Job Discussion Forums

Nauczyciel

Hello everyone,

Last year I taught in China and next year I want to go back there. I am building my personal website now to make it easier to find jobs (and be found by employers). I am going to make my full CV and some photos available there, but I do not know whether putting my scanned diplomas and references on display so that anybody can see and copy them is the best idea. Will it be enough to post my CV, photos and some introduction?

Thanks

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

Your degrees and diplomas are confidential. Never post them for all to see. If someone is interested in hiring you and vice versa, than they can see them. Same goes with passport info too. References are also very personal. If I was your previous employer and you put my tel # on the net, I would be so angry and you would get the worst reference imaginable.

Not sure if all that effort of yours is really worth it. Is the job market in China that competitive?

Nauczyciel · Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 11:13 am Post subject:

Your post confirmed my doubts. Putting my CV and photos on display should do the trick then. Talking about China, as a non-native speaker I must put some more effort into it. Besides, what effort? A few days of playing with Netscape Composer, that's all.

Thanks!

merlin · Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 11:20 am Post subject:

There are many easons to make one's resume easy for the public to access, but please remember that the names and addresses of other people on your resume are not yours to publish on the internet. Please respect their right to privacy. You can use an image editor to blur names and numbers and such.

It's also not a very good idea to allow free access to your own personal information and documents. It's quite possible for someone to use your name and SS# to get a few jobs and you might return home to find you owe uncle sam a lot of back taxes. It's called "identity theft" and happened to my sister. She owes $4,000 in back taxes on money she didn't earn because she was a bit too free with personal information and her aquaintances.

If you want to put this stuff online, make sure it's password-protected with htaccess.

Nauczyciel · Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 11:50 am Post subject:

Thanks, Merlin. I've decided to give up the idea of posting my diplomas and references. And I am not so naive to show my address and other personal information to everyone, so PERSONAL DETAILS section of my CV will include only my name, date of birth and e-mail address. I guess it should be enough. I'm sorry about your sister. Good luck to you both!

WYSIWYG · Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 9:56 pm Post subject:

I'm even sometimes a bit apprehensive about emailing information to yahoo and hotmail email accts. I feel much more comfortable with a [email protected] address. Maybe I'm too paranoid.

merlin · Posted: Tue Oct 19, 2004 6:38 am Post subject:

I'd leave out the date of birth as well. It's often used to confirm who you are when you reset passwords in online credit card and banking transactions.

Maybe put age instead if you think it's something potential employers will want to see.

Nauczyciel · Posted: Tue Oct 19, 2004 8:13 pm Post subject:

You're right, Merlin, I think just the year should do. WYSIWYG, I knew a guy once who used to say 'Just because I'm paranoid it doesn't mean that they're not out to get me' Wink

Thanks for all your comments!