Your Resume: "Don't Do It"

LinkedIn colleagues, I am going to tell you a true tale. This week I received a resume from a candidate that I would like to chat with about a software opening we have. But before continuing the conversation, I asked them to provide me with a resume that does *not* have:

• Their photo
• Their date of birth and age
• Their gender (they indicated a cisgender)
• The place in the US where they were born

There are two reasons this is not advisable in North America:

Identity Theft:

• If you have your name, phone number, street address, and email on your resume, you have given unscrupulous hackers half of what they need to start the process. Add to that some of the most basic info used to create social profiles and you have just given them a gift certificate to the 5-star virtual restaurant of their choice.
• Most job seekers put their full resumes on various job boards such as Indeed.com, Glassdoor, ZipRecruiter, and LinkedIn. Guess what? Indeed.com and ZipReruiter are FREE to try with just an email account. And anyone can pay a fee for access to ANY of the databases above. Sophisticated, global identity theft rings think nothing of spending a few hundred dollars to get access to PII (Personally Identifiable Information).

Privacy laws and Implicit Bias:

• The US and Canada have STRONG privacy protection laws that bar HR professionals from asking certain questions, and this is to protect YOU. 
• If I could take every name off of resumes before sending them to a hiring manager I would! Implicit bias is roughly defined as the unconsconscious prejudices every person has based on information they receive. For an initial review of candidates, it should ONLY be based on their work history and skills. 

I guess if this candidate is truly interested in the job, they will update their resume and send it my way. If not, the truth is it is becoming a buyer's market, and I am becoming the buyer.