Why you shouldn’t post your resume online
Post your resume on internet job boards, sit back, and let the jobs come to me! Seems so simple. Yet, this is the most ineffective way to actually find a job. In fact, it’s by far the worst possible strategy for your job search. Let’s put things in perspective…
Sites like indeed.com have over 12 million resumes posted on their site in just this manner. That’s about 40 times the number of resumes per job listing. Even with all the keywords in the world, what are your real chances with those odds? Well, it’s about 2%. That’s the average rate of success job seekers have with this method.
Who benefits from you posting your resume? Third-party recruiters that like to scrub these sites for your contact information and more malicious individuals seeking to steal your identity.
What are the advantages of posting your resume on a job website?
For starters, it’s easy. Only takes a couple of minutes of work and it “could” be seen by thousands of recruiters. Interview requests could come rushing in with no effort on your part. And this does happen - about 2% of the time. Someone has to win the lottery, right?
What are the disadvantages of posting your resume on a job website?
Ok, now that we’ve gotten the advantages out of the way, let’s talk about the risks.
First, you lose all control of what happens with your information. Anyone can pick it up, it can be reposted in other places, or worst case - Pam down in HR at your current job could see it. And yes, people have been fired for this. Maybe you’ve just started a new job but your resume gets automatically posted by a website a month after you start and now Pam 2.0 thinks you’re already getting ideas about leaving. Not off to the best start are you?
Second, a good job search strategy that involves your resume requires that you make changes to it each time you use it. Tailor it to your audience, the job, and the person’s pains on the other end. If you have multiple versions of your resume out there, you’re going to have some explaining to do - assuming that you even get the chance to interview after they see your discrepancies and varying information. I get it, each version may be accurate, but you could seem disingenuous and who wants to hire a disingenuous person?
Third, identity theft. Yep, you just put a lot of information about yourself out there for anyone with a subscription to that site to see. Anyone. If you think sites like Indeed and others screen their customers, think again.
