Please beware that in times of economic stress like these the “creative thinkers” of the world view job seekers as opportunities to be harvested.  Even in good times there are thousands of bogus job sites out there, as well as millions (probably) of bogus jobs posted.

Check a job site thoroughly before you use it or recommend it!

• Be VERY wary of a “job site” which has no physical home.  You click on the “Contact” and “About” pages, if available, and find only fluffy words about their mission and goals and how great they are or a form to be completed or, possibly, an 800 number to be called – but NO concrete address and phone number with a “real” Area Code and NO person’s name given.  Don’t use it!For many of these, when you check the domain registration, which should lead you to who actually owns the site, the registration is “private” so there is no contact information published.  Or the contact information provided belongs to something or someone else. [All it takes to register a .com, .org, or other domain is a valid credit card and an internet connection.]
• Watch out for phishing – “monster.domain.com” and “www.domain.com/monster” are NOT “monster.com.”  Look in the browser’s location bar to see EXACTLY what you are viewing (and recommending).  Leave immediately if you see a site pretending to be what it is not.

Resume information is very valuable on the open market, and selling access to it is a major revenue source for many – but not all – legitimate job sites.  That’s why most people posting resumes on the big boards are inundated with junk mail.

More information for safe use of the Internet for job search:

• Choosing a Job Site – http://www.job-hunt.org/choosing.shtml
• How Scam-Proof Are you? (a short quiz with the solutions) http://www.job-hunt.org/onlinejobsearchguide/article_scam-proof.shtml
• Dangerous Online Job Search Assumptions – http://www.job-hunt.org/article_dangerous_assumptions.shtml

As the old Hill Street Blues sergeant used to tell the watch as they headed out for duty, “Be careful out there!”  Same goes!