Privacy Investigator Recognizes MedZilla.com as an Outstanding Career Site; New Report Tells Job Seekers What Most Job Boards, Corporate and Government Employment Web Sites Don’t

MedZilla.com was recently recognized for its privacy practices as one of three outstanding employment Web sites by journalist Pam Dixon. Dixon reviewed 53 top job sites, 20 resume writing services and a 24 resume distribution services in her new report, the 2003 Job Search Privacy Study.

Marysville, WA (PRWEB) 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 Michele Groutage, 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 mid 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.

Medzilla® is a Registered Trademark owned by Medzilla Inc. Copyright ©2003, MedZilla, Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce and distribute this text in its entirety, and if electronically, with a link to the URL http://www.medzilla.com. For permission to quote from or reproduce any portion of this message, please contact Michele Groutage, Director of Marketing and Development, MedZilla, Inc. Email: mgroutage@medzilla.com.

Press Inquiries:

Contact: Michele Groutage

Company: MedZilla, Inc.

Title: Director of Marketing & Development

Phone: 360-657-5681

Email: mgroutage@medzilla.com

URL: http://www.medzilla.com

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