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I have a website that basically functions as a resume/project record where I list my various master degree research projects, personal projects, and work history.

Since I use my work email to communicate with many clients and maybe potential future employers, I would like to put a link to this website in my email signature for work.

Would this be considered professional?

Note: It isn't some sort of glorified MySpace page, it is a tasteful professional website to keep a log of my project history as an engineer.

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  • @Fattie Yep, already did. this is why I asked before doing. Thanks
    – user91949
    Feb 1, 2019 at 14:20
  • Sorry wasn't trying to be snarky, sorry if it came across that way
    – user91949
    Feb 1, 2019 at 14:22
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    @RichardU yes, I am now aware that this was a horrible idea and will not be doing so. my apologies
    – user91949
    Feb 1, 2019 at 14:49
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    Are you creative? is it a type of resource site or blog that might support your work in the day to day? ask your employer first. They may value people who have done "xyz"
    – vikingsteve
    Feb 1, 2019 at 15:04
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    @throwaway we all have bad ideas, you were smart enough to realize yours, which makes you smarter than most of us.
    – Old_Lamplighter
    Feb 1, 2019 at 16:25

7 Answers 7

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No, you don't get to do your self-promotion via a work-email, unless the link points to an official source provided / hosted by the organization you work for.

Since I use my work email to communicate with many clients and maybe potential future employers [...]

Stop doing that immediately if the purpose is to seek / influence/ communicate from the viewpoint of "potential future employers". As per law in most of the cases, you're supposed to use company provided resources (yes, your email is one of them) for official work purposes, and searching for another job is not "official" work (i.e., you don't get paid for that).

Existing client or not, for getting in touch with potential employers, use your personal email address.

Client communication is just fine as long as it is limited to working communication / collaboration.

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    Additional point is that the employer should have the ability to read anything you send/receive via that company's email server.
    – Peter M
    Feb 1, 2019 at 14:58
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    Some small companies may have an "About our employees" page with profiles that may include likes to employees' personal web sites. I would regard a personal web site link within an email as appropriate in such cases, but would expect that the individual refrain from putting anything on the web site that might reflect negatively on the employer. That may mean having a "formal" personal web site separate from a less-formal one which is not linked from the employer.
    – supercat
    Feb 1, 2019 at 16:28
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    Also consider the liability aspect from the company's point of view. They can't control the content of your personal website, so they won't want even the appearance that it's connected to the business in any way. If a client clicks on that link and goes to your site, which was hacked and is now serving up viruses, they'll be quite upset with your company.
    – bta
    Feb 2, 2019 at 0:14
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Definitely not, using work resources for personal promotion is not a good idea.

But there's nothing wrong with including a link to your personal site on your LinkedIn profile.

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  • While it is common, but usually not encouraged to add any off-site links , including linkedin, to your business email signature. Most organizations have a policy on creating and using signatures, and I've never come across any which allows linkedin explicitly. Just saying.
    – Sourav Ghosh
    Feb 1, 2019 at 13:32
  • Absolutely, I have done so via LinkedIn already. I know am sure it is a bad idea. thank you. (at my company almost all employees with LinkedIn include them in their signatures, including management)
    – user91949
    Feb 1, 2019 at 13:32
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    @throwaway Dont do it just because everyone else does. Be sure about the policy. If there isn't one, ask the HR or your manager for guidance (preferably written).
    – Sourav Ghosh
    Feb 1, 2019 at 13:48
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    Your right, I apologize for this sort of mentality. your are right in the concept of "just because everyone else is". But my company is small enough that they don't really have policies one way or the other. Both my manager and the HR staff do it as well, which I understand doesn't automatically give me the clearance to do so
    – user91949
    Feb 1, 2019 at 14:26
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Many companies have policies or guidelines regarding email signature blocks. So start there.

I would expect that even one without guidelines would not like employees to include a link to a site not related to their company or your project.

Since I use my work email to communicate with many clients and maybe potential future employers, I would like to put a link to this website in my email signature for work.

Don't try and talk to future employers with a email address of your current employer. They don't like that. You also don't want to lose your only way of communicating with future employers on your last day of work.

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  • Right, all good points. I wasn't thinking to actually do job offer related communications via that email, it was more, provide alternate ways of contacting. This is why I checked before doing. Thank you
    – user91949
    Feb 1, 2019 at 13:31
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There is one exception to firm no provided by Sourav Ghosh.

If, and only if you work not as employee, but as an one-person company on B2B (business to business) agreement with your "employer" you may be allowed, or even required by law*, to disclose it. And link to your business website may be acceptable way to do it.

Always consult your contact in your "employer" company before doing it. They may have specific rules or guidelines about it.

* I am not a lawyer. If you don't know how it is for you, in your jurisdiction, you need a lawyer.

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    Nah, I am a regular employee. So I shall not be doing this, thank you for the response
    – user91949
    Feb 1, 2019 at 13:33
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This is a decent idea if you own your own company and the email address.

If you're not a business owner and you work for someone else, this is not the best idea.

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No. As an employer, the last thing I want to see is someone's personal website. This indicates 'side projects,' which we all know are important and practical, but suggests (right or wrong) that the person is working on it during office hours.

I'm not a stickler, and hope everyone has a healthy work-life balance including keeping personal tabs during office hours, but don't put it on your office signature going out to my internal and external contacts. Stop immediately is my advice to you as a member of an organization that is growing and supported by you.

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    I haven't even begun to do so,this is why I asked before doing so. Thanks
    – user91949
    Feb 1, 2019 at 14:21
  • @throwaway - Excellent. When you become social with your coworkers and other agency folks, even sharing Facebook for fun or whatever, then of course have a healthy relationship of sharing your personal projects with them; but not on your official e-mail nor on your business cards, etc. I wouldn't even include a LinkedIn on your e-mail. If people want to find you, they can or you can tell them personally.
    – Mikey
    Feb 1, 2019 at 14:59
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Including anything more then your title(s) (PhD, etc) and perhaps certifications (CPA, etc) in your sig line is more then enough.

Nobody wants to see a hyperlink to your resume / projects ... and the folks that would (eg: internal team of researchers that collab on projects) would likely have alternate ways to go check that stuff out anyways.

It just seems lazy and unprofessional to have that included in the sig line on EVERY email sent from an account. It's need-to-know information, and not every email will require that. If I got an email from a person that had a link to a personal page that showed their CV or all the stuff they're working on in college.. and my correspondence with them required none of that.. I'd think the person was narcissitic or lazy. Either they think they're so awesome they need to let everyone know how awesome they are. Or, they're lazy and are using their email to pass along their resume to job hunts, and are just doing it for every email becasue they're too lazy to take the 2 seconds to copy paste the link in ONLY on the emails to headhunters when needed. I wouldn't need to see that stuff.

I just view this from a professional environment. When I email people at work I don't have a link showing my resume and all the stuff I'm working on at my current job. All my sig line includes is my name and maybe my job title and dept (depending on who I'm contacting).

In some situations I will purposefully not include job titles and dept just to see how forthcoming a person is with information, or to let the person know I'm making an informal inquiry (depends on what I'm doing at the company and what goal I'm trying to achieve).

You could also consider this detrimental to you if you fire off an email to someone you DON'T want to know that information.

And, including that kind of extracurricular info in every sig line of every email makes all recipients feel "unspecial". Like, "Here's info about me, whether it's relevant to our correspondence or not... I don't care about tailoring the message to you, it's all about me, me, me."

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