Job Searching in Cyberspace: Enter at Your Own Risk, Grad School Article

You've probably heard the story about some guy who posted his resume to an Internet job search site and is still getting calls about it two years later. Most people think these tales are urban myths and say, "that would never happen to me." The bad news is, it could. Pam Dixon, author of Job Searching Online for Dummies, conducted an experiment to see just how far and wide resumes could circulate after being posted on the Internet. "When I researched the first edition of this book, I posted hundreds of resumes as a test," says Dixon. "Amazingly, I discovered that my resumes got circulated to foreign countries, databases I had never heard of, and recruiters I didn't know." The good news is that you can prevent it. All it takes is preparation and know-how. There are two main ways to find a job via the Internet: passive and aggressive. You can employ both methods in your job search but be aware of their advantages and disadvantages. The "passive" method involves posting a resume on a website such as Monster or HotJobs. The advantage is that you simply have to enter your information once. One disadvantage is that you often have to conform to a pre-set resume format which asks for a lot of personal information. "Applicants are asked to give a plethora of information over the web," says Rosanna Koppelmann, a graduate of the Master of Public Administration program at the University of Alaska at Anchorage. "Beware of the online job application that asks for a social security number. Never give your [SSN]." While you might think twice about giving your SSN, what about a mailing address, phone number, or present employer - they seem innocuous enough. After all, a potential employer needs these details to consider you for a position so you have to post them, right? This is the biggest myth of all. The fact is that you are releasing personal information into a domain where you no longer have control over it - and that's incredibly dangerous. It can result in what Dixon calls "reverse spamming," which is when your resume is copied from one database to another without your permission. As a result, it can float around the Internet for years. This could mean being deluged with job offers long after you've found a position, or worse. Those seemingly innocuous details are gold to identity thieves. With such information, they can apply for jobs you would never dream of, or use it to gather other information about you in order to obtain credit cards in your name, and get you into a lot of trouble. Dixon says that companies like Monster do protect the personal information of job seekers and prevent reverse spamming by installing password-protected databases which only qualified employers can access. But take a look at Monster's "privacy commitment," included in their website's fine print: "We attempt to limit access to our searchable resume database . . . but cannot guarantee that other parties will not gain access. We are not responsible for the use made of resumes by third parties who access such resumes while they are in our searchable database." (Excerpt from http://about.monster.com/privacy/.) The privacy policies of other job websites have similar statements. Perhaps you should imagine an "enter at your own risk" sign before you click "submit." So how can you safely use the Internet as a job search tool? By getting "aggressive." Instead of posting your personal information all over the web and hoping someone offers you a job, take total control over your job search: access job listings, research companies, and send applications directly to companies via e-mail or traditional means. Sounds pretty straight-forward, right? It is but there are some things to remember. "Don't assume that, because you're applying for a job online, it's OK to omit a cover letter, or a resume, or to be casual in your correspondence," says Abigail Leah Plumb, librarian and information specialist at Lippincott Williams & Williams, a medical publisher in New York. "Speaking as a hirer, it's a real turn-off." Observe job search netiquette. Do not use your current company's e-mail address (not only is it inappropriate, but also grounds for dismissal); instead, sign up for a Yahoo account. Use professional language, even if it's