by Evelyn Amaro
You have just finished writing your resume and you are now off into the scary world of internet job hunting. You head straight for the biggest online career websites (ex: Monster, Dice, etc…), and upload your resume. You feel confident that your future employer is out there and will soon see your resume. Soon the two of you will start a wonderful career partnership that all started with the click of a button. What you do not realize is that there are hidden dangers in posting your resume on the web that can be detrimental to your jobs search. Here are some tips to help you avoid these common mistakes.
1. Remove all contact information when posting a resume on the web. This is by far the easiest to avoid and the most detrimental mistake you could make while internet job hunting. Let’s run through some reasons why.
A) Run‐of‐the‐mill recruiters. What low‐end recruiters do is scan the job boards for potential candidates and send their resumes to their clients without your permission. It may seem harmless, but it could ruin your credibility and desirability in the job market. Imagine this scenario: You are a hiring manager looking to hire a candidate. You see the resume of John Doe and you think, “This guy could be a potential candidate for the job.” You put him in your yes pile and continue through the resumes. To your surprise, there is John Doe again from a different source – what a coincidence. After a few more emails, guess who turns up for another visit? Yes, it is John Doe. You decide this person is desperate or only interested in finding a job, not in your job. You go back to the yes pile, take out Mr. John Doe’s resume and toss it. Do you see why this is a problem now? It removes all credibility. Always remove your contact information and recruiters will be forced to contact you if they want to present you to their clients.
B) Ease of Information – Information is so easy to get and this is true more than ever in the job market. Let’s take the hiring manager scenario again. You are a hiring manager and have finished going through all of the resumes for your role. You take the yes pile and start to sort through your potential candidates. You take Ms. X’s resume and notice an email address. You punch it into Google and lo and behold, there are tons of links to her various social media site. Intrigued, you click on her Facebook link and right before your eyes are various pictures of Ms. X’s drunken party night and a status saying that she is at work exhausted from her night of partying. You, as the hiring manager, think “Seems like a great girl to party with, but do I really want an employee who is a party girl and may come to work drunk regularly?” The answer is no. I admit this example is a little extreme, but the general concept is quite true. Employers look at social media sites and the easiest way to tell if the employee whose resume is on your desk is the same one with the party pictures on your screen is through their contact information. This leads me to step 2.
2. Job Hunting Email Address ‐ Reserving an email address dedicated solely to job hunting will avoid the pitfalls that social media has on your job hunting endeavors. If an employer searches that email address, your name will come up clean. Now you can sigh in relief.
3. Track Everything – Keep track of who and where you send your resume. As in point A, you want to keep your credibility intact and you want to keep in contact with those you’ve met through the interview process (the joys of LinkedIn). You never know when you may come across these people (HR, Managers, and Recruiter) and where your connections could lead you.
