Confidentiality in an Electronic Résumé

"Confidentiality in an Electronic Résumé:

In using the Internet, you must take measures to protect your identity, so that your current employer does not find out that you are looking for a new position. You will also want to protect yourself from unsolicited contact from recruiters, vendors or service providers who may want to sell you something. Unsolicited references can be deadly and could cost you your current job. Although it has been rare, these situations are becoming more common. You don't want to risk being terminated by your current employer because you were caught looking. It is not only financially risky, it makes potential employers nervous about your commitment to your current company, and understandably makes them more reluctant to hire you.

Résumé banks offer varying degrees of confidentiality. Read the description of the security measures offered very carefully to decide what strategy you will want to use. Some job banks issue passwords to employers who are authorized to search the database. Some charge extra for confidential service. It is best to use the same amount of discretion in disclosing information to a résumé bank that you would to an employment agency, recruiter, or headhunter. You have to decide your own strategy about the type of information that you disclose on your résumé if using a job bank service. There are three essential areas of information often found on a résumé that can be used to easily track down someone. These are: education, career/work history, and clubs/associations.

Here are a few things you must remember:

Concerning education, when you put the date, institution name, and type of degree earned on your résumé, anyone with a telephone, fax, or computer can quickly find out who you are. Alumni associations freely give out this information. It is best to either leave off the name of the educational institution or the date you earned your degree. List only your advanced degree. Never list both an undergraduate and advanced degree. Even if you omit dates, it is not difficult to get alumni lists from the most logical three-year periods from both degrees. After earning an advanced degree, many people have a dramatic change in their employment history, making it easier for a potential employer to narrow down the date you received your degree.

When you list the name of a former employer and dates of employment, one telephone call will easily identify who you are. Since you want the potential employer looking at your electronic résumé to know the quality of the companies you have worked for, you should list the employers, the job titles you held, and your responsibilities, but do not include dates of employment to ensure your privacy.

Another way you might make it easy for potential employers to determine who you are is to list a specific project that you were involved in. Even if you omit dates, here again, one telephone call can usually identify you. Instead, list your accomplishments generically. If you list the names of the most recent and/or current employers, odds are that someone working there will remember you and be able to identify you. So it is best not to give the names of the employers you have worked for in the last 10 years.

Never list clubs or associations that you belong to. If you have any professional certifications or designations, never include the date or state where you are certified. This information can still be found out because all professional associations sell their lists of members, and more importantly, certification is a matter of public record. Give only the information you have to in order to ensure certification validation.

Job search discretion online is just as important in maintaining your confidentiality online." - from Monster.com

Copyright 2004 - Monster Worldwide, Inc. All Rights Reserved. You may not copy, reproduce or distribute this article without the prior written permission of Monster Worldwide. This article first appeared on Monster, the leading online global network for careers. To see other career-related articles visit <http://content.monster.com>.

<Note from JobFairy.com: We would not go so far as to recommend that you not list the names of your employers over the past 10 years. In fact, we recommend that you ONLY list the employers you have worked for over the past 10 years. However, we do strongly recommend that if there is an option for confidentiality, or to block searches from your current employer, that you do so. However, we heartily agree with the suggestion to leave most dates off your resume. Especially the dates of certification or degree. Remember that a resume is not a disclosure document, but an ad. Coca-Cola has to disclose its ingredients by law, but doesn't do so in the ad. Neither should you. When in doubt, follow the template to the letter. It will indicate when and where dates are appropriate.>