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An Auckland communications specialist who was recently job hunting says it is time that recruitment sites stopped allowing roles to be advertised without the details of the company hiring.
The woman, whom RNZ has agreed not to name, said she was on a bit of an "applying spree" recently, looking for a new role.
"As you get a bit further on in your career, fewer things end up suiting your needs, job-wise so I applied for a bunch of things, including a couple of jobs that were from anonymous advertisers."
But she said it was often hard to guess where the roles might be.
"I always put heaps of effort into a job application, I tailor my CV, write a proper cover letter, make sure I am putting my best foot forward, not wasting people's time. I read the website and try to make my skills match what their values are, that kind of thing."
She said, after she had been job hunting for a while, she had a call from someone who referred to her application for a role with a particular firm, which she was not aware she had submitted.
"I had no idea what they were talking about and eventually worked out I had applied for a job with a company I'd heard really unflattering things about the culture at. I had to say it was a bit of a misunderstanding."
She said it seemed a waste of time in a competitive employment environment, for candidates and hiring managers.
"You might accidentally apply for a job at your own organisation and then your boss knows you're looking for other work. There's so much that could potentially go wrong in a country where everyone knows everyone else, particularly if you're applying within your industry."
She said she used to receive a daily update with job listings and up to five would have the advertiser's name concealed.
Shannon Barlow, managing director of Frog Recruitment, said it was common for recruitment agencies to keep their clients' names confidential.
She said that was so the company did not have to manage direct applications.
"We don't want to be cut out of the process and have candidates apply directly, we don't want other recruitment agencies to know the company is hiring and increase competition."
Another recruiter, Hayley Pickard, founder of Fortitude Group, said the recruitment company should talk to a candidate about the role and tell them the employer's name before they submitted the application on their behalf.
"The reason for this is so that when we, as an agency, talk to a possible candidate if they have applied for a role directly, or the candidate doesn't want to interview or work for that employer then we wouldn't put them forward.
"Sadly not all agencies follow best practice and will just submit applications without speaking to the applicant first hoping the employer will want to see them, then they can call the person back with interview details. This then leads to a issue as the employer wants to see the candidate for interview, the candidate then doesn't want to meet with them, and then the agency is left having to explain to a client why someone they submitted now doesn't want to interview."
Seek said it could not comment. Trade Me said 22 percent of the job listings on its site in the last month were from agencies.
