These fees allow them to post jobs and search the databases of resumes. What they do with the information they get there is largely unregulated. For years, companies have used information obtained from job applications and resumes for purposes other than what they were intended. Providian Financial, a credit card company based in San Francisco, sends direct mail credit card offers to all job applicants. And they do so unapologetically.
Companies buy and sell lists.
Some companies even engage in the unethical practice of posting phony jobs just to obtain contact information of job seekers. Many companies leave a job posting up long after it has been filled - just to harvest the information more resumes will provide. Blaine reports that he never takes the time to change his resume for any one of the jobs he is applying for. He just puts as much as he can on his resume - including his home and cellular phone numbers, his entire employment history plus his academic records and sends it all whiling into the void of cyberspace without a thought or concern about what happens to it. Later, he wonders why telemarketers are calling on him on his cell phone.