PhD... can't come up with email name.
Bwahahahaha!!!!

I'm sure there is a Far Side about this somewhere...

Do you have a middle name? that might work.

JaneLarlaSmith@gmail.com

I think it's totally fine for PhD, but not for other degrees. Presumably if your name is that common, anyone reading it would know why you added the PhD.

Professional email -fine

Personal email-pompous. But you sound pretty pompous anyways so I'm sure most of your contacts already know that about you.

While I agree with some of the PPs that having your degree in your e-mail address might be a bit pompous-looking for everyday e-mail interactions, I actually think JaneSmithPhD@gmail.com is a very nice professional e-mail address and would be fine on a resume/CV or job application.

I see nothing wrong with adding MD, DR, PhD, CPA, Esq or whatever other professional designation for your work email. An email that will be put on your resume and will be used for work-related communication should look/sound professional.

I have a very popular last name and was lucky that the combination with my first name was not taken so I use that for my professional correspondence. I have another generic one with a combination of numbers after my first name that i use for personal correspondence.

How about your initials JS@GMAIL.COM OR JSMITH@GMAIL.COM COm'on man, it is not that hard to come up with an email address? LOL i'd be worried to hire someone who can't come up with an email address, this is not rocket science!!

why not add a number to your email i-e John-Smith123?

op again: I'm open to suggestions. I'm very open in fact b/c I"m thinking about getting a new email address just for this search.

Anonymous wrote:Why does it matter if your name is common?

because I can't have
firstname.lastname@gmail.com as my email address.

I don't like using random numbers nor do I want to use a date. It's so unclean. I want a clean email address that is short and easy to remember. Mine, with my common name and degree is:
JaneSmithPhD@gmail.com

JaneSmith123 rubs me the wrong way.

JaneSSmith is a problem in that I used to use that but people always lost that send S in the middle.

(my name is not jane smith but it might as well be...mine might be MORE common, uncreative mother to blame).

If your degree is Bachelor of Science, be aware that JohnSmith_BS may be misinterpreted.

Why does it matter if your name is common?

It's a little ridiculous-sounding. I agree with pp. Also, not sure why it matters if your name is common. Mine is too. It's not like a common name means people are likely to mess up your email address - in fact, they're less likely to!

I have a few friends who use "Dr" or "MD" in their email addresses and it makes me snicker a little - we all went to med school together and it seems a bit showy to be carrying your degree in your personal email address.

i would feel the same way about "JohnSmithJD"
or "SheilaSmithMS"

It comes across a little pompous.

You'd be better off using a number to make it less common - use the year of your graduation or birth year or child's birth year or 3 random numbers.

I have a very common name. Adding my middle initial doesn't make it less common and also is easy to miss when typing. SO, I have a email address with my name and degree. OK? Will that turn off some employers? FWIW, I'm in a field where this particular degree is very common and probably expected for most of the positions to which I would apply.

Thoughts? I really don't want to turn off hiring managers, HR, and other stakeholders in the hiring process.