These days, most job applications are made by email. The typical application arrives as an email message with an attached document outlining the sender's qualifications and experience. The email is where the first mistakes happen.

In fact, the very first mistake can be your email address! Perhaps you use This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for all your email. Or perhaps it is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Think what those and similar addresses say about you. Do they tell your potential employer you are the kind of person they are looking for? If you are applying for work at a cat shelter, I expect the first one might work for you. I shudder to think where you might be applying for the second example to help your application!

It may seem like a small thing, but that email address you use all the time for correspondence with close friends may damage or even end your chances of a job application getting serious attention.

Filtering the list

In a time when jobs are hard to come by and employers are receiving large numbers of applications, the tendency will be to narrow the applicant list early and quickly. A suspect email address could literally be enough to have your application dropped before it is read.

When you are applying for work by email, do yourself a favour and use a neutral address like This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and don't use your myjoke@ address. It is quick, painless, and free to set up something like This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and if janesmith is already used, janesmith123 may not be.

The devil, they say, is in the details. When applying for work, those details are important!