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Dawn's Career Planning Blog

By Dawn Rosenberg McKay, About.com Guide to Career Planning since 1997

Don't Use Your Work Email for Personal Matters

Wednesday April 2, 2008
In trying to come up with something to post about this afternoon, I took a look through my reader email. Should I write about career choice? After all many of my readers are struggling with changing careers, according to the number of emails I get on that topic. Or, maybe I should answer a question about a problem someone is having with their boss. I get a lot of email about difficult bosses. Nope. All of that will have to wait, because one thing jumped out at me as I sorted through my email.

So many people send me email from their work addresses. Now I have a question for my readers: why would you do that? You're asking me about changing your career or complaining about your boss. Aren't you afraid your employer will see what you've written? You do know your email at work may not be private, don't you? If you didn't know it before, consider yourself newly informed. Get a free personal email account and use it for all non-work related email, especially for anything you don't want your boss to know. Send your personal email from home to insure that it remains private.

Comments

April 3, 2008 at 10:15 am
(1) Bill says:

you are quite right.

April 7, 2008 at 1:10 pm
(2) Ann says:

This is sound advice. Thanks.

April 10, 2008 at 1:28 am
(3) Vicheka Lay says:

The question is about “Career Changing”, however is about privatizing between work-related and non-work related emails. Well, I give say your advice is 50 percent related another 50 percent is your advice about career jumping.

Best,

Vicheka Lay
Researcher and Writer,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
vichekalay@yahoo.com

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