Making your application safe

Be Smart

Before you start searching for a job or applying for a university program, take a look at the information available about you online. Potential employers and university admissions officers do look at applicants’ online presence so it needs to match the image you want them to have of you. Now is the time to ask your friends to remove those revealing photos of you from the last camping trip and to change your email from partyanimal@gmx.de to something more professional.

Be Safe

In English-speaking countries, identity fraud is the fastest growing crime. For example, in the UK it has increased 500% since 2000. Protect your CV from identity theft. It contains a great deal of information which could be used to steal and use your identity for criminal purposes.

Here are some steps to limit the risk:

Today, most CVs are transmitted electronically. Be sure you know where yours is going. If you are emailing a CV in response to a job advertisement, make sure you know the company. The advertisement should contain a company website URL or email address with the company name in it. Check them out.

If the company is totally unknown to you, do some research online.

Beware of fake job sites and companies, ‘too good to be true’ offers and requests for personal information. Do not offer national identification numbers, passport numbers, bank details, age, marital status or date of birth unless it is specifically needed, for example, in an application to a program that is limited to people under the age of thirty. Do not include your photo in CVs sent to companies. An exception would be modeling or acting jobs where seeing what you look like is relevant to the job.

If you decide to post your CV on open job forums, do not include your address, age, date of birth, marital status or telephone number. Criminals are known to search these sites for information. It is a good idea to use an email you specifically set up for job application purposes. Just remember to check it frequently.