Should you put your address on your resume?

[Dee*Jay]

If you are willing to relocate, would you put your address on your resume if you are applying for a position outside of your current area? What about putting the location of the postions that you have worked in, expecially if they were for large companies that have office in multiple locations?

 

[zoebartlett]

The short answer is yes, put your address on your resume. Also, put the name and location of the company/companies you've worked at before. In your cover letter, you could write a sentence or two towards the top of the letter about how you're planning on relocating to an area (and possibly why you're relocating). I'd' also put an e-mail address on your resume (and FWIW, I'd make sure the e-mail address is professional sounding. I think this goes without saying but you never know. I've seen professional resumes with unprofessional e-mail address given, and that turned me off from wanting to read further.)

 

[Dee*Jay]

Zoe, thanks for the response. And LOL on the email address sounding professional! Having hired many people over the years, every once in a while I'll get a resume with an email address that makes me take pause. Do I really want [email protected] or [email protected] as my new internal controls manager? Not likely... (And I did not make those up!)

 

[zoebartlett]

Dee Jay, I don't get the whole cutesy or random e-mail address thing on resumes and applications when someone's applying for a job. (By the way, I didn't put that in my post for your benefit. I figured that was a given, but like I said, you never know.)

Anyway, I'm curious. If you're applying for a job, what would you put on your resume if you didn't put your address?

 

[Dee*Jay]

The top three lines (centered on the first page) would just be:

First M. Last
[email protected]
555-555-5555

BTW, do you think it's still OK to have a hotmail email address? Someone the other day said it's not good, but they didn't tell me why... ?

 

[webdiva]

No, get a gmail account. Hotmail looks dated. I have my own domain, but I'm in the techie field. Even my dog has his own website. LOL

 

[AmeliaG]

I was told by a recruiter to NEVER put your address on a resume. Just email and phone.

 

[mary poppins]

Yes to both address and location of employers. Also, I agree with the professional email address.

I recently attended a seminar where the panel members consisted of three recruiters - two were from an major, international recruiting company, and one was a direct recruiter (human resources) from an big, international company. Surprisingly, all three said they do not read cover letters. They agreed that all relevant information should be in a resume, including reason for gaps or relocating. For example, next to your current or former position, say "relocating for family reasons," "relocating for spouse's job," "voluntarily resigned to move for family reason," "laid off due to company merger," "temporary position while employee on leave," or "independent contractor during company's busy season."

So the job section could look something like this:

Company Name, City, State Dates of Employment
Position Name (relocating for family reasons)
Job Description

Typical job hunting advice includes instructions to include a cover letter, especially to explain particular circumstances. The majority of people in the room were very surprised to hear the recruiters did not read cover letters and didn't like them. I used to spend a lot of time agonizing over cover letters. For the last three interviews I got, I did not include a cover letter. Maybe it depends on the industry or circumstances.

Not sure if you can apply that to your situation (reason for moving in resume, in addition to or without cover letter), but thought I'd mention it in case it's helpful.

ETA: well, that didn't format correctly. "Date of Employment" was supposed to be over to the right, but you get the idea.

 

[february2003bride]

I was told by a recruiter to NEVER put your address on a resume. Just email and phone.

Ditto. DH just met a with a friend who's an executive recruiter and she sent him a couple of examples of updated resumes. No address and use a gmail account with your name and cell phone # only.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Interesting. I have a hotmail account and about to go on a huge job search. I am not in the tech or marketing field, so I am not sure it matters. Maybe I will just use my university e-mail. I think they give you a year before they cancel you.

 

[zoebartlett]

The top three lines (centered on the first page) would just be:

First M. Last
[email protected]
555-555-5555

BTW, do you think it's still OK to have a hotmail email address? Someone the other day said it's not good, but they didn't tell me why... ?

I use to have a hotmail acct. but I changed it to another company because (this will sound strange) I thought hotmail sounded funny. I know, it probably doesn't make sense and I'm not sure it really matters, but that's what I did. Someone mentioned above that hotmail sounded dated. i thought so too and that's another reason I changed mine. Oh, and the new one I chose wasn't yahoo.

Here's what mine is (centered):

Full name with middle initial (in italics, larger than the rest of the heading)
Street name
Town, state, zip
phone number with area code
e-mail address/blog address (which in my field, is relevant, but if it was a personal blog, I obv. wouldn't include it.)

 

[zoebartlett]

I was told by a recruiter to NEVER put your address on a resume. Just email and phone.

Really? I've never heard that before. That sounds strange to me.

I think it's really interesting that the advice varies so much. Maybe it works differently in different fields, I don't know, but I'd still use my address. Oh, about not including a cover letter... this is another thing I don't get. For me, the information I put in a cover letter is vital because I can go into more detail about my philosophy and the employer can begin to get a sense of who I am and what is important to me in my field.

 

[sonnyjane]

The top three lines (centered on the first page) would just be:

First M. Last
[email protected]
555-555-5555

BTW, do you think it's still OK to have a hotmail email address? Someone the other day said it's not good, but they didn't tell me why... ?

Ha. I've heard the same thing, and my friends always make fun of me for it, but I still have my hotmail.com address. My field is one not too concerned with stuff like that though...

 

[Tacori E-ring]

The top three lines (centered on the first page) would just be:

First M. Last
[email protected]
555-555-5555

BTW, do you think it's still OK to have a hotmail email address? Someone the other day said it's not good, but they didn't tell me why... ?

Ha. I've heard the same thing, and my friends always make fun of me for it, but I still have my hotmail.com address. My field is one not too concerned with stuff like that though...

I think it shows loyalty

 

[Dee*Jay]

Wow, what interesting feedback! Thank you everyone!

So I have put on a gmail account and taken off my address. Interesting.

