7 TIPS FOR MAINTAINING YOUR PRIVACY WHILE SEARCHING FOR A JOB

Sarah Kearns

Putting yourself out there online is pretty much unavoidable in today’s job searching climate. Email communication and online applications are the norm, and nobody wants to deal with the hassle of sending things via snail-mail anymore. It’s important to be aware that there are many security and privacy concerns with online job searching, and we’ve compiled some tips for maintaining your privacy while searching for a job.

WATCH WHAT YOU SHARE

There are a lot of things that you can do anonymously on the internet, but a job search isn’t one of them. You will need to provide your real information to potential employers and you can be sure that they’re going to look you up. Make sure that any social media content that you post is appropriate or better yet, use separate social media accounts for work and personal life, and keep your personal privacy settings locked down.

ACTIVELY SEARCH FOR OPPORTUNITIES 

Instead of putting your resume out onto the internet for anyone to find, try actively seeking out the jobs you’re interested in and sending your resume directly to the hiring manager. This can reduce the exposure that your resume gets, and may require more work on your part, but it will also reduce the number of contacts you get for jobs that you have no interest in.

BEWARE UPLOADING YOUR RESUME

Making your resume searchable is a terrible way to open yourself up to unwanted problems. One of the biggest problems is those unsolicited job offers for jobs that are completely irrelevant to you, that can feel like spam in your inbox. Another problem is that scammers can pull any information on your resume and use it to cross-reference things like your social media accounts to get your birth-date and then steal your identity.

BE CAUTIOUS WITH YOUR EMAIL

When you receive unsolicited emails from people offering employment it’s frequently going to be a scam, or a fishing attempt to get your information. Beware of any offers that don’t have a detailed job description, and make sure you run any attachments through an anti-virus program before you open them. Some offers from recruiters may be legitimate but are usually only in highly-specialised fields of employment and should be easy to pick out from the rest.

SET UP A VPN

A great way to protect your personal information online is to work through a secure VPN connection. These can help to keep your location and other identifying information concealed, as well as prevent your communications from being intercepted and your personal information exposed to those it was not intended for.

MAKE SURE WEBSITES ARE SECURE

If you’re putting in an online application to any employer, double check to make sure that the website is secure. A quick way is to see if it has an “https://” at the beginning of the address, but there are other ways to ensure it as well. This will ensure that your personal information is protected when you are submitting it.

WATCH OUT FOR RECRUITERS

A common problem that people are running into is recruiters getting their hands on your resume, and then aggressively submitting it to many different jobs without your permission. If their client is interested, they will then contact you. You may have already applied for the job, and if one (or more) recruiters then try to submit your resume, the potential employer might dismiss your legitimate attempt to find a job as spam.

Taking the time to research potential issues when responding to a job advertisement or offer can be a great way to help protect yourself from online identity theft or other problems. Follow these tips to help you maintain your privacy while searching for a job.

About author: Sarah Kearns is a hard working mother of three daughters. She is a Senior Communications Manager for BizDb, an online resource with information about businesses in the UK. She loves cooking, reading history books and writing about green living.