In one of our coaching groups last week, a participant was concerned with being active in his job search while currently employed. He joined the group to help him get clear on his ideal career because he was not in a career he enjoyed. However, he still needed the dollars from his current job until he could land a new one. His company has a policy where they generally fire someone on the spot if they find out that person is searching for a new career. He wasn’t sure, but he thought some of the higher-ups even checked social networking sites, every now and then.
The sensitivity of job-hunting while employed–and keeping the process under wraps–varies from industry to industry and from employer to employer. So, if you’re looking for a new job while you’re still employed (like the gentleman in ours): I’m going to share some tips to avoid being caught by your employer.
I found this article, “Eight Tips for Stealth Job Hunters” in Forbes.com yesterday about this topic: http://www.forbes.com/2010/08/17/job-employment-career-forbes-woman-leadership-hiring.html . All the tips are really helpful in this article. I especially liked the “Eight Tips for Stealth Job Hunters” slideshow. Be sure to check it out: http://www.forbes.com/2010/08/17/job-employment-career-forbes-woman-leadership-hiring_slide.html
As a certified career coach, I frequently advise clients how to best seek out new opportunities while holding a full-time job. Here are some tips I want to highlight:
- Do your job searching on your own time as much as possible, not your company’s. Do it during lunch brakes or evenings.
- Never use a business phone number, email etc. Use your personal cell phone – if possible, use a smart phone with email and other job search applications will make job searching easier during the work week.
- Don’t work on your resume at work – save that for your home computer.
- Network, network, network. Networking is good whether employed or not. You should always be networking; particularly if you are trying to find job quietly. Spread the word that you are in job search mode among your friends, family, former co-workers — anyone that you know who could help with your job search. Dig up names from internships or summer jobs and reach out to those people.
Yes, job-hunting and interviewing for new positions while still employed full-time can be tricky. But, by following these helpful tips you can search for your ideal career and not get busted by your current employer.
Hallie Crawford
Career Transition Coach
