Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about how Obvelum works.
Is there a job board where companies apply to you?
Yes. Obvelum is a private talent marketplace built entirely as a job board where companies apply to you.
Instead of candidates endlessly submitting resumes, hiring managers receive anonymous profiles that match their job offers,
and pitch candidates directly with compensation ranges upfront.
How is Obvelum different from LinkedIn?
On LinkedIn your full identity, photo, employer history, and connections are public from the moment you signal openness - which means your current employer can see it, recruiters can spam you at no cost, and salary is almost always missing or vague.
Obvelum inverts all of that. Your profile is anonymous by default: companies see your skills, experience level, and preferences - not your name, photo, or current employer. Every interview request must include a binding salary range with a maximum 35% spread. Companies pay a credit for each outreach, refunded if you don't reply within 7 days, so there is a real cost to spam and ghosting. You reveal your identity only when you accept an interview.
Obvelum inverts all of that. Your profile is anonymous by default: companies see your skills, experience level, and preferences - not your name, photo, or current employer. Every interview request must include a binding salary range with a maximum 35% spread. Companies pay a credit for each outreach, refunded if you don't reply within 7 days, so there is a real cost to spam and ghosting. You reveal your identity only when you accept an interview.
Is Obvelum a recruitment agency?
No. Obvelum is a platform, not an agency. We don't represent you, negotiate on your behalf, or take a placement fee from anyone.
That said, recruitment agencies do use Obvelum alongside direct employers - they post job offers and contact candidates the same way any company does, under the same rules: anonymous profiles, binding salary ranges upfront, and credit-based outreach. If you'd prefer to only hear from direct employers, you can hide your profile from agencies entirely with a single toggle.
That said, recruitment agencies do use Obvelum alongside direct employers - they post job offers and contact candidates the same way any company does, under the same rules: anonymous profiles, binding salary ranges upfront, and credit-based outreach. If you'd prefer to only hear from direct employers, you can hide your profile from agencies entirely with a single toggle.
Is my profile hidden from my current employer on Obvelum?
Yes. Your profile is anonymous by default. Companies see only your skills, experience level, location preferences, and salary expectations - never your name, contact details, photo, or current employer. You can also explicitly block any specific company from finding you at all, even while remaining visible to everyone else.
What information do companies actually see on my profile?
There is no profile directory on Obvelum - a company can only see your profile if it matches one of their active job offers. Before you accept an interview request, what they see is limited to: your skills and proficiency levels, your years of experience, anonymous environment tags (such as whether you have experience in Fintech, Big Tech, or Regulated sectors like finance/healthcare), your preferred work location and remote preferences, your minimum salary expectation, and your availability status.
Under our privacy-first model, the platform does not collect personal identifiers like your name, age, gender, or profile photo. The email you register with is strictly used for authentication and account notifications, and is never shared. We use your work history solely to generate aggregate statistics and to map your background to secure, generalized industry tags so companies know you have experience in their sector. Your specific employer names and employment details are never shared, keeping your professional identity fully protected.
Under our privacy-first model, the platform does not collect personal identifiers like your name, age, gender, or profile photo. The email you register with is strictly used for authentication and account notifications, and is never shared. We use your work history solely to generate aggregate statistics and to map your background to secure, generalized industry tags so companies know you have experience in their sector. Your specific employer names and employment details are never shared, keeping your professional identity fully protected.
How much does it cost for candidates to use Obvelum?
Obvelum is completely free for candidates - no premium tiers, no paid boosts, no featured listings. You can browse matching job opportunities, signal interest in roles, and receive interview proposals without paying anything. The cost model is entirely on the company side.
Who can see my Obvelum profile?
Only verified hiring managers and recruiters from companies approved on the platform. Your profile is never publicly indexed by search engines or visible to general users. You can also set your profile to invisible at any time, or to "open to networking only" to reduce unsolicited outreach.
Can I block specific companies from finding me?
Yes. You can block any specific company from seeing your profile while remaining fully visible to everyone else. You can also choose to hide from recruitment agencies entirely - keeping yourself visible only to direct employers - and opt out of appearing in paid market research studies.
