Everyday life
A second phone number for job hunting: reachable by recruiters, private everywhere else
A CV with a phone number ends up on job boards, in recruiter databases and in agencies' lists for years. A second number takes the calls while you search, then switches off when you sign.
Uploading a CV feels like sending a document to one employer. In practice it goes into a database, is indexed by job boards, and is passed between agencies. Years later, the number on it still rings with roles you did not apply for. If that number is your personal mobile, there is nothing you can do about it.
A second number for the search costs little and gives you an off switch.
Set up the search line
Get a number in the country where you are looking for work; a mobile number reads as personal, a local number as settled. Put it on your CV, your profiles and your applications. Calls ring in the app on your phone; texts arrive on the Messages tab under that number.
Name the number "Job search" so you know what a call is about before you answer, and switch on voicemail with business hours if you are searching while employed: calls during your working day go to a professional greeting, and you return them at lunch.
During the search
Recruiters call from numbers you do not know. Answer from the app, or decline and tap Respond with SMS to send "In a meeting, free after 1 pm". Missed calls and voicemails are listed under Recents against the search number, so nothing gets lost among personal calls.
If an interview is by phone, call from the search number so the interviewer's phone shows the number they already have for you. For a call that matters, the in-call keypad handles conference-line codes.
When you sign
Deactivate the number. Recruiters who still have it reach nothing, agencies' databases point at a dormant line, and your personal number was never on any of it. Keep the number on your account and reactivate it the next time you look, or let it lapse and take a new one then. See Rename a number, set auto-renew, switch it off or delete it.
For the current job too
The same separation works if your current employer expects you to be reachable. A work number with hours, forwarding and voicemail keeps work calls off your personal line and makes the boundary a setting rather than a conversation. See Set up a work line.
Frequently asked questions
Will recruiters notice it is a second number?
No. It is an ordinary local or mobile number that rings and takes voicemail like any other.
Can I use it for the online application forms that need a code?
Yes, if the number has SMS capability. Codes arrive as texts under that number. Test one form early in case a particular site rejects the number range.
What if I want to keep the number after I start?
Keep it. Rename it, give it new hours, and it becomes a general "public" number for anything you would rather not attach to your personal mobile.