Guidance

'Find a job' and other websites – what you need to know about cookies

Published 14 May 2018

‘Find a job’ and other websites use cookies, and this factsheet explains what to do if you do not want these on your internet device. It also tells you how to manage or delete cookies.

What is a cookie?

A cookie (also known as an HTTP cookie, web cookie, or browser cookie) is a small file sent from a website and stored in your web browser. When you go to the same website in the future, the cookie tells the website about your previous visit.

When are cookies placed on my device?

Some cookies will be placed on your device as soon as you:

• go to the ‘Find a job’ homepage, or
• go on to GOV.UK or
• visit these sites again after you have deleted cookies from your device

If you stay on these sites, we will assume you have read the cookies policy for each site and are happy to accept these cookies and any further cookies that will be placed on your device.

Why does this matter to me as a jobseeker?

As part of your jobseeking activity you may have been asked to create an account and upload a CV in ‘Find a job’.

You may also have been asked to use ‘Find a job’ regularly to help you find work and to tell us about your jobseeking activities.

‘Find a job’ and GOV.UK use cookies. The cookies they use do not store personal information.

‘Find a job’ cookies

The types of cookies used on ‘Find a job’ are for:

• security – these cookies help to keep your account secure
• preference – these cookies store your preferences, such as language choice and how your job search results are displayed
• analytics – these cookies record how people use the website so we can identify popular content and potential problems
• survey cookies – these gather important feedback which we can use to improve the website

There’s a full list of cookie types in the cookies policy, which you can find by clicking on the ‘Cookies’ link at the bottom of the ‘Find a job’ homepage. Some cookies are placed on your device as soon as you arrive on the ‘Find a job’ homepage, before you click on the link to the cookies policy. There’s a list of these under cookies used by ‘Find a job’.

GOV.UK

On your first visit to parts of GOV.UK there may be a pop-up message that welcomes you and provides information about the site. GOV.UK stores cookies at this point so that your device knows you’ve seen it and knows not to show it again. These cookies are stored for a month or less.

Google Analytics cookies may also start as soon as you visit the homepage, to record how you use the site. You can stop Google Analytics cookies being stored on your device if you use any of these browsers: Internet Explorer, Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari or Opera.

For more information about this, click on the cookies link at the bottom of the GOV.UK homepage, or go to www.gov.uk/help/cookies.

Using other websites to look for work

As part of your jobseeking activity you may have been asked to create an account and upload a CV on another website or websites. You may also have been asked to use these websites to help you find work and to tell us about your jobseeking activities. These websites may also use cookies. If you do not want to accept these cookies on your device, you can create an account and upload a CV or look for work using a DWP device. Ask your work coach about this.

Applying for jobs through ‘Find a job’

Some jobs in ‘Find a job’ may tell you to apply for the job through a company’s own recruitment website. These websites may also use cookies. If you do not want to accept these cookies on your own device, you can apply for the job on a DWP device. Ask your work coach about this.

What if I want to delete cookies on my device, or switch off cookies?

Click the ‘Cookies’ link at the bottom of each webpage in ‘Find a job’ or the ‘Help’ link on your internet browser to find out how to delete or switch off cookies on your device. Visit www.aboutcookies.org for more information.

Some browsers let you switch off only the cookies relating to ‘Find a job’. Other browsers do not, and may delete all cookies from your device, including those cookies you have chosen to accept from other websites.

If you switch cookies off you will not be able to register with ‘Find a job’, upload a CV or save any jobsearches. You will only be able to conduct an anonymous jobsearch.

What if I do not want cookies to be installed on my device?

You will not have been told to use ‘Find a job’ or another website unless you can use a DWP device if you want to. Ask your work coach about this. You can use the DWP device if you do not want to accept cookies or have chosen to delete cookies and do not want to accept them again. Cookies have already been accepted on all DWP devices.

If you get a working age benefit and are using ‘Find a job’ or another website voluntarily, and you do not want to accept cookies, ask your work coach if there is a device you can use.

You can also use ‘Find a job’ or another website from public computers in internet cafes, libraries or UK online centres. You will need to check that these devices have been set up to accept cookies, because you may have to accept cookies on those devices to use ‘Find a job’ or another website.

Cookies used by ‘Find a job’

The cookies in this table are placed on your device as soon as you arrive on the ‘Find a job’ homepage.

Cookie name	Purpose	Expires
_ga	This helps us count how many people visit ‘Find a job’ by tracking if you’ve visited before	2 years
_gid	This helps us count how many people visit ‘Find a job’ by tracking if you’ve visited before	24 hours
_gat	Used to manage the rate at which view requests are made	1 minute
seen_cookie_message	Saves a message to let us know that you’ve seen our cookie message	14 days

How can I find out more about cookies?

For more information about how to manage or delete cookies, visit www.aboutcookies.org.