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January 15, 2008
Protecting Your Online Privacy
Michele Glaser recently sent us an article about using your LinkedIn profile as a resume.
The article's author, Alison Doyle, who is a job search expert with more than 20 years experience in human resources, career development, and job searching, writes that hiring managers and recruiters are using LinkedIn as a tool to find job candidates.
If that's the case, those of us who have profiles on LinkedIn or other venues need to decide what information to include -- and not include -- in them to protect our privacy.
Three questions come to my mind.
What rules do I follow to protect my privacy so I don't become vulnerable to stalkers, marketing scams etc.?
What information do I want a prospective employer to know about me?
What type of articles do I self-publish to enhance my career?
An eSight member recently e-mailed us about her concerns in these matters. She writes:
"...My concern (is) about allowing lots of info about oneself out on the Internet in a random fashion.
"(Consider this) example. I am a person living in a small town. By 'small town,'I mean a town which has few blind people in it. I write info about myself into some kind of service such as Facebook, MySpace or LinkedIn.
"I write in my profile that I am proud of the fact that I live alone and can do so well as a blind person. I give my name and my town, 'Anywhereville.'
"Now let's say there is a kid who is good at using the Internet. He knows how to use Google.
"He has a history of petty crime -- break-ins to houses where he steals stereos. He is not violent. He is good at technology and thinks of the whole thing as a challenge.
"He lives in Anywhereville.
"One day he is wandering through Facebook or MySpace. He sees my profile.
"Guess whose stereo goes missing? If I am lucky, I am not home. If I am unlucky, I get tied up or worse while he steals my stereo.
"Like it or not, blind and disabled people stand out in a community. Giving out contact info over the Net means all kinds of people can see it.
"The concern may be amplified if the person who is disabled is young, immature, mentally less careful than I am, female, or desperate for work and careless of risks being taken.
"I suggest you may want to make people aware of when it is appropriate to post material and what material is appropriate to post to what audience.
"Material I personally avoid includes my name (since it is unusual), my address, and my phone number. I post an e-mail address..."
The eSight Networking Forum is a safe place to discuss issues like this, so we can all learn from each other. I found the above observations helpful. I would like to hear how you approach this
issue of protecting your privacy as a job seeker, too.
What rules to protect you privacy do you follow in using online profiles as part of your job search?
Add your comments to this posting
Posted by Jim Hasse at January 15, 2008 01:30 PM
Comments
I've never created a job profile online, but I do think online privacy is very important. I have posted in forums such as this one, and I am very careful not to include any revealing details about myself. These would include, but are not limited to, street address and phone number. Also, I try to avoid giving out personal information such as my social security number, date of birth unless this is specifically asked for and reasons given merit my doing so. I try to avoid chat rooms at all costs, because I've heard bad things have happened to people. Another thing that I think is very important is researching the company before participating in any online discussions, to make sure the company is legitimate and not trying to scam its potential customers or online visitors. In the case of eSight, I had previously heard about it from a job coach who worked with me for a short time. He gave me the web address and I looked over the website, and what he told me is in fact true. Several years later I was doing some online research for another project, and came across The Associated Blind, Inc. Upon reading through the website I found out that it is the parent company of eSight, so I immediately knew I could trust the content found in these forums and in other places on the website.
Posted by: Jake at January 15, 2008 09:26 PM
The, "small town, Lady", certainly expressed, some well thought out, information to be carefully considered.
The, Shot Gun, approach to job finding is most unproductive. Most Newspaper Ads, are used for advertising the Company and for research purpose's. The person with a Disability will be more successful when utilizing a carefully planned , job seeking, approach.
Individual's should always remain in charge of their job search, however, they also should utilize the State-Federal, Vocational, Rehabilitation, job placement service's, which are, both confidential and free.
CFS
San Antonio, Texas
Posted by: C. Fred Stout at January 18, 2008 11:04 AM