MyPlace or YourSpace – Online Writing Resume Tips

There are many ways to get yourself “noticed” these days,  both offline and online. One of the questions that is often asked of me is whether a candidate should post his / her resume on a job board, social or professional communities, such as: LinkedIn or Facebook, or perhaps even create their own website. My resounding answer is always, “depends on who you want to network with and how you want to be portrayed”.

The reality is that many people put up profiles and resumes “just because” it’s there. Oftentimes, there is little thought given to target audience, consistency, accuracy and the like. For example, if you’re looking for a career as an attorney at a prestigious law firm, you’d probably want to make sure that your online presence is not in conflict with the resume that you’ve sent in.

Jane is a high powered real estate attorney. Her resume reads like a “who’s who”, having worked for the best law firms and represented the top luminaries in the industry. She’s young and on the move. She also has a fun, personal side that really enjoys socializing. She puts up an online presence on Facebook or MySpace. The potential employer decides to check all available and public information about Jane and finds out something that they think is either inappropriate or “not up to their corporate standards”. Jane is not offered a job.

What’s wrong with this picture? Employers are increasingly going to the Internet to find out information about candidates. In fact, there is so much “public” information available now on the Internet many individuals are beginning to close their public profiles or at least reduce their visibility.

Is this good or bad? Does the employer really have the right to research your Internet profile? These are questions that are not my place to answer. But, as I started out saying in this blog, you should carefully consider to whom you are targeting and how you want to be portrayed and then reconcile that with your online profile.

Not Quite “Free” Employment History Searches

It turns out that very few businesses make use of even a free employment history search when interviewing employees for full or part time work. In fact, most employers rely upon their own impressions in the interview process or though talking to the references that a prospective employee provides.

This is good, since there doesn’t actually seem to be any such service that’s actually free in the traditional and commonly understood sense of the word. Often, “free” employment history search sites will require you to purchase something to get your “free report delivered.” Other so-called free searches require a subscription for service that can last years.

It is useful to note that one should be very careful about putting personal information out there during the registration process with on line search sites, as it is a commodity to be traded at will unless expressly forbidden by the terms of the website.

Often, these are simple public records searches that will yield information from the IRS or state tax offices as well as census data. This is useful when trying to look up very specific data. Basic and “free” employment history searches are usually less than $50. Other, more in-depth searches use such public data in conjunction with other data that is a bit more difficult to come by and are far more expensive – as much as several hundred dollars for some real detective work.

Usually, when a company is interested in checking out information on a job candidate’s resume or CV, they’re looking to hire some sort of executive or someone that is to have a position of some authority. As such, they’ll surely save themselves the bother of looking for a free employment history search that will accommodate their exacting requirements when it’s well worth it to the corporation to make sure they’re not setting themselves up for future scandal.

Even if it’s not free, employment history searches that deal with international verification can get surprisingly good results faster than you might think, though some countries are certainly less well covered than others. Places that have had political unrest or secretive governments – the very sort that encourage immigration of highly skilled labor – are the ones least likely to have intact and detailed records available to even the keenest researcher in the US.

So, there are no free lunches, but there are legitimate (if not quite free) employment history search services to be found online. These can quickly determine whether or not your prospective employees are telling you the whole truth. In certain positions that carry a lot of responsibility or a high profile, this is your company’s insurance policy against a very particular type of fraud.