Looking for a job means sharing your name, history and contact details with strangers. Most of them are fine. A few aren’t, and your current employer may be watching the same sites. A few habits keep you in control.
Keep it from your current employer
- On LinkedIn, “Open to Work” can be shown to recruiters only instead of everyone. Recruiters at your own company may still see signals, so be careful what you post.
- Turn off profile-change notifications before you rewrite your headline or add skills, so your network isn’t told.
- Don’t search or apply on a work laptop or work account. Company devices can be monitored, and you’ll lose access to everything if you leave suddenly.
Share less on your résumé
You don’t need your full home address, date of birth or a photo (in most countries). City and country are enough. Use a separate email address for applications so you can filter it and close it later.
Spot scams
Fake job offers are common, especially for remote roles. Be wary when:
- The “interview” happens only over chat apps, with no video call or company email.
- You’re asked to pay for training, equipment or a background check.
- You’re sent a cheque and asked to send part of it back.
- The offer arrives before any real interview.
Check the job on the company’s own careers page, and contact the company through its official website if you’re unsure.
Check what your tools collect
Job tools collect very different amounts of data. Before you install an extension or sign up for a service, check:
- Does it need an account? If it does, it’s storing your data on its servers.
- What can it access? In Chrome, open
chrome://extensions, choose Details, and look at Site access. “On all sites” means it can read every page you visit. - How does it make money? Free tools paid for by employers or advertisers may share or use your data. Read the privacy policy.
How Jobly handles it
Jobly needs no account and stores your preferences, saved jobs and alerts only in your browser. It can’t see your tabs or browsing history, and it talks to one server, which doesn’t keep your searches. Read the privacy policy or see the permissions.
Common questions
Can my employer see that I’m on job sites?
They can’t see your activity on other sites, but they can see public changes to your profile, and anything you do on a work device or network may be monitored.
Is it safe to upload my résumé to job sites?
Mostly, on well-known sites. Leave out your home address, date of birth and ID numbers, and check who can see your profile. Never send ID documents before you’ve had a real interview and an offer from a verified company.
Does Jobly ever see my résumé?
No. Jobly never asks for your résumé, name or email. You apply on the original listing, usually the employer’s own site.