Job Hunting Whilst Employed

You might be unhappy in your current job: you may feel a raise is long overdue or you anticipate lay offs; you may just want to work at something else. Whatever the reason, you're ready to start looking around for a new position whilst holding down your present job.

The problem you face though, is that it is unwise to let others know what you intend. If your superiors get wind of the fact that you are looking around, it might just compromise your current position, and remove the financial cushion you need before securing your next job.

So how do you keep your job hunting confidential whilst considering moving on?

The main thing is to keep quiet about it. Don't discuss it with anyone, even those workmates you consider to be friends. Friendship does not guarantee discretion, and an accidental breach of confidence through an unintentional comment is all it takes to get your plans out in the open.

The time to circulate good news of a job offer is when you hand in your letter of resignation - not before.

You also need to be discrete yourself. Phone interviews at work should be avoided as well as job emails sent to your work email account. Apart from the risk of accidental discovery, some employers now use special security software that flags any misuse of the computer system by employees, and your job hunting could be identified without you realizing they know what you are doing. 

Apart from this, prospective employers can recognize a work email address and realize you are going behind your employer's back. Would you do the same if employed by them? You need to demonstrate that your job hunting is being conducted in a professional manner.

You should also be careful about scheduling interviews. If you need to take time off work to attend an interview, ask for personal time off as holiday, rather than making an excuse for non attendance at work. Don't pull a sicky or say you have to go to a funeral. If you are seen where you are not supposed to be, you could create all manner of problems for yourself, especially if you don't get the new job!

If possible, try to arrange several interviews on the same day, or across your lunch break, to avoid having to take several days leave close together, as this can arouse suspicions.

Another action that is likely to give the game away, is if you go to work in more formal clothes than usual because you will be going to an interview. Your employer will quickly latch on to this, and any other changes to your normal routines.

If you are found out, the only thing that you can really do is admit you are job hunting. If you deny what you are doing and then subsequently hand in your notice, you’ll have burned an important bridge. Your employer may be less inclined to give you a glowing reference, or any reference at all, for that matter, even if your previous work was good, and you reduce your chance of ever returning to work there in the future.

Even if you are truthful about the matter, don’t count on being able to keep your job for those last few weeks. Many employers will ask you to leave immediately if they find you have been seeking employment elsewhere, especially if you are going to a main competitor of theirs, no matter what the circumstances.

If you go about your job hunting sensibly and discretely, you might just complete your job search without anyone being wise to the fact. You should then maintain confidence about it, even through the resignation process, and make every effort to be polite about the matter, in order to maintain a good relationship with your former employer.