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When you hit submit on a job application, you know what information you’re handing over, but likely don’t know where that information goes next.
That blind spot can carry real consequences. More than half of the U.S. job seekers surveyed said they had been targeted by a fake recruiter. Among those, 17 per cent said their identity or an online account had been misused, 12 per cent said there was fraudulent credit activity and 10 per cent lost money, according to a new survey from privacy company Cloaked.
“There’s a sense of urgency where people are trying to look for their next opportunity, and this is ripe for attacks. Fake job recruiting, or really just general misuse or lack of understanding of how much personal information is falling into this process,” says Arjun Bhatnagar, chief executive officer of Cloaked.
Cloaked surveyed 1,012 U.S. adults who had applied for at least one job in the previous 12 months. It found 83 per cent didn’t know how long employers or job boards retain their information. The average job seeker had handed over personal data 13 times during their search and shared six different pieces of information.
Even if the employer is legitimate, Mr. Bhatnagar says each application effectively creates another disclosure.
Applicants routinely provide phone numbers, email addresses and home addresses, while some applications request Social Security numbers or banking information earlier than necessary.
“They just need a way to reach you. They don’t need to know everything about your life,” he advises.
Mr. Bhatnagar says automated and artificial intelligence systems are also being used to aggregate identifying information with other data, potentially creating a broader profile of a candidate. “It’s not humans anymore. It’s AI,” he says.
Meanwhile, 84 per cent of respondents had never asked for their information to be deleted and 26 per cent had discovered an old resume or profile remained publicly searchable after their job search ended. This means outdated information could be shared, and negatively impact a job search in the future.
For job seekers, Mr. Bhatnagar recommends closing some of those gaps: use an alias email or phone number for applications; leave out optional information such as a home address, Social Insurance Number or banking details until necessary; audit what is publicly connected to your name; verify recruiters before responding to urgent requests for identification or financial information; and ask companies what happens to your information after the hiring process ends.
Employers have a reason to pay attention, too. Nearly two-thirds of respondents (65 per cent) said they had abandoned an application because it demanded too much personal information.
“There is a shift in balance where people don’t want to give up everything, and now it’s important for people to be stewards of their own data,” Mr. Bhatnagar says.
Collecting less unnecessary information doesn’t just protect job seekers, it prevents employers from losing candidates before they ever hit submit.
Fast fact
AI agents
59 per cent
That’s how many Canadian workers say that AI agents have already changed the way their organization hires entry-level workers, according to a survey from professional services firm KPMG Canada.
Career guidance
Benefit battle
One worker’s employer promised employees a “wellness fund” of $100 per month that would be automatically added to their pay. The perk ended in 2026, but they realized they had never received the payments. HR says it’s too late to receive the credits as the perk isn’t offered anymore. They’re wondering if they can take legal action.
According to employment law experts, there are factors that affect whether this is worth pursuing, including if employees needed to opt-in to the fund or other technicalities, and the employment standards in their province, which define different periods of time for recovering unpaid wages.
Read more
Quoted
Career curveball
“For decades I’ve been told that managing a successful career begins with a plan,” Bill, a senior leader in a financial institution, told me during an executive education program I was running. “Decide where you want to be in five years. Build a roadmap. Acquire the skills you’ll need. Then work steadily towards your destination.” He paused. “That advice made sense when the future was reasonably predictable. What if it isn’t?”
In this Harvard Business Review article, Lynda Gratton, a professor of management practice at London Business School, explains why longer working lives and the uncertainty created by AI are making careers harder to plan, requiring professionals to experiment, invest in long-term capabilities and make time for reflection.
On our radar
AI access
The federal government is investing $13-million in a new national AI literacy program that will provide free training to up to one million post-secondary students and more than 50,000 K–12 educators through the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute, with applications and educator training opening Sept. 21.