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Career Job Boards and What Every Job Seeker Should Know
After you post your resume, it is usually out of your control. Generally, job sites do not have the ability to track or control how a recruiter or employer uses your resume after it has been downloaded. Most sites are pretty good about watching for problems.
These practices are frowned upon and enforced by the terms of use agreements with employers and recruiters. But keep in mind there are risks involved in posting a resume in a database.
Watch out for job scams
The job offer you see might not be for a real job. After you post your resume, you may be contacted by someone trying to scam you with a fake job offer. This is becoming a very serious problem in online job searching. Here are some red flags that should alert you to these scams.
Have you been asked for your social security number? Have you been asked to scan your ID or driver’s license and send it in? Have you been asked to do a money transfer as part of your duties? Have you been asked to respond to e-mails that describe high-paying jobs that require you to sign up for an eBay, PayPal or Western Union account, and to transfer monies in any one of these modes?
If you answered yes to any one of these, then this is likely a scam. It is best to report them to the job board where it was posted.
General job descriptions usually don’t offer much of an opportunity
After posting your resume, you should start getting responses. Be wise and selective about offers, because not all offers are worth your time.
If you get an e-mail that asks you to send a resume to a new email address or to “update” your resume on a new job site, think twice, especially when you do not see a credible job being offered with a verifiable company. Some companies get you to send a new resume just so they can put it in their resume database.
You have a few options when you post your resume. You can do an anonymous posting, which lets you hide your contact information or e-mail address when you post a resume. This resume posting option allows you to control who contacts you.
You can also get selective and only post information about your background that specific employers are looking for. Unfortunately, few job seekers take advantage of this option. You can also post your resume online for the world to see.
This method is normally used by job seekers who are not working and would like to explore opportunities by a variety of companies.
Some resume job boards are better than others
You’ll find a variety of job boards and resume databases online, and some only serve specific industries or occupations. Before you post your resume to any database, read the site’s privacy policy. This will tell you if your information is being protected and how your information is being used.
Some of the better job boards will state that they do not sell your private information to marketing companies. If you post to boards that sell your information to marketing companies, you will probably start getting bombarded with spam soon after.
If the website does not have a privacy policy posted, you should be especially cautious about posting a resume to that website.
How frequently should you check the website where you have your resume posted?
You should pay attention to how long a resume website says it will keep or store your resume. Many job seekers overlook this.
Some sites state their retention time in their privacy policy, usually between one and six months, after which the site will delete your resume.
Without specific written statements about how long your resume may be kept, your resume can be searched for years. Most job seekers do not want resumes circulating after they have secured a job, so check to make sure there is a limited posting time before you post a resume.
If you are not sure about how long it will stay on the website, contact them to ask. You should have the option to delete or change anything on your online profile at any time.
Keep good records of your job search
Make sure you keep a record of where you have posted your resume online. Include in that record all e-mail correspondence and any online profiles you compiled.
You should print out a copy of the posted job advertisement, save a snapshot, or cut and paste to a Word document so you can refer to it if you are called for a phone or in-person interview. Don’t be in a hurry to delete old correspondence from your record.
Some employers keep resumes on file for a period of six to 12 months in case new positions come up.
Different e-mail addresses for website posting advertisements
There are a few good reasons why you should have different e-mail addresses. You should set up an address for responding to “blind” career opportunities, or those from companies that post ads without their company information.
In essence, you are doing the same thing. Using an e-mail address that you can cancel anytime is a good way to keep your information private. Expect to be inundated with spam, so don’t give out your name, phone number, or home address when setting up these e-mail accounts.
Two important things to omit when applying online
You may end up going to quite a few career websites, and you will probably create resume profiles that can be searched by recruiting firms and employers directly. Never volunteer your social security number or references on any websites. These can be furnished at a later phase of the interview process.
For other job related statistics and relevant data, you can visit the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics website at www.bls.com