Privacy investigator recognizes MedZilla.com
as an outstanding career site
By MedZilla Staff Writer
Marysville, WA - November 21, 2003--Known for her exposés
about the online employment industry, journalist and author Pam
Dixon released her newest groundbreaking report on November 11.
In The 2003 Job Search Privacy Study, she details the good and
bad privacy practices of 53 job sites, 20 resume writing services
and 24 resume distribution services. She also looked at a new
online employment trend: online application kiosks, which can
be found in large retailers.
According to Dixon, the goal of the study is to be a privacy
benchmark. "I chose the largest and most popular sites-sites
with the most impact on consumers. I spent about 1,000 hours studying
them and figuring out what they were doing behind the scenes."
During a recent press conference, Dixon discussed the report's
findings. When asked if there existed any outstanding career sites,
she replied with a resounding "Yes!" Three web sites
stood out, she said, for their outstanding privacy practices:
MedZilla.com, NationJob.com and Craigslist.org. She commented
that MedZilla was an "incredible" job site. When she
posted resumes (using pseudo identities), there were no third
party cookies, no web bugs, no spam, "no nonsense, and two
good job offers."
"Those three sites stood out to me as being really exemplary,"
she says.
"We take the privacy of our candidates very seriously. Pam
Dixon is well regarded and respected in this industry for her
candid and accurate accounts about what job seekers don't know
about what happens to their resumes. We are pleased that she recognized
our positive efforts in her latest report," says Frank Heasley,
PhD, President and CEO of MedZilla.com, a leading Internet recruitment
and professional community that serves professionals and employers
in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare and science.
The Findings
Dixon reported some positive trends. She says that most job sites
post privacy policies and, for the most part, responded to her
queries about privacy within two days or less. More sites, she
says, are supporting anonymous access to job postings, and slightly
more are also allowing companies to post full contact information
in job advertisements.
But the news is not all good. In fact, Dixon revealed serious
issues, including civil rights violations. She explains that sites
which ask about race, gender, nationality or religion should be
asking permission, stating it is voluntary that job seekers answer
those questions and keeping the information separate from the
rest of the data. "What this study found online is that the
sites are routinely violating that," she says.
Another problem, according to Dixon, is the online collection
of social security numbers. "Very few sites actually collect
social security numbers anymore, but the sites that do are very
problematic," she says. Many of the sites and kiosks that
do ask for SSNs do so to run instant background checks. The problem,
she says, is that third parties get hold of the information-even
when job seekers are applying with the United States government.
Dixon also points out that job sites in general have gotten very
sophisticated in their data gathering. Job seekers may not be
overwhelmed with spam like they used to, but their actions (where
and when they log on, what key words they use, etc.) are often
being recorded and dispersed to advertising networks.
"Candidates have a right to know who is viewing their resume,"
says , Director of Marketing for MedZilla. "MedZilla
is one of the few job boards around that notifies candidates with
the company name and name or title of the individual reviewing
their resume. Additionally, candidates can remove their resume
from viewing at anytime."
Points to remember
Job seekers need to become more knowledgeable about cookies,
Dixon says. She suggests that job seekers use "anonymizing"
services or just turn off third party cookies.
Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, says
that it's more important than ever that job seekers only use sites
that have privacy policies. Though they might be cumbersome and
full of legalese, it's just as important that people read the
policies. Avoid sites whose policies include red flag terms, like
"sharing information with our trusted business partners."
Beware of Web sites that have hard-to-find privacy policies and
others that make shady-sounding job offers. Sites shouldn't be
asking overly intrusive questions, according to the report, nor
should they require SSNs.
Corporate job sites are no exception
Job candidates are often under the mistaken impression that posting
on a corporate Web site is safer than using a job board or other
service. However, Dixon reveals that even government sites use
other servers, such as that of Monster.com. "When you look
for a job now, you're going to touch a middle man …. I think
it's really a negative change in the paradigm. Absolutely, the
corporate Web sites have work to do," she says.
Dixon urges corporate Web sites to let job candidates know that
their resumes go through third party servers.
A valuable resource
"Job seekers should use this report to get tips about what
to look for in job boards and other employment Web sites,"
Dr. Heasley says. "They can even look up specific sites and
see how they rank. It's a valuable tool for job seekers, because
they need to know where their information is going."
About MedZilla.com
Established in 1994, MedZilla is the original Web site to
serve career and hiring needs for professionals and employers
in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, science and healthcare.
MedZilla databases contain about 10,000 open positions, 13,000
resumes from candidates actively seeking new positions and 50,000
archived resumes. These resources have been characterized as the
largest, most comprehensive databases of their kind on the Web
in the industries served.
