As you get ready to start your first search, it’s important to remember that your identity is a valuable asset. With so many of us looking for new opportunities, identity thieves have started targeted employment sites. I don’t know about you, but I feel there’s enough to worry about out there—now people are trying to steal your identity, too?
Chief marketing officer of TrustedID, Lyn Chitow Oakes, suggests eight ways to protect your identity while hunting for a job:
1. Before posting information on a job search site, do some online research to ensure that the site where you are posting your information is legitimate. Read their service agreements and learn more about the site from others who have visited. Check the blogs, community boards and search for comments online.
2. Think about how much personal information to put on your résumé. Some information, such as your Social Security number, driver’s license number and date of birth, should never be posted on your résumé, and there is never a circumstance in which you should give a prospective employer a scan of your driver’s license, credit card number, bank account information, SSN or date of birth. Requests for this information are usually an indication of a job scam.
3. Additional information to protect. Posting names and phone numbers of your references can put identities at risk, and it is very easy for anyone to call your college to request directory information without your consent.
4. Be careful about how much information is shared during phone interviews, at job fairs and via e-mail and phone conversations. All legitimate businesses or recruiters will not ask for your SSN or other information until after you have begun a formal interview process.
5. Don’t accept or give money. Never, ever agree to have funds or paychecks deposited to any of your accounts by a new or untested employer, and never forward, transfer, wire or hold money for an employer.
6. Beware of a contact e-mail address that is not the primary domain of the company.
7. Post your résumé privately on job sites. This will allow you to decide who sees your real information, such as your home address.
8. Create an e-mail address for communicating with prospective employers. Doing so will allow you to close down an e-mail account if you begin to receive spam, and this may help mitigate the risk of having your identity compromised.
For more career advice, visit my new blog at HeatherHuhman.com.
Comments
Great article except for #7. If you set your resume to 'private', employers aren't going to find you. In this economy employers are very unlikely to post jobs and recruit applicants - instead they are sourcing candidates from job boards based on candidate searches. Not allowing them to search and find your resume is like being invisible to them. This is one of the biggest mistakes job seekers make. Don’t allow your paranoia to kill your chances of finding employment! If you worry about privacy, there are many other ways to make your resume more confidential, such as leaving off last name, putting “CONFIDENTIAL” instead of your actualy company names, etc.
Megan,
The "private" setting actually just hides your contact information to the public -- it doesn't hide your resume altogether.
But you make a great point about making your resume easy to find. If they can't find you, they can't hire you!
Thanks for the comment.
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