What would you do if your identity was stolen? Talk about inconvenient - As if the job search was hard enough already!
On occasion, we ask our experts to answer a career question on behalf of our readers. This week's question is about job search after your identity was stolen:
I was recently talking with a man who has been laid off for quite some time. He has been looking for work, but it seems that there was some strange barrier that was causing doors to be closed to him.
Then he thought to Google his name and sure enough there is a person with his exact name that lives not too far from where he lives with criminal charges against him.
He feels that this might be the problem because it was at the top of the list for his name search. The person is of a different race and different age (about 5 years difference).
What can he do when he applies for jobs to address this? Should he mention it in cover letter to distinguish himself from that other person or is there something he should do on Google or the world wide web in general to show that this unfortunate person is hot him. - Patricia
Here's what our experts had to say about searching for a job while dealing with identity theft:
Be Upfront
"Companies are increasingly relying on online information from searches and social media tools to find out additional information about candidates," says Amanda Haddaway author of Destination Real World: Success After Graduation for New and Soon-to-Be College Graduates.
Haddaway says it's best to be up front with the recruiter and/or hiring manager about this sort of thing.
"We live online now and everyone has a responsibility to manage their own personal brands," she says.
Don't Bring It Up In The Cover Letter
"Unfortunately, this is not unusual - especially for those of us with common names," says Kristin Johnson of ProfessionDirection.com. "Addressing this in a cover letter may hurt more than it helps; it's such an awkward thing for an employer to read when you are trying to make a good first impression."
Johnson strongly suggests getting control of your online identity by setting up a LinkedIn account, other social media accounts, starting a blog, and exploring sites like BrandYourself.com.
Get Your Brand Out There
"Identity and branding on the internet is like heads and tails on a coin," says Roshni Kumar of CareerLighthouse.net. "We call it and it then manifests. It's not necessary that we know the outcome all the time, but it is important to know our brand first."
It's important to get your brand statement out there in your conversations as much as possible, Kumar says. She also suggests focusing on yourself and getting as much clarity as possible on the job search situation.
Provide Positive Evidence
When you create these websites for yourself (and while you maintain them), be sure to include visuals, including photos of yourself in action, as well as information that matches your resume and personal brand. According to Lyne Tumlinson of Career-Lift.com, this will help you identify yourself as a positive person who is much more than a criminal's matching name.
"Just as for all the 'Joe Smiths' of the world, your client needs to stand out with his name along with his personal brand and take actions that will put that page to the top of the Google list," Tumlinson says.
Get Out And Network
"There are things he can do to boost his positive online presence and drive these negative listings down lower on the page, but this takes time," says Norine Dagliano of EkmInspirations.com.
For immediate impact, Dagliano recommends aggressively work his network to get a direct lead/referral to the companies on your target list.
Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Is your job search turning into a grind with no end in sight? It may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your entire approach.
In cold weather climates, the beginning of spring is a time to clean the house and get organized—a practice known as spring cleaning. Through the years, spring cleaning has taken on a larger meaning with people using the time to organize and declutter things in their lives.
For professionals on the job hunt, a little spring cleaning (metaphorically speaking) could be a great way to reinvigorate your job search. Here are a few strategies your job search spring cleaning should include.
Reevaluate Your Job Search Approach
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Make a list of the last handful of jobs you applied for and see if you can identify any positive or negative trends. Consider things like:
How did I learn about this job?
How did I apply for the job?
Did I earn an interview?
What was the ultimate result?
A lot can be learned about your job search approach just by answering these questions and identifying patterns. For example:
Negative Trends
You discovered five jobs through job boards, applied to all of them via the job boards, and never heard back from any of them.
The common pattern here is applying through job boards. This isn't to say that job boards don't serve a purpose in the job search process, but they have their limitations, and you can't run your job search entirely off of them. When you apply through a job board, there's a good chance that your materials will never get past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and never be seen by an actual person.
