Job hunters have long been careful to keep their activities secret from their current employers. That was until the advent of online job searching.

According to a survey conducted by Cyber Dialogue and sponsored by CareerMosaic(R), today's job seekers are comfortable posting their resumes [CVs] online for all to see, including their current employers. An overwhelming majority (80 per cent) of respondents say they have no qualms about posting their resume on the web where it has unlimited viewing, and 95 percent feel secure in applying to positions directly online.

Cyber Dialogue surveyed nearly 400 people who have sought a job online in the past year. Qualified participants were asked to visit competitive online job sites prior to completing the survey. Nearly nine out of ten respondents reported being satisfied with online job search sites. Among the findings:

-- The most desired features are "job listings containing detailed information," (93%) and "providing relevant results to my job search," (92%).

-- A majority of online job seekers interviewed (83%), and almost all college graduates (94%) have a resume prepared. A substantial number (82%) are comfortable and know how to cut-and-paste their resume into a job search database. Among those respondents without a resume, nearly all are likely to use a resume builder (16% of 17%).

-- Online job seekers prepare for interviews. All of those interviewed (100%) are likely to go back online to research information on a company they applied to online.

-- Online use overwhelmingly (93%) takes place at home. Of the total respondents, 59% also access the web, including job sites, at work (58.5%), school (19.1%), public places (i.e. the library), (12.5%), and commercial places (i.e. cyber cafes) (2.4%). More men (67%) than women (48%) surf the Internet at work.

-- Job seekers are a dedicated bunch. A majority (79%) accesses the Web, including job sites, more than once a day. Overall, 95% of respondents use the Internet at least once a day.

-- Online users are an established group. A majority (73%) of job seekers questioned said they began using online services or the Web prior to 1997. Others (17.5%) started in 1997, with a far smaller group (8.4%) beginning in 1998 and only two percent in 1999.

"What we have seen is a paradigm shift. Job seekers do not feel it matters any more if their employers know they have posted a resume on the Web," said Bernard S. Hodes, president of CareerMosaic. "Companies are increasingly entrepreneurial in spirit, and employees tend to change jobs and positions more frequently than they did in the past," he added. "Employers have come to expect that enterprising employees are always on the look out for good opportunities. As a pioneer of the online job market, we have seen an enormous growth over the years in the number of professionals actively seeking employment on the web."