What happens when a company is interested in me?
The company sends you an interview proposal that must include the role title, a binding salary range, and a breakdown of which skills drive which portion of the compensation. You review everything anonymously and choose to accept or decline. If you accept, the interview is scheduled and conducted on the Obvelum platform - where the real conversation and any follow-up questions happen.
Why is salary transparency mandatory on Obvelum?
Salary is mandatory and binding on every proposal because it eliminates the single biggest time-waster in hiring: discovering mid-process that both sides are far apart on compensation. Every proposal includes a salary range with a maximum spread of 35%, so you know the floor and ceiling before agreeing to talk.
Companies must also map specific portions of the range to required versus nice-to-have skills, giving you a clear view of what your compensation is actually based on - not a vague number to negotiate from scratch.
Companies must also map specific portions of the range to required versus nice-to-have skills, giving you a clear view of what your compensation is actually based on - not a vague number to negotiate from scratch.
What if I am looking for my first job?
Obvelum is committed to helping entry-level talent launch their careers. To support this, we have a dedicated first-job matching pathway.
This is the only type of job offer on our platform where we do not require companies to specify a mandatory salary range upfront. We do this to maximize the number of opportunities available for junior candidates and apprentices, ensuring you can easily find that crucial first role to start building real-world experience without entry barriers.
This is the only type of job offer on our platform where we do not require companies to specify a mandatory salary range upfront. We do this to maximize the number of opportunities available for junior candidates and apprentices, ensuring you can easily find that crucial first role to start building real-world experience without entry barriers.
What happens if a company ghosts me after sending a proposal?
If you accept a proposal and the company goes silent, the platform's reputation system flags it. Companies that ghost candidates lose standing on the platform, which affects their visibility and ability to reach future candidates.
On the other side: if a company sends you a proposal and you don't reply within 7 days, their credit is automatically refunded - so the system is fair in both directions. This built-in cost of ghosting is why Obvelum response rates are significantly higher than traditional job boards.
On the other side: if a company sends you a proposal and you don't reply within 7 days, their credit is automatically refunded - so the system is fair in both directions. This built-in cost of ghosting is why Obvelum response rates are significantly higher than traditional job boards.
Do I need to be actively job hunting to join Obvelum?
No - but being a little proactive pays off. You set an availability status that signals your intent without committing to anything, and inbound proposals arrive on your own timeline. That said, Obvelum also surfaces job opportunities that match your profile, and for each one you can see a detailed AI analysis of how well you fit the role before deciding whether to act.
If a role genuinely interests you, you can send a Signal to that company - a lightweight expression of interest that costs you nothing and requires no cover letter or application. You can have up to 3 active signals at any time. When a company sees that a candidate has signalled interest in their role, they receive a credit discount to reach out - making it significantly more likely they will contact you first.
It is the middle ground between passive and active: you are not applying, but you are telling the right companies that you are open, on your terms.
How often do I need to log in to stay visible?
At least once every 30 days. This is by design: it ensures companies only spend credits reaching out to candidates who are genuinely reachable. If you go inactive, your profile is automatically hidden - not deleted - and becomes visible again as soon as you log back in.
How does the AI skill assessment work?
Once you have at least 10 skills on your profile, you can unlock a short AI-generated assessment. The platform randomly selects skills from your profile and generates 2 technical questions per skill, calibrated to your declared proficiency level - Junior, Mid, Senior, Lead, or Expert. Based on your answers, the AI may suggest a different level if your responses point to a different tier.
Importantly, companies always see your declared proficiency level - not the AI suggestion. The assessment exists entirely for your benefit: when you browse matching job offers, Obvelum uses the AI analysis to generate honest insights about your fit, and may flag skills where the AI suggested a different level so you can make a more informed decision about whether to proceed.
If you disagree with the AI's suggested downgrade on a specific skill, you can take a second, non-negotiable assessment of 5 questions for that skill. This final result stands. Your answers are never stored or shared - only the outcome is used to power your personal job-match insights.
