Voicemail/Ring-back Tones
Your outgoing voicemail message needs to be brief and easy to understand. If you are including a number on your resume and you have not listened to your outgoing message in a while, double-check it. Do not include children, music, pets, or any other distractions in the message. They will make it difficult to understand, or too tedious to listen to all the way through.

Ring-back tones are not appropriate when you are sending out your number to employers. No matter what song you have, they are not professional and should not be used.