Skip to content
cropped-cropped-sb-castle.jpg

Dispatches from the Castle

musings on corporate life and more!

  • Home
  • J & A Creative Group
  • More About Aurora

signature line

ProTip – Graduation date

Posted on May 6, 2014May 6, 2014 by aurorameyer

At some point, well-meaning college career center advisors (like this one from the University of Georgia) suggested college graduates add a graduation date or year after their name in the email signature line. But these well-meaning advisors forgot to include the caveat of following industry norms. Unfortunately, this lapse means lots of recent and soon-to-be recent graduates look pretty stupid to some industry recruiters and leaders.

Prime example:

20140219-000522.jpg

It’s vitally important that your signature line make you look professional, especially when you are job searching. Your resume might indicate you have relevant experience, but if you add a 2014 after your name (or worse, ’14) you just overshadowed all of your experience and instead told the recipient that you are a young, recent graduate.

The advice from the University of Georgia isn’t all bad, the suggestions include good ones such as including your full name, university, phone number and email address. However, adding the clubs you were involved in and the leadership roles you held are equally irrelevant after college (unless your research indicates a connection and you are targeting the recipient) and you should leave those out.

Another piece of advice? Do not include a quote in your signature line. It’s great to have a motto or a phrase that speaks to you, but you have no idea how the recipient may interpret your quote. You don’t want to be added to the circular file just because you included a quote from your favorite novel, that the recipient hated.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Chicory (Opens in new window)
Posted in applicant adviceTagged Aimee Woodall, bad advice for graduates, college career center advisors, Craig Hlavaty, Do not include a quote in your signature line, email address, email signature line, follow industry norms, phone number, professional email signature, ProTip - Graduation date, recent graduate, signature line, university, University of Georgia, What’s in your email signature line, young, your full nameLeave a comment

Please Disregard

Posted on April 10, 2012April 12, 2012 by aurorameyer


It seems everyone’s email are getting hacked lately. In addition to the first obvious spam message, I’ve received several please disregard follow-up messages. Most of which are some version of this:

“Please disregard any messages you’ve received from me in the last 24 hours. It appears my account was hacked and I have worked to resolve the issue.
I apologize for any inconvenience or confusion these messages may have caused.
Thanks!
Name”

While you should first change your password, should the second step really be sending another message to your friends, family and clients stating, “opps! I hope you haven’t clicked on my last message!”? It depends on what kind of spam you sent.

If the spammer asked for money or indicated you or a loved one is in trouble or might be harmed, obviously contact your friends and family via phone, text or an alternative route. However, if the spam is just run of the mill online pharmacy, then sending a mass email can wait.

In that case, the second step, according to this Reuters article should be to contact your financial adviser, check your bank and take care of other financial concerns. “…while you’re alerting your friends, the hacker might be emailing your brokers in your name and imploring them to wire your assets to a bank account in Malaysia,” the article states. “And if they do, no government or securities industry agency is obligated to reimburse your losses.”

After that, you might want to be reminded that there are good people in the world. At this point, step three is a good time to thank your friends who alerted you to the problem. A simple, thank you email should suffice. Just don’t send a mass email with everyone in the to line. If you must send a mass email, at least use bcc!

Fourth, if you have the option to check your recent log in list, do so. While you’re at it, check your signature line and your Away messages. Change your security questions. Double check and make sure your account isn’t being forwarded somewhere else.

Once you’ve done steps one through four, then it’s time to send a message to your entire address book. You might even use this as a time to say hello to old friends. At least then you’ll know who’s really reading your email!

Do you find the please disregard messages over the top?

Share this:

  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Chicory (Opens in new window)
Posted in EtiquetteTagged account isn't being forwarded, appears my account was hacked, business, change your password, Change your security questions, check your Away messages, check your recent log in, check your signature line, email, email hacked, financial adviser, hacked, hacked email, internet, mass email, Please Disregard, Reuters article, send a message to your entire address book, sending a mass email can wait, sending another message, signature line, spam message, spammer asked for money, technology, thank your friends, use bccLeave a comment

About Aurora

My father named me after Sleeping Beauty. The princess theme stuck. Unfortunately, the only castle I can claim is the one in Disney Land. These are the musings of a princess without minions, knights or fairy tales. I have to do my own bidding.

The views in this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer or clients.

Aurora’s E-Courses

Enroll in Press Releases Made Easy today!

Email Subscription

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,660 other subscribers

Twitter

Follow @aurorameyer

pinterest

Follow Me on Pinterest

Recent Posts

  • Why Candidates Should Bill Organizations for Work Completed Before Hiring
  • 2 Signs an Interview Went Well — And 4 Signs It Didn’t
  • I’m a Hiring Manager, and I Always Read Cover Letters — 3 Reasons Why You Should Include Them (Guest Post on Fairy God Boss)
  • Almond Butter Oatmeal Energy Bites
  • Mulan Noodles aka Beef Chow Fun
  • Home
  • J & A Creative Group
  • More About Aurora