Protect Your Privacy: Essential Tips for a Safe Job Search

We started Blackthorn Talent Acquisition with a real focus on respecting both our clients’ and candidates’ privacy in their job searches. As we predominantly work in the hidden job market, we simply couldn’t exist without strict attention to this detail. However, recently, as a changing job market as meant the industry has faced more pressure, we’ve seen a trend of less ethical recruitment practices. At Blackthorn, we absolutely stand against these behaviours, and the aim of this article is to call out some of these practices and provide tips on how to prevent this happening to you. The purpose of this article is to highlight some of these unethical practices and offer practical tips to help you avoid falling victim to them.

Recent Horror Stories:

In the past month, we’ve heard troubling stories:

• Candidate details being accessed from job search sites and sent to employers without even speaking to the “agency” that claims to represent them.

• Candidate details being shared with employers who do not, nor have ever, worked with the agency claiming to represent that employer.

• A candidate’s outdated CV being sent to their current employer after an agency asked if they had considered looking for a new role – at the time: they weren’t.

• A candidate almost being rejected for a role because their CV was received from another agency during the offer process.

These incidents represent significant breaches of trust, privacy, and respect. Recruiters can be a great asset in the job search process, but these behaviours are damaging to candidates, employers, and other agencies.

Standing on Our Principles: 

It might feel like we’re on a soapbox, but the reality is that we take such a strict approach to your privacy and confidentiality because we believe this sort of behaviour has no place in your job search. We also want to assure you that this behaviour is far from the norm in the industry, but here are some tips to reduce the risk of experiencing these issues yourself:

1. Work with Trusted Consultants: Collaborating with consultants you know and trust, or who have been recommended by people you trust, will usually ensure you are treated fairly. Most professionals aren’t willing to risk their reputation for a speculative fee.

2. Verify Privacy Practices: If you are approached by someone you haven’t worked with before, ask them to confirm their privacy practices. Seek written confirmation that they will not share your details without your permission. All good business should have a privacy policy or at the very least a privacy statement about how they will handle each aspect of your information from CV to your phone number. Ask to see a copy.

3. Demand Removal of Your Details: If your details are shared without your consent, demand their removal from the agency’s records. Under the Privacy Act 2020 this is your right. Request a written record of the recipients of your details, and then respectfully ask those recipients to also remove your details from their records. Including a note that your details were shared without your permission is advisable but not required. The following link will take you to the Privacy Commission where you can review the Privacy Principles and know more about your rights. https://www.privacy.org.nz/privacy-act-2020/privacy-principles/

If you would like to discuss a tailored approach to your search or want to work with people who value your search as much as you do, then reach out and have a chat with us.