What happens to job applications and other types of applications after time?

After you have applied for a job, volunteer opportunity, or any other type of application, what happens to that paper with your personal information if you get the job, dont get the job, etc. Is it discarded after a certain amount of time where the company no longer has your information or is it always kept on file forever. I recently applied for a volunteer opportunity and it asked for my social security number, I was reluctant to provide it because I do not want this personal information to fall on teh wrong eyes, I was worrying that if in the future I do lets say come into a lot of money that people in these organizations with my SSN and other personal info can access this info, I want to be safe, can I change my social security number and if so how?
What happens to job applications and other types of applications after time?
Different companies have different policies.



The company I worked for discarded rejected resumes almost immediately -- we were inundated with unqualified applicants and had no space to hold those.



If we did a phone interview, we kept the resume for a few months. If we actually interviewed in person and had a job application (which requested SS#), we kept it for a year.



However, it all went in the normal trash -- no shredding. And no laws governing how long to keep or how to dispose.
What happens to job applications and other types of applications after time?
Most companies keep applications on file for about 6 months. After that time paper applications are shredded (government policy when dealing with personal information) and electronic ones are deleted. Sensitive information is kept by the human resource department and if anything illegal happens with that information there are a lot of fines and jail time. Since companies do not want to deal with that I wouldn't worry. Things will be just fine.

If you are hired by that company, your application remains on file.

If you need to change your SSN, you need to go to the local social security office and fill out paperwork.

~Kristina
Some save it in case they are sued for discrimination.
thats a good question i'd like to know
I know that if the company hires you, the application is retained in your employee folder. I would imagine that most businesses destroy applications from people that don't get hired after a period of time, but it probably differs for each business. I would be leery of providing my social security number to a volunteer organization. It seems strange for them to be asking for that. You are right to guard your SSN with your life, and I would like to know the answers to your questions also!

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