The idea of using an Internet service to mass mail your resume to thousands
of recruiters and human-resources officers may seem appealing.
But be forewarned: You could be in serious trouble if you don't read the fine
print.
If you send your resume through certain resume-distribution services or put
it indiscriminately on various job boards, it may be distributed to thousands of
locations and operations unknown to you. It then becomes impossible to get it
back or stop the distribution. Your document could even end up being sent to
your own employer.
Mass-mailing services make their pitches sound alluring. Consider this one
from a Web and e-mail advertiser:
| LOS ANGELES -- So, you're considering
putting your resume on Monster, Hot Jobs, CareerBuilder, Dice.com, and a
ton of others. But you're wondering, is it worth the time? The answer is
yes. Read on...
There still are millions of jobs listed
amongst all the top career sites. With companies currently staffing for
their 2003 business plans, this is the BEST time to put your resume on ALL
major career sites. Additionally the top 50 career sites are reported to
be searched by 1.5 million employers and recruiters daily! |
Sounds like you'd be covering all the bases right? But probe deeper into this
firm's privacy agreement and you'll see you have little or no protection and
could face substantial risk. Here's a quote:
| You are responsible for maintaining the
confidentiality of your information, username and password. You shall be
responsible for all uses of your registration, whether or not authorized
by you.
You hereby further convey to [company]
power of attorney to sign on your behalf (whether on paper or digitally)
specifically indicating to each of these 3rd party career Web sites that
you have read, understood and agree to abide by their terms, conditions,
rules and regulations.
By entering into this Agreement you're
accepting full and total responsibility for the actions [company] performs
on your behalf and at your request, as if you had performed those actions
yourself.
By submitting your Personal Information to
the Site you automatically grant [company] the royalty-free, perpetual,
irrevocable, nonexclusive, transferable right and license to use,
reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, distribute, translate, create
derivative works from, distribute, perform and display such Personal
Information (in whole or part) worldwide or to incorporate it in other
works in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed,
without restriction or compensation. In addition, you warrant that all
so-called "moral rights" in the Personal Information have been
waived. |
If you contract with the wrong mass marketer, it's likely your resume will be
marketed and sold to other services. Your personal history and identification
will be widely circulated without your authorization.
Look for sites and services such as Bluesteps.com, ExecutiveRegistry.com, and
others that allow you to choose where your resume goes, and how to get it back,
update it and control it. Remember, when job hunting, there are few shortcuts.
