Creating a free e-mail account with Gmail

Your email address is a reflection of you, and one of the first things a prospective employer will see on your resume. It is important to have a simple, professional email address on your resume. Some good examples are: john.smith@gmail or john_smith@aol

Basics:  Creating an account

To create a Google Account, just visit the account-creation page, enter your current email address, and choose a password. Once you've finished registering, you'll receive a verification email. Click the link in that email to complete the verification process. Your Google Account will give you access to a variety of Google products, including iGoogle, Web History, Picasa, and many more. When creating an account, please keep these guidelines in mind:

* Your Google Account username should be an email address from which you currently send and receive mail, unless you'd prefer to sign up for Gmail.
* Your password should be at least eight characters long and can't be a commonly used word. Select a unique combination of letters and numbers.
* In the Word Verification section, you'll need to type the wavy characters exactly as they appear in the picture.
* Creating a Google Account doesn't give you Gmail. However, you can sign up for Gmail by visiting the Gmail homepage and clicking the Sign up for Gmail link under the sign-in box. If you're interested in learning more about Gmail, please visit the About Gmail page.

Note: you'll be able to access all the same Google products mentioned above with your Gmail username and password.

Basics: Browser requirements

You should be able to create an account and sign in at the Google Accounts homepage if you're using one of these browsers:
* Internet Explorer 5.5+ for Windows
* Netscape 7.1+ for Windows, Mac, or Linux
* Mozilla 1.4+ for Windows, Mac, or Linux
* Firefox 0.8+ for Windows, Mac, or Linux
* Safari 1.2.1+ for Mac
Note: each product on Google Accounts has its own browser requirements, which in some cases may be stricter than those listed above.

Basics: Creating a strong password

To protect your Google Account and your personal information, we highly recommend that you choose a strong password. The security of your account depends on the strength of your password.
Google Accounts passwords should be at least eight characters in length, combine numbers and letters, and not include commonly used words. Here are some tips to help you create a strong password:
* Select a word or acronym and insert numbers between some of the letters.
* Include punctuation marks.
* Mix capital and lowercase letters.
Note: for your security, we recommend that you don't reuse passwords associated with your email or any other type of account.

Account Users: Keeping your account secure

Here are some tips that can help you keep your account secure:
* When you sign in, only select Remember me if you're using a personal computer that nobody else has access to.
* Clear forms, passwords, cache, and cookies in your browser on a regular basis, especially on a public computer.
* Never tell anyone your password; if you do tell someone, change it as soon as possible.
* Create a good password, and don't write it down or send it via email.
* Periodically change your password.
* Always sign out when you've finished using your account, by clicking the Sign out link at the top-right corner of the screen.
If you forgot to sign out of your account from a computer that you're no longer able to access, please note:
* Signing out from one computer won't necessarily sign you out from all computers.
* Changing your password from one computer won't necessarily invalidate your session on all computers