CAREERS NOW 02-17-10

Phony Jobs Can Lead To Identity Theft

DEAR JOYCE: Recently you wrote about fake job offers but you didn't mention that they can be just another scam to get your personal information to steal your identity. No employer should be asking for your date of birth or Social Security number before you are hired. Until you are certain that you are dealing with a genuine hiring situation, never give out this information. - W.L.

Thanks for the reminder. An exception: Federal government agencies traditionally have required that applications for their jobs must include Social Security numbers. But federal job authority Kathryn Troutman says that when an agency sets up a new system (such as the Department of Homeland Security's TalentLink), the Social Security number requirement is deleted. All the old systems still require the numbers.

DEAR JOYCE: Do you advise paying a fee to join a job board in order to see job leads that are exclusive to it? - R.S.

I agree with Matt Bud when he reminds us that there is no job board with an exclusive list of job leads.

Bud is the chairman of The Financial Executives Networking Group (thefeng.org), a free-to-join organization that considers personal networking the premier way to job hunt. Nevertheless, Bud is an experienced job-board observer as The FENG regularly posts free job leads supplied by its 35,000 members and alumni.

In an online message to the organization, Bud makes a valid point:

"While there may be job leads available on some board that you haven't seen elsewhere, the real question to ask yourself and to ask your friends is: 'Do you know anyone who has gotten a job from one of these (fee) boards?' Keeping in mind that someone does win the lottery every day, you will most likely find out the answer is no."

To identify the most popular job boards, Weddle's, a publisher of job board guides, invites participation in a poll every year. For a list of the 2010 winners, visit weddles.com; click on User's Choice Awards.

DEAR JOYCE: As a 25-year-old college graduate, I am working 37 hours a week at a nowhere job. I'm interested in the field of criminal justice but, already bogged down with student debt, further education expense is very important to me. I could keep working if I did an online master's degree in criminal justice. I'm not talking about a silly degree mill thing but a real degree from a regionally accredited university. Online? What do you think? - B.B.

Online education has become commonplace - this year more than 85 percent of traditional residential colleges will offer college courses online or distance learning, says Vicky Phillips, CEO of the online college directory GetEducated.com.

Her site has posted its 2010 college affordability rankings of online accredited university masters degrees in criminal justice, law and legal studies.

Although the average cost among 31 online master's degrees in the justice and law career area is just over $17,700 - and at the high end, $30,000 - you can get what you want for about $7,000 at Fort Hays State University (Kansas) or for $9,700 at New Mexico State University. Review all the possibilities for best buys in justice and law, as well as other career areas, by visiting GetEducated.com.

P.S. - This may surprise you, but a study last year by the Department of Education found that collegiate online education is as good as or better than traditional on-campus learning. Google "The Evidence on Online Education - Inside Higher Ed" and confidently proceed with your plan to stretch your career at an affordable price.

DEAR READERS: Most of the letters I get about the outsourcing of American jobs to other countries are not suitable for this space. But if you want to find out where all the jobs have gone, read the excellent and eye-opening paperback "Outsourcing America: The True Cost of Shipping Jobs Overseas and What Can Be Done About It" by educator-researchers Ron Hira, Ph.D., and Anil Hira, Ph.D. (AMACOM, 2008).

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