What happens to your data after you apply?

Your personal information and its security are important. Yet, each day, job seekers send a lot of their data to companies all over the world without knowing much about what happens to it after they click “apply.”

For those of you who end up getting hired, the data likely flows into the company’s system to become part of the employee files. The fate of the data of people who don’t get hired is less certain. In those cases, the data’s lifespan and location depend on the practices of the specific company and where it operates.

To learn a bit more about your data’s journey, I reached out to the American Staffing Association, which is a trade organization for the staffing and recruiting industry. They connected me with some data privacy experts at staffing companies to explain their practices.

Keeping it local

Companies that operate within the borders of the United States and other countries without data privacy laws and regulations have more flexibility in how long and where they keep data.

The DAVIS Companies, which specializes in staffing and talent advisory services, relies on internal best practices to manage data, for example. The Massachusetts-based company has worked to train people who manage its data about those practices, said Patrick Davis, who is the vice president of business systems and process.

For example, DAVIS’s recruiters are taught to keep in touch with applicants in order to know whether to keep their data for consideration for other positions, he said. If not, the data is archived and can be resurfaced if the person eventually ends up coming back into the system.

Davis also told me the company relies on its applicant tracking system (ATS), which helps manage the data of job seekers, to keep the information in one place. “Whatever media the applicant chooses, that data will find its way to our applicant tracking system.”

Legal requirements

DAVIS can implement their own data management system since its operations are currently limited to a handful of U.S. states outside Massachusetts. For companies located in or with branches in Europe, the reality is more complicated thanks to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which was implemented in May 2018.

GDPR regulates data protection and privacy within the bloc and its economic system. Pennsylvania-based Yoh had to examine how it handles its data because of GDPR since it operates in the United Kingdom.

For that arm of the company, Yoh had to come up with new processes to manage data since GDPR requires there be legitimate interest to keep it in the system. As a result, data is typically removed within 90 days unless applicants rather it be kept on hand.

“We have not yet introduced those same rules to the U.S., but it’s our intent to do so. We don’t want to maintain two different rules,” said Phil Long, who is director of data privacy and information security at Day & Zimmermann — Yoh’s parent company.

Long also told me that the California Consumer Privacy Act, which was signed into law in 2018, is another incentive for large U.S. companies to apply GDPR-like rules across their systems. The California law is similar to GDPR and can apply to businesses whether they’re located in the state or not.

What do recruiters do?

While those are two examples of how companies handle your data after you apply, there are countless other methods. Often, it comes down to individual recruiters, who take pride in having a healthy pool of candidates to call upon.

For example, one recruiter told me several months ago that the limitations of her applicant tracking system led her to create a system of spreadsheets to organize her candidates’ journeys through the hiring process. They also keep one spreadsheet of applicants they hope to place in a job in the future.

Have you ever had your data compromised by a prospective employer? Or, have you ever asked what happened to your data after applying for a job? Join the conversation.

? The follow-up:

Rejoining the workforce can be one of the most difficult tasks for a person. They often feel lost and immediately discouraged. Hannah Morgan, a job search strategist and founder of CareerSherpa.net, offered several suggestions for those people in the last edition of #GetHired. 

Some of her tips?

• Know what type of job you want
• Take stock of all your skills
• Work your network 

Here’s what people are saying about rejoining the workforce.

? #GetHired LIVE:

We’re bringing this newsletter to life starting Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 1 p.m. EST. Watch the video below for more information and don’t forget to follow the LinkedIn Editors’ page.

? Other news to help you #GetHired:

People across the U.S. are struggling to find work despite the low unemployment rate. Many of these people are not captured by the traditional unemployment metric, which sits at 3.6%, reports The New York Times. A broader measure capturing underemployed people and those no longer looking stands at about 7%. One issue is that people may not have the skills needed for work in their region. Also, companies are less willing to hire the long-term unemployed. Here’s what people are saying about the phenomenon.

Need a ride to your job interview? Lyft and several organizations are trying to address so-called transportation gaps, which they say keep people without the money or ability to get somewhere from joining the workforce. The ride-hailing platform and nine nonprofits, such as the USO and National Down Syndrome Society, said they will provide certain groups of people in more than 35 areas in the U.S. and Canada with free or low-cost rides to and from job interviews, trainings and the first few weeks of work. After that, the person can use their pay to fund their commutes. Here’s what people are saying about the news.

LinkedIn data confirms what I mentioned recently about transportation — it’s hiring. As my colleagues Devin Banerjee and Riva Gold report: Companies specializing in trucking, air freight and warehouse operations added 16,000 workers in September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported. Some of the fastest growth in transport jobs — amounting to more than 50% since 2014 — has occurred in higher-paid, specialized functions such as software engineering, sales, accounting and recruiting, according to LinkedIn data. Chicago, New York City and Dallas-Ft. Worth top the list of cities where such jobs are growing the fastest. Here’s what people are saying about the industry’s job boom.

(p.s. Be sure to subscribe to George Ander’s great newsletter about the American workforce by clicking here.)

? Up next:

While celebrated for the bravery and service, military veterans often face obstacles when transitioning back into the civilian workforce. In the next edition of #GetHired, we’ll discuss some recent research about the topic and discuss ways to overcome the obstacles. If you’re a veteran, tell us in the comments below about your transition back into the workforce. Or, leave a question. You may see it answered during next week’s #GetHired Live on Tuesday, Nov. 11 at 1 p.m. EST.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to reach out to me if you have ideas on topics or questions I should address in future editions of #GetHired. You can also email me at GetHired[at]LinkedIn.com.