Job Seekers' Guide to Resumes: Twelve Resume Posting Truths.
It is important to circulate a resume when looking for work, but these days criminals and identity thieves are all too interested in finding and using resumes for all the wrong reasons. In the information economy, your resume has a “street value.” It's sad to say, but unfortunately your name, home address, telephone number, even your detailed work history can have value to identity thieves and fraudsters. It is also important to protect your resume from people and businesses who want to use it primarily to make a profit instead of primarily to help you find employment.
To minimize your risk factors while you look for a job, it is important to learn when and where to post a resume. It's also important to know what kind of job offers to respond to and what ones are best to ignore. The key is to attract legitimate employers while at the same time avoiding the people and fraudulent businesses that can potentially harm you. Circulate your resume by all means, but take care to avoid exposure to bad actors who don't have your best interests at heart.
Truth #1: If you're going to post a resume online, post your resume "privately."
Most job sites offer anonymous posting that lets you mask your contact information and email address when you post a resume. This resume posting option allows you to decide who sees your real information, such as your home address. Masking this information is perhaps the single most important step job seekers who want to post a resume online can take to protect themselves.
Unfortunately, few job seekers take advantage of this option. Most job seekers are concerned that they are hurting their chances with legitimate employers by making them take an extra step. But at this point, it is simply not a good idea to post your resume openly -- there are known risks at this point. If you are going to post a resume online, private posting should be the only way you post it.
The goal is to avoid having your full legal name, your home address, your phone number, and your detailed work history, hobbies, and perhaps even references floating around online and eventually getting into the wrong hands. This is information only a legitimate employer should receive, and you can help by taking advantage of private posting options job sites usually offer.
If you still want to post a resume openly, read Tip #7 about using a P.O. Box and a disposable email address and Tip # 8 about what information you may want to leave off of your resume.
Truth #2: Write a proper reference contact.
This reference contact is important for you to get the job. Employers will contact your list to check the authenticity of your experience which you listed in your resume. The best content to write in this part is to use your social-network. These people will make your applicantion more persuasible.The social-network is fatal factor for your work present and future. Good scoial-network can improve your efficiecy, not only on the work itself but also good for your entire future career path.(job-hunting, recruit, professional personal development etc.)<a href="
"http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0oGkmPLtLlH0mQB31xXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTFlcm5yMzlpBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA3NrMQR2dGlkA00wMDFfOTEEbANXUzEEcXQDZHE-/SIG=11koug7bg/EXP=1203439179/**http://www.insidersreferral.com/ ">The Free Insiders Referral Network of jobs - insidersreferral com</a> is such tool for your to build such useful network. To expand and enhence your social-network and make it more useful, just go and check it up.
Truth #3: Not every job offer you see is for a real job -- some jobs are just scams.
After you post your resume, you may hear from a person offering you a job that is a scam. Fake job scams have become a very serious problem in online job searching, as detailed in the World Privacy Forum "Job Fraud" report. There are usually some clear tip-offs that a job may be a scam. For example:
* Does the job ask you to scan your ID or drivers' license and send it in?
* Does the job ask you to transfer money as part of your duties?
* Does the job description mention e-Bay, Pay Pal, or Western Union?
* Does the potential employer ask you for bank account numbers, or your Social Security number?
If any of the above are true, please understand that you may be looking at a fraudulent job. See the WPF detailed consumer tips on avoiding job fraud <
<http://www.worldprivacyforum.org/jobscamtipspayforwarding.html > for more information about job scams and how to avoid them.
Truth #4: The more general the email “job” offer, the less valid it usually is.
So you posted your resume, and now you are getting responses. Be wise and discerning. Not every offer is worth your time. Some job offers are outright scams (see truth #3) and some job offers are just attempts to get you to post your resume on a new job site. Other job offers are simply marketing emails to get you to spend money on "help" finding a job.
Private resume posting will cut down on these kinds of emails, but it will not cure the entire problem. Even if you post your resume privately, you will have to be smart about what emails you choose to respond to.
Red flags to look out for include:
* Any email where someone promises to "help you find your dream job" .... but only after you have paid a fancy fee.
* Email from self-help gurus or entrepreneurs who promise to help you "fulfill your potential" ..... but only after you have paid to attend their expensive workshop.
* Email from a recruiter who "has a great opportunity at a major company" ........ but can't seem to come up with a specific company name or a specific job.
* Email from anyone claiming that they have a great opportunity for a "responsible financial manager" ...... but they only want to interview you by phone before they hire you. (See truth #3 about job scams.)
* Email from a person who wants you to "post your resume here" .... but doesn't tell you that they may be getting paid a small referral fee for getting you to do this.
Of course, you can get a legitimate job offer after you post a resume. In the World Privacy Forum year-long Job Search Study, research showed that the best job offers usually came within the first month of the resume being posted. After that, the quality of the responses dropped fairly dramatically. If your resume has been posted online for several months, it is a good idea to just take it down and start over.
Truth #5: Even the most careful, conscientious sites cannot control your resume after someone has downloaded it.
After you have posted your resume, it can be downloaded and used in ways you may never have imagined, and may not like. Job sites do not have the ability to control how a recruiter or employer uses your resume after it is has been downloaded. Most sites watch for problems - such as rapid resume downloads -- and enforce terms of use agreements with employers and recruiters. But let the job seeker beware. When it comes to resume databases, the job sites put the responsibility on the job seeker to understand the risks involved in posting a resume online.
The bottom line: after you have posted your resume openly, you have almost no control over how it will be used, by whom, or for how long. You can ease this problem by posting your resume privately, with your contact information hidden.
Truth #6: Unless you are applying to the Federal or State government, never put a Social Security Number on your resume.
Please, keep your SSN off of your resume, and be very cautious about emailing it to people who ask for it. You should only give your SSN to an employer after you have fully validated them as a legitimate employer. Beware of fake job offers, especially those for "work at home" offers.
The most common situation is that a fake employer will get your resume, then ask you for your SSN or a scan of your driver's license saying that they need a background check before they can hire you. Unless you have physically visited the place of employment or have fully validated the employer by checking with the Better Business Bureau and other agencies, then do not send your SSN, especially through email.
Remember, most legitimate employers will move slowly in the hiring process and will want to interview you one, two, or more times before they officially sign you on as an employee. A fake employer will try to rush you through the process, so you don't have time to think through possible consequences.
Truth #7: Using a disposable email address and a P.O. Box can save you from many headaches later on.
It is not a good idea to post a resume openly online. But if you decide to post your resume to a site that does not allow you to mask your identity, then mask it yourself. Use an email address that you can cancel if you start getting spam, and don’t give out your full name, phone number, or home address. Use a post office box, and do not give your street address to an employer until you have verified them fully.
Even if you post your resume privately, it is still a good idea to use "disposable" contact information that does not tie back to your street address or place of residence. If a data breach occurs at an online job site, disposable contact information may help mitigate some of the potential risk, depending on the type of breach.
Truth #8: Things to omit from your resumes if you post it online...your references, for sure. Your school name, possibly.
When you post a resume online, there are some categories of information you need to think about leaving off. First, references. If you put your references’ names and phone numbers on your resume,