Create a Confidential Resume

Whether you want to protect your identity or conduct a low-profile job search, a confidential resume (as defined below) will keep your personal information private.

Once your resume is properly modified, it can be used in a variety of ways to promote your career. But first, some important changes must be made:

Your Name

E-mail Address

Current Employer

Industry Keywords

Details / Personal Data

Embedded Data

The File Name

Your Name VIEW SAMPLE

Replace your name with a generic term such as:

– Confidential Candidate
– eSolutions Marketing Candidate
– Confidential Resume: eSolutions Expert
– Confidential Candidate / CEO

 

eMail Address

To protect confidentiality, your email address needs to be nondescript. In other words, avoid using e-mail addresses that include parts of your name (i.e., johnfrank@abc.com).

• Most job seekers benefit from setting up a separate email for job seeking purposes exclusively.
• For job seeking purposes, the best solution is a job-relevant, generic e-mail address like salespro@abc.com.

Warning: Never Use Your Current Employer's eMail!

Never use your current employer's e-mail, computers, or telephone systems for job search purposes. Even if your employer is aware of it (and/or 100% supportive of your job search) using company e-mail for job searching "looks" inappropriate and may raise questions about your honesty or integrity.

If you don't already have personal e-mail, you can get a free e-mail account at Hotmail, Yahoo, etc. If you don't have a computer, check out your local Kinko's copy shop. Most offer on-site computer rental and Internet access (24 hours a day) at a reasonable price.

Current Employer

Eliminate the name and location of your current employer from the resume. Replace it with a general company description:

• High tech manufacturing firm
• International sales consulting firm
• Confidential employer

See these principles at work: Confidential Web Resume

Job Titles

Replace unique, industry-specific, or product-specific job titles with more generic (but equivalent) job titles. For example, use Quality Assurance Manager instead of Manager of Widget Systems Quality Assurance.

See these principles at work: Confidential Web Resume

Industry-specific Keywords

Imagine that your current employer is searching for your replacement... What skills (keywords) would they search for in candidate's resumes?

Be sure to eliminate these kinds of keywords and terms:

Specific industries, markets, products
Client names, company names
Industry-specific technologies, certifications
Location (cities, area codes, and so on)

E-mail Address

Never use a company e-mail address (even if you have permission) – doing so makes you look like you're job searching on your current employer's time. More...

Details / Personal Data

Personal identifiers should be removed or described in a more discreet manner. In addition to the obvious (never list your social security number or birth date), you'll also want to consider camouflaging specific locations, products, dollar amounts, account names, specialized technologies, etc.

In High Stakes Job Searches

• Remove graduation and / or college attendance dates from your resume's "Education" section. When motivated, employers and recruiters can track down identities through graduation dates and academic records.
• Remove specific cities, locations, and geographical criteria from your job entries and replace with generic terms.

See these principles at work: Confidential Web Resume

 

Embedded Data in Attachments and Downloads

Before sending your confidential resume as an attachment (MS Word), make sure your name is not embedded in the document's file properties

To remove personal identifiers from a Microsoft Word file

• Open the MS Word document.
• Select FILE (top of computer screen, right side) and then click on PROPERTIES.
• Click on SUMMARY.
• Delete any personal identifiers such as subject, author, etc.

 

File Name

If you plan on sending the word-processed version of your resume as an e-mail attachment, be sure to rename your resume.

For obvious reasons, the file name should not be based on your name.

Renaming Your File: Most people name their resume Resume. But naming your document "resume" makes it easy for employers and recruiters to to lose your resume – or worse – overwrite it with another resume with the same name. Instead, consider using a file name that reflects your job target:

project_manager.doc
Marketing-Candidate.doc
marketingexec.doc.

Marketing Your Confidential Resume

Once the identifiers are removed from your resume, you can start actively using it to market your candidacy online: Market Your CareerFolio

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The names, addresses, and e-mails of clients and prospective clients
are considered "private" and are not sold or traded.