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Is it acceptable to keep your current employers name private on your CV and when dealing with a recruiter?.

I intend to soon begin searching for a new job but i do not want to disclose the name of my current employer for fear the recruiter may contact them scouting for job leads etc and give the game away that i am job hunting. I was thinking of just writing ‘Private’ in the section of my CV for my current employer details with at most disclosing the industry they specialize in, is this acceptable or would the recruiter see this as me being overly secretive or uncooperative?.

Would it be fine to just disclose my current employers name at interview or job offer stage but not until that point?.

Update: 19/01/2015

This question is being asked mainly in concern with withholding this information from the recruiter, i hold a far greater amount of trust in a prospective future employer to be confidential. However it is very easy for a recruiter to put their own interests (Commission / Leads) ahead of yours with little to no risk at their end.

To reduce the chance of my CV being submitted to my own employer i was intending on not applying for any jobs in that county or town specifically. I was also only going to directly apply for jobs rather than posting my CV on a jobsite or submitting to a recruitment agency to reduce the risk of my CV being mass emailed to firms in my home county.

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    The ineherent danger of not disclosing your current employer's name is that a recruiter may forward them your CV for positions they advertise. Most reputable recruiters will respect your relationship with your current employer as it is against all parties interest to breach that trust.
    – Laconic Droid
    Jan 18 '15 at 19:14
  • Well, what if you don't disclose the name of your employer and the recruiter submits your resume to your current employer?
    – Vietnhi Phuvan
    Jan 18 '15 at 20:11
  • Valid points, please see my updated question. I feel its a going to be a case of balancing risk, both options have a element of risk.
    – Stormy
    Jan 19 '15 at 20:05
  • If you post your resume and a recruiter is interested, they'll initiate contact with you - They'll look very foolish to a prospective client if they submitted your resume without ever talking to you. At the point where they contact you, you can specify which employers you don't want them to contact - that's fine with them because they'll just line up someone else for those employers you excluded and they'll be happy to collect the commission they get from getting you hired by any of the other employers. Recruiters largely understand that their value-add is the confidentiality they provide you.
    – Vietnhi Phuvan
    Jan 20 '15 at 12:31
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Is it acceptable to keep your current employers name private on your CV and when dealing with a recruiter?.

Yes.

At least in my part of the world, in my profession. it's common practice to omit the name of your current employer from your CV/resume.

Would it would be fine to just disclose my current employers name at interview or job offer stage but not until that point?.

That's a perfectly reasonable approach. In fact, the name of your current employer might not even come up during the interview.

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  • The resume might keep your current employer private, but what about your LinkedIn profile. For me this definitely lists my current employer, and it is easy to find me. So finding out where I currently work should be easy. How would you deal with that?
    – Paul Hiemstra
    Jan 19 '15 at 20:46
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    @JoeStrazzere Thanks for backing me and keeping it on topic :). Also my employer name isnt on my LinkedIn profile i entered 'Private' for that field. I also do not have any colleagues from my current employer Linked to my account.
    – Stormy
    Jan 20 '15 at 21:52
  • @PaulHiemstra Step 1) disable "notify my connections of changes to my profile" (it's in Linkedin's settings) Step 2) change the name of your current employer to "Anonymous" on your Linkedin profile. Step 3) hope no one from your current company is actively checking up on your profile, and prepare an excuse for them in case they actually ask.
    – Steve-O
    Jul 6 '17 at 20:45
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Anyone who is interested in filling a position should do whatever they can to avoid hurting job candidates. I would never work for a company that went against my wishes to not contact my current employer while I'm looking for a job. That is professional courtesy. If they make an offer contingent on validating my work experience, that would be acceptable, but I wouldn't expect them to do anything other than checking on my current position and time of employment.

I am in the US and this may not apply to other parts of the world.

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  • Good answer, however my question is more aimed at the recruiter with whom i would put less trust.
    – Stormy
    Jan 19 '15 at 20:06

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