How to keep your resume out of the employer's SPAM folder

Not just true for our system but many of the SPAM filters out there. If you are applying to jobs with the public email addresses (job-xx-xxxxxx@entertainmentcareers.net) or your email is being blocked by our system and getting rejected or you got this sent to you via email, here are the most common mistakes we see that get emails blocked or end up in the dark hole of someone's spam folder.  Note: This may be a problem elsewhere, you may just not know it.

How to keep your resume out of an employer's SPAM folder

Here are some rules to follow when applying to jobs to keep your resume out of SPAM filters or someone's SPAM folder.

1

Do not use ALL CAPS in your email subject (also avoid exclamation points) and ideally k eep your subject below 76 characters. It is a subject, don't make it a novel.

2

Avoid using excessive links in your email

1. Do not ever link to a WordPress website domain i.e. xxx.wordpress.com, it is one of the most abused domains out there in SPAM emails. (yes your own domain is OK)
2. Keep links to a minimum and consolidate whenever possible. Don't list 5 youtube links. Create a portfolio site and point them there
3. Make choices, don't include everything: IMDB, LinkedIn, IG, Twitter etc.

3

Make sure there is a "to" in the email, don't just use the cc and bcc fields. This error occurs when there is not "to" or "cc" in the email (only in the bcc). Make sure to put one email address in the "to" field (and only one email address). We flag anything that has more than one email address in the "to" field, so if you want to "cc" yourself as a record, put it in the "cc" or the "bcc".

4

Only send your resume to one job at a time - i.e. job-xxxxx-xx,  if there is more than one job email in the "to" field, our system will block it.  Note: you can "cc" or "bcc" yourself if you want a copy for your records.

5

Do not send empty emails  - This is especially true if you are sending an image or an embedded google doc.  Make sure to put some text in the body, ideally your cover letter or introductory email.  NOTE:  We have seen a lot of emails blocked when sending a google doc/google drive cover letter embedded in the email without any accompanying text.  If you are going to send your google doc cover letter, either attach it as a doc or make sure there is text in the body of the email.  Also, avoid pictures or images with text embedded in the email.  One of the most common email filters out there, Barracuda SPAM filters, block a lot of emails with embedded images containing text. A common SPAM technique is to send an image of text embedded in an email to avoid keyword searches.

6

Do not start your email/cover letter with "Hi!, Hello!, Hi there!" or include things like "

My name is..." 

When you get spam in your inbox, note the common ways spammers try to get your attention and avoid those techniques.

7

Do not use an email address with more than 4 digits - bradhall1968@gmail.com is ok (the fewer numbers the better), but brad1234567@gmail.com, will likely get flagged by most systems.  Something like 90% of all emails with more than 4 digits are spam so don't risk it.

8

If using a free email service, stick to Gmail.  Yahoo and AOL (and older systems) seem to be getting breaches and abused more than Gmail, so those email addresses get a higher incident of "IP reputation" problems.

9

Do not use "GAPPY" text in your subject, i.e. use standard spacing, don't do this "Y o u   r  n   e x  t  A s s  i   s t   a n  t " or "Y.o.u.r. n.e.x.t. A.s.s.i.s.t.a.n.t" (don't laugh, we have seen it). Point being it is a common tactic in spamming, so as much as you are trying to stand out, you likely won't make it past the spam filter.

10

Do not use an email open/link tracking service - Using a service that tracks email opens or clicks in links are, more and more, getting blocked by email systems.  Not only is is a common spam technique but there is a growing privacy concern with those services so we are seeing more and more blocks for this.