Is Your Resume Information Safe?
When you are job hunting and using the internet as your primary tool, you might not think of something like privacy or a safe resume. However protecting your identity and other resume information is important to take into account as you search online for any potential opportunities. Posting your resume online without regard for your privacy can be a costly mistake.
If you currently have a job and are looking for greener pastures, you would be well advised to keep your personal information and sometimes even your name private. Many employers browse the web to see if their employees are indeed looking for other jobs. It is entirely possible that your current employer does this. Be careful where you send your resume. Many job postings only give you an email address to send your resume to and do not include a company name. I know of several employers that place such postings just to stake out their own employees to find out if they are hunting.
The FBI has warned that internet fraud is presently rampant and if you are handing out your name, address and telephone number or other personal information while job hunting, you are making things easy for these crooks. You can still make contacting you simple for employers with just an email address and that will be giving them ample opportunity to contact you.
Protecting Your Resume Information
You do not need to include your home address on your resume. Your town or city is enough and if for some odd reason you want or expect an employer to write back to you in snail mail, you can get a post office box.
If you are leaving your email address as a form of contact make sure the address looks professional. Using your name as your email address or twitter user name or other social network handle is undesirable exposure. Choose a professional email name with your job title such as manager.
I have seen several resumes come across my desk recently with the candidates’ social security numbers included. There is no reason I know of to ever put your social security number on your resume. An employer does not need your social security number until you are officially hired. On job applications under the social security number field I have seen candidates write or type “available immediately upon hire.” This is a wise idea.
Including professional social networking links to your profiles in your job search and on your resume is smart if you have developed profiles. Yet check all your profiles for what information is visible about you. You can control these options at most social networking sites. You can have power over most of the information that is available about you.
Maintain your resume and social networking sites with current information. Eliminate any old or irrelevant data including past physical addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers that you might have provided. There is no point for leaving this information exposed for someone with bad intentions. In addition you want a potential employer to be able to contact you. If you have recently changed numbers or email addresses double check that you have updated your profile or resume with the new information. This, surprisingly, is a mistake that quite a lot people make.
Read the fine print or the terms and conditions of any website where you post your resume. Check to see if they have a privacy statement and if they sell or share your information. Understand how employers contact you and what information the website reveals to employers if any in addition to your resume.
Change your passwords as often as once a month on any website that contains information about you. This includes your social networking accounts. Use complex computer generated passwords whenever possible. You can keep these passwords and your user names organized with a password program that will remember your user names, log in pages, and passwords for you. They generally require you to remember or note only one master password for the program.
Because most job hunters are working hard to get a job they get excited when an employer contacts them. In the excitement many job hunters immediately respond to seemingly potential employers and often offer up any information they ask for. Verify any email or phone call is from a legitimate employer and that the person you are communicating with is employed there before you give out any personal information. If you cannot find any information on the employer such as a website, address, phone number and so on then terminate communications or proceed with extreme caution. There have been cases of impostors posing as employers to obtain private information.
Also be sure your email attached resume is virus free. This not only protects the recipient but can protect you as well. A virus can spread information about you that you do not want revealed. Your account information could be exposed or your entire email contact list. In addition an employer that gets an anti-virus warning about your email or attachments will usually delete the email and never notify you.
Copyright 2011 Phil Baker
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