Roadmap: 2003 Job Search Privacy Study - Job Searching in the Networked Environment: Consumer Privacy Benchmarks: V. Privacy Issues at Specific Job Sites In the course of research some online sites or businesses raised new or important privacy questions. Each site is discussed in more detail below..
Employment kiosks – small, mobile ATM-like booths – are increasingly being used for screening job applicants. The booths are typically located in malls and at the front sections of retail stores. The booths allow job candidates to pull up a chair, answer a series of detailed questions, and apply for work in about an hour. No muss, no fuss, and no resumes are needed to apply.
Resume writing services exist to help jobseekers create a portrait of their skills and work experience that is compelling enough to land the job seekers interviews for desirable positions. These types of businesses tend to be small one to 35- person operations. Data privacy has arrived in this corner of the job search universe; resumes containing rich data such as work history, name, address, phone number, e-mail address, and educational history are prime treasures in the data business. [44]
Clear, conspicuous, and abundant posting of a privacy policy. Fair Information Practices dictate that privacy policies should be posted at or before data is requested of a job applicant or site visitor. And the policies should be posted at every page information is requested of a job seeker.
How to read and understand the site results Each site underwent extensive testing. The results of the testing are listed under each site. For general consumer tips about job searching online, please see heading, “Consumer Tips for Job Searching Online.”
In any job search, it is important to circulate a resume. However, job seekers need to carefully minimize privacy issues related to resumes and personal data while still maintaining appropriate exposure to employers.
Employers are an important part of the data privacy solution. As the controller of job ads, employers have a great deal of say in how those ads are managed and displayed to applicants. For their part, college career counselors, as a critical part of the interface in a student’s first professional job search, have a key educational role in the process.
The World Privacy Forum conducted this research with funding assistance from the Rose Foundation Consumer Privacy Rights Fund. Without this assistance, this research would not have been possible.
A. Site Methodology B. Methodology for Analyzing Resume Distribution Sites C. Resume Writing Services Methodology
When we update this report or make any changes to it, we will make notice of it in this section. November 12, 2003: One typo corrected, page numbers added, font size of endnotes increased. “Updates” section added to report and index. November 11, 2003: Report issued on www.worldprivacyforum.org.
We are including only the screens from the first screen through the end of the background check and EEO compliance screens. A longer range of screens which includes a portion of the personality test is available by looking at the Sports Authority application site online.
Pam Dixon, during the course of researching a separate study of resume databases, has discovered serious consumer privacy issues in resume databases that rise to the level of deserving immediate consumer notice. This report, below, highlights her findings.
Pam Dixon, during the course of researching a separate study of resume databases, has discovered serious consumer privacy issues in resume databases that rise to the level of deserving immediate consumer notice. This report, below, highlights her findings. The report itself is comprised of a consumer notice, which is based primarily on public documents. The report also contains policy recommendations and job seeker tips.
According to legal documents, HotResumes.com sold 4,941 resumes and/or email addresses to Biotechcareers.com for .33 cents each in a sale that was invoiced on November 30, 2002. This invoice was made public and was published as part of a lawsuit against Mr. Monastra ( Medzilla vs. Optimum Intelligence et al .) [10]. The invoice was noted as a "resume sale" and it was marked as paid. A copy of the invoice is in Appendix A.
In July, 2002, Dr. Frank Heasley, the owner of Medzilla.com, a biotechnology job site, became aware that Jason Monastra, who was at the time a recruiter and the owner of Optimum Intelligence, was making a large number of resume downloads from the Medzilla resume database. Dr. Heasley quickly discovered that Jason Monastra was also the owner of a new job search site called Biotechcareers.com and had downloaded approximately 2,400 resumes from the Medzilla database within the space of several weeks [14].
Author Pam Dixon joins the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse , a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, in recommending that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) undertake a thorough investigation of the entire job search industry, online and off.
In any job search, it is undeniably important to circulate a resume. However, job seekers need to carefully minimize privacy issues related to resumes while still maintaining appropriate exposure to employers. It is important for all job seekers to understand that resume databases vary widely in privacy practices and controls. Learning to choose a quality job search site and resume database with good privacy practices has become an important part of your job search if you plan to use the Internet as a job search tool.
The Honorable Judge Barbara Rothstein’s docket clerk provided valuable assistance to researchers, as well as a timely copy of the Medzilla, Inc. v Optimum Intelligence LLC, et al Case No. CO2-2122R docket. Claudia B. Farrell of the FTC assisted in identifying documentation for researchers. Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, made significant and helpful contributions to this document.
Appendix A :Copy of HotResumes.com Invoice to Biotechcareers for "resume sale." Appendix B : Text of Medzilla job seeker notification. Appendix C: HotResumes Privacy Policy & Information as of February 11, 2003