Job seekers must to be cautious when disclosing personal data on job boards, itzbig warned. itzbig is the first private network to allow working professionals to save time while safely exploring career opportunities. By focusing on quality and efficiency, the company’s innovative approach rescues job seekers and employers from drowning in large quantities of poorly matched information. itzbig executives Jim Hammock and Hank Stringer suggested that a Symantec report released earlier this week was a proof point. That report stated that hackers may have gained access to hundreds of thousands of resumes on Monster.com.

    Hammock and Stringer, the original founders of Hire.com in the late 1990s, said that both examples suggest a need for the industry to move toward interactive sourcing networks that offer greater privacy controls to users including complete anonymity as well as user-controlled access to personal information. Hammock said “It is important for internet users to know that when they put their personal data on the web it is all but impossible to retrieve. There are numerous tools that harvest this data and repurpose it for unintended uses. So my first advise is don’t do it.The ideal network,” said Hammock, “gives job seekers the ability to control their job search in that they determine what personal information they choose to reveal for each respective interaction with an employer or recruiter.”

    Stringer added: “Privacy and anonymity along with user control are the pillars of the safest, most effective sourcing network. The sooner that we have networks that embrace these features, the sooner we’ll have fewer incidents like those mentioned above.” Hammock said: “The need for secure job exploration has become even more important as currently employed workers have less job security than in the past because of layoffs, mergers, out sourcing, off shoring, and other business practices that have made life time employment a thing of the past. Today everyone needs a safe and secure way to explore a Plan B just in case they become unemployed.”

Among the tips we can find:

1. Be anonymous where-ever possible.
2. Minimize the amount of personal contact information disclosed at all times.
3. Don’t rely upon job sites to protect your personal information. Only provide your personal data to legitimate employers and recruiters.
4. Make sure the network allows the verification of employer’s identity before submitting personal data such as resume.
5. Do not store your resume on job sites.
6. Use a network that allows you to gauge an employer’s level of interest before submitting your resume.

For more information visit http://www.itzbig.com.