When applying for a job, what does it mean when the name of the company is..?

Question

Confidential..is that something shady?

Answer 1

yes it is

Answer 2

lol yeah

Answer 3

There are two major reasons that the company name is confidential.  Both have to do with headhunters that are NOT retained by the hiring company (ie, they not getting paid unless THEY bring the eventual hire to the company)

1)  The headhunter is afraid that you will contact the company directly rather than have the headhunter bring you in.  This is perfectly reasonable on the part of the headhunter.

2)  There is no job, the headhunter simply is fishing for resumes that he can take to companies he knows and try to sell you to them.  Not ethical, but not all that bad for you if you end up getting shopped.

The downside of both these scenarios is that once the headhunter sends your resume to a firm, solicited or not, then they in essence "own" you, or at least the rights to you.  The company cannot hire you unless they pay the headhunter a commission.  Again, not all bad, but if YOU were the company and had two potential hires, which one would you hire?  The one where you gotta pay the headhunter 30-40% of the annual starting salary, or the one that won't cost you a dime to hire?

I thought so.

Answer 4

Not necessarily. It is not uncommon for headhunters to advertise jobs for "confidential" companies. For whatever reason, the company may not want it known that they are the ones hiring. Now if it is your first day of work and they still won't tell you who you are working for, that may indicate a problem.