Your personal information is your identity. While looking for jobs online, you often share your resumes or generate resumes on traditional resume builders without checking their privacy policies. Protecting your data should be your top priority in this cyber age, where scammers and cybercriminals always search for victims like you. In this blog, we will share the best tips for creating a resume using a safe resume builder, how to look for jobs online safely, and the benefits.
Top 7 Tips For Maintaining Privacy While Job Hunting in 2024
1. Use a Dedicated Email Address for Job Applications
The best way to protect your online privacy is to use or create a separate email address for job searching. Do not add sensitive details like birth year, full name, or any other details that reveal your identity. For example, carolinejobs@gmail.com.
Benefit: Using a separate email for job hunting can keep your personal inbox free from spam. It also helps you reduce phishing attacks, primarily targeting email accounts connected to your bank or social media accounts.
2. Avoid Sharing Too Much Personal Information
Do not add sensitive details like your full home address, marital status, date of birth, contact details, and social security number to your resume. Potential employers do not usually require these details, and if they want to contact you, they will reach out to you via your professional email.
Benefit: Doing so helps you in limiting your personal information to cybercriminals.
3. Be Cautious with Social Media Links
Share only your LinkedIn profile link on your resume, which should have all the relevant information to help you in your professional career. Also, make sure you are not oversharing about yourself and that your privacy settings are up to date on LinkedIn.
Benefit: This will prevent hiring bias and prevent potential employers from accessing sensitive information like age, religion, marital status, or caste, which could create a negative perception of you.
4. Use Secure Online Resume Builders
Before choosing traditional resume builders:
- Check whether they prioritize privacy.
- Give complete control to users.
- Hide sensitive data behind QR codes.
- Offer secure options for sharing your resume.
With Vionaa, there is no need to worry because it provides all these features to anonymize your resume.
Benefit: Using a safe resume builder helps you safeguard your data from identity thieves and reduces the risk of bias during the hiring process.
5. Monitor Your Digital Footprint
Always be mindful of what you post or share with your online friends or acquaintances on social media or job portals. You can Google yourself from time to time to see what information is visible to the public. If details like your date of birth or marital status are available publicly, then make sure to take steps to remove or hide that content.
Benefit: Controlling your online presence will help you protect your privacy and maintain your professional image.
6. Verify Job Postings and Employers
Cybercriminals or scammers often pose as legitimate recruiters from a reputed firm. They only want to steal and use your personal information for the wrong purposes. Always make sure to do thorough research on companies and job postings before sharing your resumes. Only share your sensitive details once you have confirmed the legitimacy of the recruiter, the employers, and the company.
Benefit: Verifying jobs before applying helps you to get the perfect job without falling for job scams and compromising your personal data.
7. Use Encrypted Communication Channels
Always use encrypted email or secure file-sharing services before sharing your resumes or other job application documents with recruiters. Nowadays, various paid encrypted services are available that protect your communications from being intercepted by cybercriminals.
Benefit: Using such services or channels helps protect your identity while hunting for a job.
Summing Up
Follow the tips mentioned in this blog, such as using a dedicated email address, choosing a secure resume builder, not oversharing, and becoming a safe resume user. Also, share this blog with other job candidates to spread awareness because everyone’s privacy matters.
