The Employment Report

Never are you more vulnerable than during the hunt for a new job, especially if you’ve been unemployed for a financially dangerous amount of time. You’re frantically scouring the job boards and want ads for something, anything that you can do to avoid sinking into an impossibly deep debtor’s hole. With that fear pulsating through your nervous system, your emotions are going haywire because you’ve sent out dozens of résumés with no responses making you feel inadequate or like an unemployable waif.

Then, you read an article about how that job application you just filled out online is actually a portal for some miscreant to steal your identity! Great, those last few precious points on your credit score you were hoping would last you through Christmas are now gone. You pray that the kids like card games because all you’ll be able to afford to get them this year is the half-price deck down at the dollar store.

Now, take a moment to calm down; if for no other reason than that line of thinking exhausts me and I need a minute to rest. After you’ve had a chance to do that, think back on that application you filled out. What specifically did it ask of you? How much personal information did you give?

Jobseekers are extremely vulnerable to identity theft or phishing schemes. Criminals will set up fraudulent job applications to entice people to enter vital information which can be used to drain bank or credit card accounts. Even worse, they can use your vital information to obtain credit cards or loans that they never intend on repaying which sticks you with the bill and the bad credit rating.

This unpleasant scenario can be avoided by being vigilant and taking a common sense approach to what information you give out and which you don’t.

Social Security Number

This is the big one. Guard this one with your life. This is the number one way for a criminal to steal your identity. With this information anyone can fill out credit card applications, loan applications – everything that can be used to run up debt in your name.

Credit Card or Bank Account Numbers

Like your social security number, a potential employer has no need for any of this information. If you’re being asked to enter these as a form of payment for the job board service – stop! Never pay for job seeking services online. It should go without saying, but it’s important to say it anyway: you should not have to pay someone to get a job. That’s just inverse logic. Why would you pay to get paid?

Internet User Names and Passwords

Most people don’t fall for this one since there aren’t any justifiable reasons why an employer would ever need this information. But, phishing schemes being what they are, it’s important to mention that you should never give out user names or passwords for any account you do business on regardless of whether it’s under the guise of a job application or not.

Email Address

Many people can be very reticent about giving out their email addresses for fear of incessant spamming. Personally, this never bothered me. To me, it’s not the same as physical junk mail because there’s nothing to clog up landfills – it’s all electronic.

However, if the dangers of “unwanted spam” will cripple you with fear, there’s a reasonably safe alternative to avoid it. When on the job hunt use a free email service such as offered by Google or Yahoo and set up an account. Keep the email service hosted by your internet provider for personal use – friends, family, close co-workers – and send everything else to this new account. That way, if the email account gets too much junk mail, you can always abandon it and set up a new one, rebooting the whole process.

Name and Physical Address

On its own, your name and address can’t be used for much of anything. This is public information available in most phone books or city hall record rooms. However, coupled with your social security number it can be very dangerous. Therefore the rules about protecting your social security, credit card, bank accounts, etc. apply here. So long as the application doesn’t ask for any of those, you can give them you name and address with confidence

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Whether you’re out of work or simply looking to upgrade your job, throwing résumés out into the world can play havoc with your self esteem. You feel judged and inadequate due to the dozens of companies that don’t even respond to you. Don’t compound that frustration with needless worries about your security. Common sense is the best weapon against paranoia. Apply some to your job search and it will be far less stressful than it needs to be.