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Articles on Jobseekers Advice If you would like to submit an article to Jobseekers Advice, then please feel free to contact us. We are always looking for a wide range of articles dealing with career advice, CV advice, interview advice, working abroad, employment issues, education and training and other recruitment or careers related topics. The articles can be the result of professional experience or personal insight - we are looking to offer all points of view.
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You fool! You filled in the survey, didn't you? No? You must have arrived from the articles section, then. Click here to take the survey.
OK, the survey was a joke and wasn't even a real form (your details weren't recorded), but there's a point to be made. Several in fact, and I'm going to make them.
By filling in these surveys and polls, you are not helping the company to "improve their levels of service" or whatever, you are giving them what they need in order to make more money out of you.
By telling a company your age, where you live, your sex, you occupation and whatever else they ask for, you are enabling them to make a profile of you.
From this they can sell their data (unless they tell you beforehand that they won't) to marketing companies, share it with their partners or use it to target you as an individual.
Where do you think the junk mail comes from? Do you think that there are loads of unscrupulous companies out there running around finding out about you in order to email you porn links or mailing you credit card junk mail? Don't be stupid!
It's the big, "reputable" companies that collect the information. It's the big companies that sell or use the information.
Companies mail en masse because they get such a low response to what they send out (so the more people they target, the more they make). Simple business.
You want to stop the junk mail? Stop giving them your details!!
OK, some of the time you need to stick your name and email address down to register with a site, but don't give all the information the ask for (only fill in the required fields). And don't fill in dumb ass surveys! You're just asking to be sent junk mail! (this only applies to business surveys - anything that will be used for a good cause - charities, public services, etc - should be filled in!).
Actually, I take that back - do fill in the surveys. But make up random answers. For example: Age - 65 Occupation - Ballet Dancer
How will this help? Well, if enough people do this it will throw off the accuracy of their statistics.
For example, they compile information and say that this data has a 10% margin of error (so about 10% of the records don't fit in with the picture that the rest of the information is painting). So if we all throw off the accuracy, it will raise the percentage margin of error. It will rise to the point where the cost of mailing 100,000 people will outweigh the gain. And then the companies won't do it anymore!
And we won't have to put with these incessant bombardments of junk mail and surveys!
Just my 2 cents! Regards Scott Boyd - Webmaster and Founder - Jobseekers Advice
Do you have any thoughts or opinions about random issues of the day? Then write about them!
Jobseekers Advice is looking to expand it's Off the Job! section with articles on a wide range of issues written by our users. If you have something to say on any subject area (doesn't have to be related to job hunting), then please feel free to contribute to the site.
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