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One primary source of revenue for many job sites
is the revenue generated by selling employers access to the database of resumes registered by job seekers. For some job sites, anyone who can afford the cost gains access, with minimal screening done to ensure that the purchasers
actually have jobs to fill.
[And you should also know that there bogus job sites collecting information from job seekers. See the job search scam articles for more information.]
So,
your complete work history, education, and contact information are
available to anyone who can pay the access fee -- employers and recruiters,
hopefully, but also sales people, scammers, identity thieves, etc.
What
are the risks of not protecting your privacy?
- If you
have a job and your employer finds your resume online, you could
be fired.
Employers have always viewed job-seeking employees as "disloyal"
- potential risks for taking clients and/or confidential information
to a competitor. In most cases, firing you for job hunting
is perfectly legal in the United States.
This problem has a dangerous corollary: after you've landed
your new job, your new employer finds your old resume
online, and calls you on the carpet (or fires you) for your supposedly
continued job search efforts.
- Someone
could steal your identity.
Identity theft is the #1 online fraud in the United States, according
to the FBI. Your resume has almost everything necessary
to take over your identity and your credit. If your Social Security
Number ("SSN") is on your resume in the U.S., an identity
thief has everything they need - so don't put your SSN on your
resume!
- You may
be buried with "spam" (bulk unsolicited commercial e-mail)
as well as direct marketing to your home or business.
So even if you don't have a job to protect, you probably don't
want your e-mail inbox filled with junk mail, your phone ringing
in the middle of dinner, etc.
- Someone
interested in harming you can find you easily.
Your resume, with completed contact and employment information
provides vital information for them to find you. This is
why you should use a cyber-safe
version.
- Ethically-challenged,
commission-based recruiters may ruin job opportunities for you.
(Commission-based recruiters get paid their commission - typically
a percentage of the annual salary - if a candidate they referred
is hired.)
Without your knowledge or permission, the recruiter may "shop"
your resume around to employers. Why is this NOT good?
- Because you and your experience may be misrepresented, giving
the employer a bad impression of YOU.
- If you have sent that employer a resume yourself, you could
lose out on a job because the employer may not want to hassle
with the recruiter over a commission payment that may, or
may not, be due to the recruiter.
- You will be more expensive to hire than someone else with
the same salary, because of the commission due to the recruiter.
- Your resume may be so widely distributed that it becomes
"junk mail," reducing your market value.
Note: All recruiters are not bad. A good recruiter, one who
knows you and works with you to find appropriate opportunities,
can be a big help. In some fields, and at some levels
(like executive and senior management), recruiters paid by retainer
(vs. commission) are THE source of job opportunities. (See John
Lucht's RiteSite.com for
a list of true executive recruiters.)
Now that you understand why privacy protection is critical, read How to Protect Your Privacy while Job Hunting Online.
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