Career Trend Tip: Watch Your Back!

  Automation is making more and bigger inroads into our career planning.

Not too long ago we reported on the current employer fad of automated interviewing. We pointed out that your next job search phone call may be from an automated system asking you screening questions. The system will try to determine if you are the right kind of candidate for the job. Refer to our website for how to handle this situation.

Looking to the future, it was recently reported that workplace privacy issues will escalate. Some company policies can threaten personal privacy.

For instance, were you aware that some companies have started to use surveillance software? This sophisticated software covertly monitors and record each keystroke an employee makes. This includes individual letters, symbols, and punctuation, The data can be saved in a file or transmitted over a corporate computer network.

Ok. Let's say in a moment of frustration you put together a stinging letter to your boss whom you feel has wronged you. Then, after reading it over a couple times you rethink your decision. Maybe this isn't such a smart idea after all. So you delete the whole letter.

Too late.

Every word, every letter, every keystroke has been recorded on your hard drive. Or it's been sent as an email to a computer system administrator who can retrieve it at their convenience.

What does this all mean to your career planning or job search?

If you're on the job, beware. Find out what your current organizations policy is on this matter so you can make sure your privacy is protected. In other words, understand the corporate rules and play by them.

If, on the other hand, you are offended by this kind of policy and you see it as an invasion of your privacy you will want to discover the company's policy before you accept a position with them. It is not at all inappropriate to ask in advance. This is what intelligent, assertive job search is all about.

As we've said many times before, planning your job search or career change in advance prepares you for addressing the kind of issues that can make a huge difference in your future job satisfaction and career growth.

About the Author

Paul Bowley manages EEI, the world-class pioneer in alternative job search techniques and non-traditional career advancement strategies . . . since 1985. Check out THE WORLD'S FASTEST JOB SEARCH SYSTEM! And grab our stunning FREE REPORT: "How To Lock Up A High-Paying Job In 14 Days (Or Less)!" http://www.fastest-job-search.com

 Paul Bowley

More Articles 

5 Promises that Can Take Your Life and Career to New Heights - Vickie Milazzo RN MSN JD
In 1982, the year I turned 28, I realized my life was headed all wrong. I had gone into nursing wide-eyed, thinking I could make a difference--even improve the state of healthcare. Then I bumped up against the reality that no matter how hard...

Tackling the Transition: The Confident Navigation of a Career Change - Caterina Rando
Until recently you may have been enjoying the illusion of a secure job, only to get involuntarily thrown overboard—drifting back to the shore of resume revision while brushing up on interview skills. With things a bit rocky, the time is right to...

Tips On Proofreading To Improve Your Freelance Career - Niall Cinneide
Proofreading is a career which many people are looking to get into, but often the knowledge of what to do, when to do it, and especially how to do it is hard to come by. For that reason, there are many things that are important to know in order to...

Career Life Balance - Dawn Quesnel Coach DQ
Create more magic by linking time management to intentions! Last month we explored creating more of what you want by defining and setting an intention to simply create more of it in your life. How is it working for you? One of the ways to bring...

Successful Career, Rocky Relationship? - Jo Ball
While you’re soaring with the eagles at work, things are about as low as they can get on the home front. This is a quandary many people before you have had, but within the situation is an opportunity to evaluate life. Often it takes a relationship...

Career Redesign Tools For Work-Life Balance - Sharon Teitelbaum
Partnering with the University of Pennsylvania Law School and the Wharton School, Thirdpath Institute, a non-profit whose mission is "to assist individuals and families in finding new ways to redesign work to create time for family,...

Career Management and Life Planning Tools: Eight Powerful Questions About Your Future - Sharon Teitelbaum
"Most people don't plan to fail. They just fail to plan." This old saying applies to any area of your life where you want to make some positive changes. Prior to planning, however, you must get absolutely clear on your intentions , and...

10 Habits Assuring Career Self-Sabotage - John McKee The Business Success Coach
:::Expert's Classic "Fatal Flaws" of a Doomed Employee::: You're fired! This succinct phrase strikes more fear into the heart of the working man than any other. Why is it, then, that many well-intentioned and reasonably astute professionals...

How to Change Career Horses in Mid-Stream - Merci Miglino
You’ll get wet but the reward just might be a more fulfilling ride! In Survival is Not Enough, author Seth Godin says change is the "new normal.” Rather than thinking of work as a series of stable times interrupted by moments of change, Godin...

Starting a Career in Freelance Content Writing - Diane Penna
As a frequent visitor to online forums filled with entrepreneurial stay-at-home-moms (and dads), I see posts every other day asking questions along the same line. How do I go about starting a career in writing? Where did you get your...

Nine Sure Fire Ways to Boost Your Career - Dr Tom Olson
1. Differentiate yourself using a Personal Value Proposition. A PVP a description of how your unique mixture of five key elements creates and/or adds value for an organization and the people in it. A personal examination of these elements...

How to Start and Sustain a Career as a Freelance Writer - Abdallah Khamis Abdallah
Have you wondered how you can make a career writing books or articles for various publications? Or are you seeking a viable second income opportunity but do not know where to start? Well, freelance writing may be the right career for you and it...