A Case for Annonymity - A Job Seeker’s Ally

Here we are in 2009 - still feeling the effects from 2008 in many ways.  With so many of our citizens unemployed or in fear of joining their unemployed brethren I can only imagine the rush to post resumes on the plethora of job boards out there.  Here’s a case NOT TO for all you would be job seekers or bet hedgers.

Now I know, you are told by everyone from your barber to your Father-in-law that if you are unemployed or about to be unemployed, you need to market yourself like Billy Mays (Oxyclean - classic pitch guy) markets miracle scratch removers.  I agree that you need to network like crazy and make sure people you trust know you are in the market.  HOWEVER, to post a resume on the Internet opens you to everything from spam to identity theft.

An article I read over the holiday points out that posting your resume on a typical job board can be at least annoying, at worst dangerous.

Be a lazy Google millionaire. Earn $64 an hour from home. Get 250 business cards free.

These are just some of the 80-plus junk e-mail messages, known as spam, that are pouring into John Gembecki’s inbox on a daily basis since he started looking for a job in July.

Gembecki is sure that every piece of spam is a result of the resumes he put on Monster.com and other employment sites because he created a Gmail account for his job search that he doesn’t use for anything else.

Leave it to spammers to take advantage of the underemployed but this is a true risk of posting resumes on any job board.

There are, however, alternatives which allow you to build a profile (not upload a resume - remember the “lazy google millionaire” - take the time and build a profile from scratch) and remain anonymous.  You only get contacted for opportunities that you define and you never divuldge your identity until you are contacted by a company (yes, an actual company) who has something of interest to you.  AllianceQ is built on one of these new technologies - QuietAgent.

Take the old addage in Recruiting that a job search is like dating.  If you wanted a date would you post your phone number and address on the supermarket billboard?  Nope, you’d probably go to eHarmony or Match.com and see what’s out there before you reveal yourself.  Smart strategy in dating, smart strategy in job seeking.

January 5, 2009 | Filed Under Industry Perspectives | Leave a Comment 

Frustrated Job Seekers

Completing the concept that a fragmented internet recruiting world is ruining online recruiting, here is an article that touches on the job seeker frustration.  In it, Jennifer Hamm mentions some of the frustrations:

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September 23, 2008 | Filed Under Industry Commentary, Industry Perspectives | Leave a Comment