Tacori, the one thing I thought of when you mentioned using the university address was whether people would assume you are very young. Maybe I'm over thinking it since you are working on a master's degree, and obviously that would come out based on the positions you applied for or in your cover letter, but that popped into my head.

Speaking of cover letters, I just wrote a GREAT one, so I really hope someone does read it, ha ha!

 

[justginger]

Zoe, thanks for the response. And LOL on the email address sounding professional! Having hired many people over the years, every once in a while I'll get a resume with an email address that makes me take pause. Do I really want [email protected] or [email protected] as my new internal controls manager? Not likely... (And I did not make those up!)

Lol - one of my friends' email accounts is [email protected]. Not good for the old CV!

 

[Matata]

Speaking of cover letters, I just wrote a GREAT one, so I really hope someone does read it, ha ha!

DeeJay, didn't you just start a new job and relocate to Kansas or Oz.....? Are you in the market again?

 

[sonnyjane]

The top three lines (centered on the first page) would just be:

First M. Last
[email protected]
555-555-5555

BTW, do you think it's still OK to have a hotmail email address? Someone the other day said it's not good, but they didn't tell me why... ?

Ha. I've heard the same thing, and my friends always make fun of me for it, but I still have my hotmail.com address. My field is one not too concerned with stuff like that though...

I think it shows loyalty

Ha!! I'm stealing that.

 

[chrono]

What was the reason given to drop the address from the resume?

 

[Dee*Jay]

Speaking of cover letters, I just wrote a GREAT one, so I really hope someone does read it, ha ha!

DeeJay, didn't you just start a new job and relocate to Kansas or Oz.....? Are you in the market again?

I did move to KC/Oz in June... but... well... I really hate it here. (Ack! I finally said it!) So I've been working on the requirements to sit for the CPA, which if all goes well, I'll be done with by next summer, and my plan was then to go do something other than what I do now. I jokingly said to someone the other day that when I finish I want go to work for one specific company, and on a lark I looked at their website on Friday over lunch... and they have a job posted that could have been written from my resume. Seriously. So I thought, what the hell, and applied. I would be shocked as sh!t if I actually heard back from them, but if you don't ask the answer's always no.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Oh, good point. Hmm...you are probably right. Uggg, not looking forward to writing cover letters, interviewing, etc. Oh well. Good luck if this is a job you want!

 

[marcy]

I would find it strange if I got a resume without your address on it.

How about an email that starts "[email protected]"

 

[Dee*Jay]

Oh, good point. Hmm...you are probably right. Uggg, not looking forward to writing cover letters, interviewing, etc. Oh well. Good luck if this is a job you want!

Oh Tacori, don't fret, you'll do brilliantly!

 

[Matata]

Speaking of cover letters, I just wrote a GREAT one, so I really hope someone does read it, ha ha!

DeeJay, didn't you just start a new job and relocate to Kansas or Oz.....? Are you in the market again?

I did move to KC/Oz in June... but... well... I really hate it here. (Ack! I finally said it!) So I've been working on the requirements to sit for the CPA, which if all goes well, I'll be done with by next summer, and my plan was then to go do something other than what I do now. I jokingly said to someone the other day that when I finish I want go to work for one specific company, and on a lark I looked at their website on Friday over lunch... and they have a job posted that could have been written from my resume. Seriously. So I thought, what the hell, and applied. I would be shocked as sh!t if I actually heard back from them, but if you don't ask the answer's always no.

I figured that someone as vivacious as you would not be happy there -- too much of a culture change. I'll keep all my digits crossed that you get an answer back from your dream company and land that job!

 

[AmeliaG]

What was the reason given to drop the address from the resume?

He didn't say; or I don't remember. Afterwards I started looking at sample resumes and none had the addresses. It was a few years back.

 

[omieluv]

Ok, I am a corporate recruiter for a Fortune 500.

Don't agonize over whether you should have a gmail, hotmail, ymail, or whatever email address, it doesn't matter, for the most part, unless you were going into IT or something and even then I don't care about it. What is important and has been stated in this thread is having a professional email address. Setting up a separate email account for the job search helps you stay organized anyway.

As for cover letters, the "generic" cover letter is a waste of our time. If you include a cover letter, make sure it clearly states how you are a fit for the job, that will catch my eye because you have taken the time to customize your letter for the position you are applying to.

As for your address, I have seen this handled a variety of ways and it really doesn't matter to me since we provide relocation for many of our position, since we are a global company.

 

[Dee*Jay]

See, this is why I love PS -- you guys know everything!

Thanks omieluv!

 

[mogster]

What was the reason given to drop the address from the resume?

I wonder if it has to do with identity theft if the resume is not handled in a secure manner? I personally wouldn't want the HR person to look up my address and make any assumptions based on where I live or my house valuation either.

 

[omieluv]

What was the reason given to drop the address from the resume?

I wonder if it has to do with identity theft if the resume is not handled in a secure manner? I personally wouldn't want the HR person to look up my address and make any assumptions based on where I live or my house valuation either.

Well I can say this. A resume will pass through many hands at the company starting with the recruiter/HR to the hiring manager to the hiring manager's interview team. If the city you live in is large, just put down the city/state on your resume - I have seen this on resumes as well.

 

[monarch64]

Since email and cell phone usage (as far as texting/calling) are the main means of communications these days, I can understand why putting your physical address on a resume might seem outdated...

I think I would include mine if I were sending my resume to numerous companies for jobs I was applying to out of state. If I were applying to jobs in state, I might drop the physical address and just include email address and phone number. Just using logic here, this is by no means professional advice.

Dee, I'm going to be in SLC the third week of January, 2013. I'd love to see you again if you're available...SLC is "kinda" close to KC! You have my email address.