Professional Email Signature for Job Search

Email SignatureIt also amazes me as to how many emails I receive that have no email signature whatsoever.   At best, I might see the person sign their name.   For example, “Thanks, Matt.”   While on the job you used a professional email signature, now, while in transition, it is more important than ever to convey a professional image.Here are instructions on how to create a highly professional and functional email signature when you are in job search mode.     I bet you will keep the signature you create even after you land.   After all, job search is not a one-time event during a time of need.   Instead, you must incorporate a professional email signature and other strategies into your on-going career management.   I am using my email signature as an example.    Feel free to tailor these ideas to your own style.Name and TitleCertainly lead with your name.   Consider a larger point size and an attractive font and color.   If you are in transition, consider starting your own cons ulting company.    That way you can give yourself a title just like your last full time job!     You may find yourself becoming a successful entrepreneur.     If this strategy is not right for you, you can still add a tagline like the examples below.Email and Phone NumberInclude your telephone number and your email address.   You want to make it extremely easy for recruiters and hiring managers to contact you.   Don’t make it difficult to be reached.   Believe it or not, there is some spontaneity in the corporate hiring process.   Recruiters and hiring managers may call you on a whim, on a hunch, but you must make it easy for them.   Having your phone and email address on every new, forward, or reply email can make the difference.TaglineMarketing is key for the viability of any business.   Treat job search as a business.   This means you must market yourself.   When you are in job search you are not exclusively an information technology professional, sales professional, or engine er, you are also a marketer!   You must market yourself because no one else will do it for you.   I repeat… no one else will do it for you.All successful marketing campaigns include a tagline or catch phrase.   You need one, too.   Your tagline should be just a few words boiled down to your professional essence.Some examples:Tax Accountant: In taxing times, count on me.Web Designer: Visually translating your complex thoughts.Training Professional: Amy is the name, Training is my game.The one I used personally when I was in job search mode was:Even better, give the consulting company, discussed above, a logo.   If you do, you can include your logo in your email signature.   (Starting a consulting company when you are unemployed is a great idea: you create a brand for yourself, it shows you are motivated, you can make some interim cash, it is an insurance policy against a future layoff and you can use the business as a soft landing upon retirement.)   You can consider adding your ow n branded logo even if you are not associating it with your new consulting company.   The logo can be simply your own personal logo.Website and Blog LinksAdding your website and/or blog creates a brand of a busy, successful, current, relevant and technologically-savvy professional.   This is the exact image that you want to project when in job search mode!LinkedIn and Twitter Hyperlinked IconsIn this section you can really demonstrate your 2011 brand.   Companies need professionals that can relate to all of the generations in the workforce.   You will clearly be showing your connection and adaptability to the Gen Y and Millennial generations by adding social media hyperlinks to your email signature. It goes without saying that the content you link to must be of the professional variety only!LinkedIn is perfect because of its professional focus.   Twitter is also being used extensively by professionals and executives to share cutting edge business information.   Twitter is no longer just for kids to tweet about their favorite mocha latte.You can find the full instructions for creating the clickable hyperlinked icons from this YouTube video.   These instructions assume that you use Outlook as your email program.     The time consuming part is finding the right LinkedIn and Twitter icons and resizing them so that they look appropriate for your email signature.   Not to worry â€" I have already done this for you.   You can download and save my LinkedIn icon here (click “download here” in upper right corner) and my Twitter icon here.   Now open Outlook and follow these steps to complete the process:ToolsOptionsMail FormatSignaturesNew (or edit)Click: Insert picture (on right hand side of screen) Insert desired pictureNow that picture is inserted into the signature click on the chain link icon (hyperlink) type in desired URLSaveFinished ProductAt this point, you have all the tools you need to create a professional, sophisticated, branded and technologically-sav vy email signature.   One last tip: don’t left-justify everything.   Give it some visual appeal by using different alignment, fonts, point sizes and color.     Here’s the end result, my signature:Please leave a comment below and/or send me an email with your new professional email signature!Remember, It Only Takes ONE!