There comes a time in most people’s lives (unless they are lucky) where they have to hunt for a job. Be it at the start of a career or if you just fancy a change, job hunting has become a little less painless due to the significant rise of the internet over the past 10 years. With UK websites such as Reed, Jobsite and Monster, there are many opportunities online to submit your personal details and CV in the hope of finding employment – but caution should be given to potential contact received from recruitment agents, potential employers and other people who may get in touch.

Here are 5 key tips to avoiding spam online when job hunting:

1. Be wary of any emails received – This is the first and most important tip. When you submit your details to online job websites, you are often providing them with various ways to contact you – including your email address and phone number. As the internet is used more and more, spammers try to take advantage at any possible opportunity, and finding people’s details through job websites could be one way in which they are able to collate and contact multiple people via email. Evaluate each email as it comes through to you, and avoid clicking any links that look potentially dodgy.

2. Always complete thorough research – Our second tip to avoiding online spam is to be careful of giving away details to untrusted locations or people. A website may initially look like it may help you in your path to find the perfect job, but carry out a little research via Google or other search engines to see what people have to say about it. Certain websites have higher rates of unsolicited emails than others, and it is best to stick to the large and trusted job websites when looking online.

3. Avoid public release of information – When you’re desperate to find a job it can be tempting to advertise your details and services wherever is available, and that is made especially easy online. Through personal blogs and social networking websites, finding a job can be quicker than it once was – but avoid releasing too much information publically. Details such as your email address, home address and phone number are obviously private to yourself, so only give them away to trusted people or to websites where you are sure there is a certain level of security.

When hunting for a job online – similar to most activities online – you should be very careful about the level of information you give away, and where you give it away. Use a level of common sense to evaluate opportunities, and to understand whether an opportunity looks genuine or not, and ask as many questions as you can before proceeding to submit and details to anybody. If you are dealing with a genuine person or service, they should be more than happy to ease any concerns you have.

Author Bio: axon IT are a Manchester IT support company, helping to protect companies throughout the UK. Specialising in network support, data backup and telephony, axon are one of the leading support companies for small to medium sized businesses throughout the North West.

Category: Internet
Keywords: it support