By: JDS
One of the most common questions asked online these days is, ìHow can I job search and keep my personal information private?î. In the past, job searching was done by reading classifieds in a printed newspaper and sending out a hard cover resume and cover letter for a specific job knowing what company was going to be receiving the information. This gave us all a sense of security. In this day and age, it is much faster, cost effective, and easier to search for jobs on the Internet. However, doing this causes great concern for many and a sticky situation for others.
What is a sticky situation? One user recently wrote to us and described the following situation: ìI was applying for a job listed online at a career site. The next day my manager asked me why I was looking for a new job!î In this situation, the job seeker had posted their resume online without thinking about his identity and protection. A word of advice when posting your resume online: look for a job site that allows you to mark your resume confidential. If the site will not allow you to do this, you may want to look elsewhere. An example of a site that allows ìconfidential job searchî is SwapJobs.com. Their feature allows the job seeker to search jobs and then click on a link to post their resume to that job online. The recruiter or employer that reviews the posted resume will only see the body of the resume and not personal information. Potential employers can still contact job seekers by their email address, but have no access to any further personal information. The job seeker does have the option to cut and past personal information into the body of their resume, but it is not recommended.
Sticky situations can happen often, and they can happen in a variety of ways. It is tricky to keep your job search confidential while you are still employed. Many of the bigger job boards have addressed the issue head on. Some, such as Monster.com, SwapJobs.com and HotJobs.com, now have a way to mark your resume confidential. Following are a few suggestions that may keep you out of any sticky situations as you move on with your job search.
Most job sites allow you to ìblockî certain companies from seeing your resume when you post. You will want to block your current employer. However, because many employers can now create multiple user ids with various email address by using hotmail.com or yahoo.com, this is not as effective as in the past.
In your cover letter, state that your application for this position, or any other position that might be open, is ìconfidential, and request that your present employer not be contacted without your written permission.
Leave off the name of your current employer. In the place where you would list the company, put ìconfidential, will be provided during an interviewî. This is a very effective way of keeping your current employer ìhiddenî.
Look for a job site that has ìconfidentialî resume posting. An easy way to tell is to do a quick job search and see if jobs are posted ìconfidentialî. If so, then it is most likely the resume posting will be ìconfidentialî as well.
Specifically note in the body of your resume that your application is ìconfidentialì. You can do this by writing ìconfidentialî next to your current employer or by putting it in ALL CAPS at the top of your resume.
If your current employer does somehow get hold of your resume, you must repair the damage done ASAP. We highly recommend truthfully explaining the situation. Turn this sticky situation into an opportunity to communicate with your manager. There must be things you are unhappy with at your current job or you wouldnít be applying for other jobs. Take the time and try to reach a resolution with your current employer.
The above example is a very unfortunate incident, but it does happen. Donít get caught in this situation. You can take the steps to protect the confidentiality of your resume with the above suggestions, or you may contact us for more information at www.swapjobs.com.
SwapJobs.com, Inc.
Column@swapjobs.com
Confidential Job Search - Donít Get In A Sticky Situation
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