Ask Asa: Viewer Questions Answered
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If you are unemployed, you know it's a jobless jungle out there. To help you navigate the employment terrain and find a job, NY1 Employment reporter Asa Aarons has answers to some of the questions viewers have been sending in.
I applied for three jobs, all of which required my social security number. I am afraid of identity theft. Will omitting my social security number cost me getting a job? How can i protect myself?
Caroline Lopez
New York, New York
Caroline, it's legal for companies to ask for your Social Security Number. They often need it for background checks or tax filings. But your concerns are well founded and part of the reason last year New York became one of two states to establish the Social Security Number protection statute. Companies now observe stricter procedures in how and who handles your number. For example, have you noticed company ID cards no longer list a person's Social Security Number? There are also restrictions on asking you to email your social or use it as an online ID or passcode.
For more on this, visit www.privacyrights.org. If that's not enough, get back to me -- I've got plenty of good information.
It appears that ever since I posted resumes on some job search engines, my personal email account has been inundated with inappropriate and unsolicited junk emails. This is a discouraging factor in searching for employment.
Claire Lang
Longwood, FL
It is discouraging Claire. You're a job seeker not a junk bin. Here's what's happening. Your personal information has value and your profile may be sold to people compiling marketing data or 'sucker lists' as the old time con artists called them. Before you post your resume on a site, check the privacy policy. Make sure you can delete your resume when you choose to limit personal information like family history or former addresses. Don't list your references unless you want to see them on the marketing list along with you. Use a free disposable email address you can encode with a special name so you can determine the source of the junk emails.
Claire, this won't completely eliminate junk email but should put a dent in it.
If you have an employment story, a job, a new interview technique, or something you want to share with those looking for work or those doing the hiring, contact Asa Aarons at askasa@ny1.com