What does your email signature say about you?

A friend of mine applied for a job recently by sending an email to the hiring manager. She ended her message with the following closing … drum roll, please …

Thank you for your consideration, Laura

Laura who?! 

Note that her closing contained no last name, no phone number, no email address and no other useful contact information. Fortunately she had attached her resume so the hiring manager could find out more information about her, but Laura’s omission of an email signature speaks volumes about Laura.

It says she ...

• didn’t know how to add an email signature, or ... 
• hadn't bothered to include one, which says she is not professional … or careful … or technically proficient enough in her email program … or, it says she ...  
• wasn't proactive enough to help the hiring manager contact her easily. Instead, her lack of an email signature forced the hiring manager to reopen her resume each time he or she needed to access Laura's contact information.

Add an email signature today!
Adding an email signature to all of your emails is easy and takes less than a minute to do. Every email service is slightly different, but in Yahoo!, to add an email signature, simply look for the "Options" drop down menu, select "Mail Options" and then "Signature". In the signature template box, include:

• Your first and last name
• Your preferred contact phone number
• A second contact phone number (optional)
• Your email address
• Your LinkedIn public profile (if you have one). Learn how to find your LinkedIn public profile address and add it to your email address here.
• Your blog and/or web site (if you have one)

Email signature example

If you have an email signature, review it occasionally to make sure that it is complete, up to date and as informative as it can be. 

What are your thoughts about email signatures? Does it drive you crazy when people don't include one ... or am I making too big a deal about it?

Please share your thought! Thanks -- Kathy

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