How severely does it impact one's chances of getting interviews if they leave their current employer name off their resume and list "Confidential"?

12 Comments

1. AnonymousApril 17,2024 at 4:23PM UTC

   I am also unsure about the "Confidential," and would suggest that timing is important as the other person (below) stated so I will defer that to the recruiters here. That information will be required before anything involving employment verification in the interview/hiring process, so be prepared. As for the references, I have three references I use frequently, but most don't ask for them on the application but later on in the process. I have been applying to state and federal jobs and those are the ones that ask most frequently on the application.

2. AnonymousApril 17,2024 at 5:46PM UTC

   Old-school applicant tracking systems (ATS) and even employers themselves asking for references before you've even interviewed...I still see that once in a while but as a recruiter I don't think it's appropriate - unethical recruiters sometimes "fish" for higher-level candidates this way and you want to protect your references. If you can't dodge the question, you could try entering something like "To protect my references from potential identity theft, I will gladly provide references at the appropriate time in the process."

3. AnonymousApril 18,2024 at 9:07AM UTC

   Thank you! For one I wrote that I needed to contact my references before giving their names out so that they expected to be contacted.

4. AnonymousApril 17,2024 at 10:25PM UTC

   If it'sa "confidential" employer, I want to know more about them before I expose much about me (ie references)

5. AnonymousApril 18,2024 at 9:13AM UTC

   What if job title is listed, been with same employer 10 years, job details listed?

6. AnonymousApril 18,2024 at 1:25PM UTC

   I list a company as “company confidential” but do include my achievements, responsibilities etc.
   when asked, i tell the truth- which has normally resulted in disgust at the behavior(s) of not only my direct manager (whose actions towards me I carefully documented at the recommendation of TWO colleagues) but also the response of my HR representative, the head of HR etc. To this day I struggle with the fallout - did I imagine this behavior? When I discovered he was stalking me on LinkedIn, that was it . It’s been 7 years & thanks to numerous individuals, I finally gave up the ghost.
   PS - I would NEVER include him as a reference anyhow & despite my lawyer obtaining a promise that any calls would be returned with the “eligible for rehire” phrase, I have heard from many who work various locations of the organization that as far as legalities are concerned, they just don’t give a damn.

7. AnonymousApril 18,2024 at 6:52PM UTC

   I'm a recruiter and a career coach. I would suggest you use a resume format that describes your work history something like this:

   Mid-sized XX company (confidential) 2014-present

   • Most recent position, date-present

   - sub-bullets with accomplishments (more important than just a list of responsibilities)

   • Position before that, date-date

   And so on. That way the ten years you've been with your company are flush right and stand out better to recruiters (who are trained to just scan a resume quickly).

   If/when a recruiter asks about the "confidential" company, maybe you could say "unfortunately, I got caught in the cross-hairs of a stalker and Legal advises me to keep this confidential until I'm closer to an offer. I'll be happy to provide more information at that time."

   Hope this helps! (and doesn't come out all jumbled, it's hard to do bullets in these little dialog boxes :) Good luck!

8. AnonymousApril 21,2024 at 9:55PM UTC

   Thank you!

9. AnonymousApril 20,2024 at 4:33PM UTC

   It should not. I do not recommend sharing references until you get to the offer stage. In the section where they are being requested put will provide at time of offer, or upon mutual interest. Good luck.

10. AnonymousApril 20,2024 at 5:26PM UTC

    That's easier said than done. As a job applicant, leaving off anything on the application shows a) lack of attention to detail; b) uncooperative personality; c) something to hide.

    I understand your reasoning but if someone needs a job badly, they're likely not willing to appear to be any of these things.

11. AnonymousApril 22,2024 at 3:34PM UTC

    Actually, I think you are wrong here. I give props to those who know enough to leave that in a professionally blank way and I read resumes and applications for a living. Definitely save those references and let the employer know that you cherish those for when a company wants to hire. They are meaningless until then though some bigger companies use them to eliminate you from consideration. You are not hiding anything, you are simply not sharing things before it's time.

12. AnonymousApril 27,2024 at 5:39PM UTC

    Thank you, that is very helpful to know!