Job Boards & Linked In:  Your Employer May Be Looking, So Keep Things Confidential

• Many employers routinely check Monster, Ladders, Linked In and other resume banks to find out which of their employees are actively looking for jobs. 
  

• If you’re employed, make sure that your resumes are posted confidentially on the job boards, and be careful about how your Linked In profile reads.

Assume that whatever you put on the internet about yourself can be seen by anyone.

We’ve all heard the stories about college kids losing job offers when potential employers read their FaceBook pages.

The same thing can happen to you if you aren’t careful about how your resume is posted on Monster, Career Builder, Ladders, Rite Site, ExecuNet, Netshare or any of the other job boards.  Some companies have their recruiting departments periodically search the resume databases on these job boards to learn if any of their employees are listed there.  If you’re employed, make your listing confidential.

• In addition, don’t list your current employer if your identity can be in any way determined from your current title and employer’s name (you may also have to be careful about past employers, but that is not as critical).  Instead of listing your title as Sr. VP/Content, Job Magician, replace it with Sr. VP/Content (Editorial Director), $240-million internet business information site.

• You may also have to change your college name, if that makes you identifiable.  Wharton becomes:  MBA, top 5 business school.

Don’t click off Interested In … Career Opportunities on Linked In.  Linked In is both a networking and a job hunting tool (although I suspect that a large percentage of the people who put their profiles on Linked In are looking for jobs).  In any case, don’t think that only a select few can see your Linked In page.  In most cases, anyone who types in your name can see your page, regardless of whether or not you are in their network.  If your boss wants to find out if you’re looking, or just happens to look you up on Linked In and sees Interested In Career Opportunities in your Contact Settings, your cover is blown.  Take a good luck at your Linked In profile.  Make sure it looks like a networking tool – and not a resume – unless you are out of work.

I shouldn’t have to say why your employer cares that you’re looking, but some job hunters don’t know.  When they find out you’re looking, they’re unlikely to give you a big raise and do what they can to keep you there. More likely, you'll either get fired or go into the slow bin: “Well, maybe we’ll think about Jenny to run the Hong Kong office if she’s still around next year, but we know that Allan John is probably never going to leave us, so maybe we should start grooming him for that position …”