Email is an essential communication tool and this is especially true in a job search. The first communication between a candidate and company is often by email. Many hiring managers use email to schedule times for calls with candidates to avoid playing phone tag. This makes it essential to have a reliable email service.
John Snyder, Vice President of CareersPro, Inc wrote a good article about the frustrations of recruiters trying to get in touch with candidates. In “Are Spam Filters Keeping Your From Getting a Job,” John talks about the emails that don’t get to candidates due to spam filters.
As annoying as spam is, there is no perfect solution. Either you let a lot of spam in and get all your important messages, or you discard most of your spam but throw out important emails. In a job search, few can afford to throw away an invitation to interview.
One caution… if you have had a spam filter with very restrictive settings and turn it off, you will get lots of emails from people asking if they can give you money if you provide them with all of your financial account information. They usually request a small handling fee. These are scams. You have not won the multi-million dollar “World Lottery” (I can’t count how many times I’ve supposedly won) and no one is going to give you a few million dollars if you help them open a checking account.