One simple fix is to research who the hiring manager or recruiter is that posted the position and email your materials to them directly.
The more efficient fix would be to take a proactive approach by putting together a bucket list of companies that you want to work for and start making connections on LinkedIn with people who work at those companies. You may already know some people who work there or have connections that can refer you to some individuals.
This is a great way to network your way onto a company's radar.
Positive Trends
You applied to three jobs via referral, were invited to two job interviews, and made it through multiple rounds of interviews for one of the jobs before being passed over for someone with a little more experience.
The pattern here is that getting referred to a job by a professional acquaintance is a great way to land a job interview. This indicates that you're leveraging your network well and you should continue to focus on your networking efforts.
The next step is to review the interview process and determine what went well and what needs to be improved. Sometimes the interviewer will provide feedback, and that feedback can be valuable. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving feedback.
Chances are you probably have a good idea about areas of improvement and the skills you need to gain. Put together a plan for addressing those shortfalls.
The good news in making it deep into any interview process is that it indicates that the company likes you as a potential employee (even if the timing just wasn't right) and the experience could be a roadmap to a job with that company at a later date, or another similar opportunity elsewhere.
Give Your Resume & Cover Letter Some Much-Needed Attention
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Are you continuously sending similar resumes and cover letters to each job opening with only minor adjustments? If so, your strategy needs some serious spring cleaning.
The reason why it's so important to tailor your resume is that throughout your career, you acquire numerous skills, but the job you're applying for may only be focusing on 6-8 of those skills. In that case, those skills must rise to the top of the resume with quantifiable examples of how you successfully used those skills at previous jobs.
Remember, recruiters go through hundreds of resumes. They need to be able to tell from a quick glance whether or not you're a potential candidate for the position.
While updating your resume, you could also spruce up your LinkedIn profile by highlighting the skill sets that you want to be noticed for by recruiters.
As for writing a good cover letter, the key to success is writing a disruptive cover letter. When you write a disruptive cover letter, you're basically telling a story. The story should focus on how you connect with the particular company and job position. The story could also focus on your personal journey, and how you got to where you currently are in your career.
If your resumes and cover letters aren't unique, now is the time to clean things up and get on track.
Build Your Personal Brand
Just because you're looking for work doesn't mean that you don't have anything to offer. Use previous career experiences and passions to build your personal brand.
Ask yourself, "How do I want other professionals to view me?"
Pick an area of expertise and start sharing your knowledge and experience with your professional network by pushing out content on your LinkedIn and social media accounts. Good content can include blogs, social media posts, and videos.
By sharing content about your experiences and passions, you slowly build your personal brand, and others will start to notice. The content could lead to good discussions with others in your network. It could also lead to reconnecting with connections that you haven't spoken to in years, or making new connections.
You never know when one of these connections could turn into a job lead or referral. The trick is to get on people's radars. So, when you're cleaning up your job search, be sure to build a plan for personal branding.
Maintain Healthy Habits During Your Job Search
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Your job search is important, but it's even more important to know when to pull back and focus on personal health and spending time with family and friends.
There are actually things that you can do for your own enjoyment that could help your job search in the long run, such as:
Grab coffee with a friend - It's good to engage in light conversation with friends during challenging times. And if your job search does come up, remember that most people have been through it themselves and you never know when a friend may provide you with a good idea or lead on a job.
Volunteer - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and help others. In addition, if you develop a little bit of a career gap while looking for a job, you can always talk about how you filled that time volunteering, if you're asked about it during a job interview.
Continue to focus on other passions - Are you a fitness nut? Blogger? Crafter? Continue to do the things that bring you happiness. And if you're in a position to profit from your passion through a freelance job or side hustle, even better!
Spring is the perfect time to clean up and improve your job search so you can land the job you want. If you're struggling to find a job, follow the tips above to reinvigorate your job search—and watch your career blossom!
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This article was originally published at an earlier date.
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