Importantly, companies always see your declared proficiency level - not the AI suggestion. The assessment exists entirely for your benefit: when you browse matching job offers, Obvelum uses the AI analysis to generate honest insights about your fit, and may flag skills where the AI suggested a different level so you can make a more informed decision about whether to proceed.
If you disagree with the AI's suggested downgrade on a specific skill, you can take a second, non-negotiable assessment of 5 questions for that skill. This final result stands. Your answers are never stored or shared - only the outcome is used to power your personal job-match insights.
Can I see how well my profile matches a job offer?
Yes. Obvelum provides candidates with full visibility into their alignment. For every matching opportunity surfaced on your dashboard, you can view a detailed AI analysis of your fit before taking any action.
Additionally, the platform calculates a Skill Rarity Score (Common, Uncommon, Rare, or Elite) using semantic clustering to show you exactly how your skill combination stacks up against the active talent pool.
Additionally, the platform calculates a Skill Rarity Score (Common, Uncommon, Rare, or Elite) using semantic clustering to show you exactly how your skill combination stacks up against the active talent pool.
What is the skill rarity score?
The Skill Rarity Score measures how rare your specific combination of skills is across the active talent pool on Obvelum. It is not just a count of individual skills - it uses semantic clustering to evaluate the intersection of your skill set as a whole. Profiles are classified as Common, Uncommon, Rare (top 15%), or Elite (top 5%).
The rarer your combination, the more prominently you appear in searches for that cluster. The score is computed once the platform processes your completed profile and updates dynamically as the marketplace evolves.
The rarer your combination, the more prominently you appear in searches for that cluster. The score is computed once the platform processes your completed profile and updates dynamically as the marketplace evolves.
How are companies verified on Obvelum?
Companies go through a verification process before they can access candidate profiles, including email domain confirmation, website validation, and manual review. Verified companies display a badge on their profile so you can immediately distinguish them from unverified accounts. This gatekeeping is part of what keeps the platform free of anonymous spam and ensures every interview proposal comes from a real, identifiable organisation.
Why is the security check failing or loading endlessly (Safari/Ad Blockers)?
We use Cloudflare Turnstile to securely protect our platform from automated bots without annoying captchas. However, if this check fails to load, times out, or blocks your registration/login, it is usually due to strict privacy settings or browser extensions blocking necessary third-party security scripts.
If you are using Safari (on macOS or iOS):
Safari's "Prevent Cross-Site Tracking" setting blocks the verification script from completing. To fix this, please temporarily disable "Prevent Cross-Site Tracking" under your browser Settings (Safari -> Settings/Preferences -> Privacy on macOS, or Settings -> Safari -> Prevent Cross-Site Tracking on iOS) and reload the page. For more details, see [Apple's official guide on Safari's Prevent Cross-Site Tracking](https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/prevent-cross-site-tracking-sfri40732/mac).
If you are using an Ad Blocker or strict DNS resolver:
Some strict ad blockers, content filters, or custom DNS configurations mistake Turnstile's security verification endpoints for advertising trackers. Try temporarily pausing your ad blocker or adding Cloudflare Turnstile domains to your exception list, and try again.
If you are using Safari (on macOS or iOS):
Safari's "Prevent Cross-Site Tracking" setting blocks the verification script from completing. To fix this, please temporarily disable "Prevent Cross-Site Tracking" under your browser Settings (Safari -> Settings/Preferences -> Privacy on macOS, or Settings -> Safari -> Prevent Cross-Site Tracking on iOS) and reload the page. For more details, see [Apple's official guide on Safari's Prevent Cross-Site Tracking](https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/prevent-cross-site-tracking-sfri40732/mac).
If you are using an Ad Blocker or strict DNS resolver:
Some strict ad blockers, content filters, or custom DNS configurations mistake Turnstile's security verification endpoints for advertising trackers. Try temporarily pausing your ad blocker or adding Cloudflare Turnstile domains to your exception list, and try again.