Don’t Let Paranoia stop you from getting that new Job!

            Is someone going to see my private information?  Am I at risk for identity theft if I post a resume on the Internet?  The Internet has created a haven for the more unscrupulous to find way to victimize us…but some simple forethought can prevent everything.  Beside we are talking about finding a new job, bettering ourselves and our lifestyles…are we really going to let paranoia beat us? NO!

            Why would I even post a resume on a website that doesn’t currently have a position advertised I like?  Well, because the Internet moves at a nearly instant speed.  Let’s pretend for a moment…

            It is 9:37am Monday and you check CoosJobs.net for new positions.  You just checked late last night, and nothing you like is there.  You haven’t created a resume profile yet; you haven’t seen anything that fits your career desire.  You go away, check another website, then you check another; it is now 9:58am and an employer just logged in to CoosJobs.net to post a job.  You turn off your computer at 9:59am.  At 10:04am, that new employer (who just happens to have that dream job for you) is done creating a new listing and moves over to the resume search feature.  They are browsing through some resumes that are posted.  By 11:00am they found two they liked and have put out contacts for them to set up interviews.  Both of them will be interviewed the following morning.

            You decide to wait a day or two before checking back.  On Thursday morning at 8:57am you come back to our website, and look there is the job you want.  What you don’t know is there is a person right now shaking hands with the person who just accepted the job offer.  They never even applied for the job, at least not directly, and by the time you get your resume to them, they have already pulled the listing and there is no opening available.

            While this seems like a bit of an exaggerated example, but it has, and will happen again.  I even spent some time explaining this once to a jobseeker who could just not believe that it had happened to them.  That darned ol’ Murphy’s Law will get you every time if you let it. 

            Now let’s look at the protection aspect.  Resumes are not just randomly thrown out for anyone to see.  Job-posting sites have created this feature to assist employers in their job search – They are the ones who have access to view it.  It is these people that you not only want to know about you, but you want them to be able to get in contact with you.  Your name, contact number, e-mail, these are things you want to put in their hands.  As for the fear of these getting “into the wrong hands”, well folks, there are much easier ways for someone to get this info about you then trying to pull restricted information from a Job-listing website.  All jobseekers should (if they don’t already) have a specific e-mail just for their job search.  Most of your personal information, such as birthdays, social security numbers and family information, shouldn’t be in a resume anyway (this is a topic we will tackle another day). 

            Remember being successful in a job search means making sure that anyone who has a job for you can find you.  Using the Internet and posting your resume for Employers to view means you are job seeking even while you sleep…and that’s making your resume work!