4 Keys to Keep Your Job Search a Secret

A few weeks ago, I posted about getting on a recruiters radar. Its always better to have the jobs come to you and save yourself the headache of job searching. So what happens when you already have a job, and something better piques your interest or you just feel you’ve outgrown your current job.

They say its always better to look for a job while you already have one. And employers love to poach valuable employees from other companies, but job searching on the job is tricky. Read on to learn how to avoid a few key pitfalls.

Lets get the obvious one out of the way first. Keep your intentions to yourself
Whatever the reason for wanting to leave (better pay, disgruntled, career change), the last thing you should do is talk to coworkers about it. In fact, you really shouldn’t be announcing this to world. Avoid posting on FB about how much you hate your job, or telling people at your current company (even if you don’t work directly with them) that you are looking elsewhere. Word gets around, and if a colleague or your manager gets wind of this they might start searching for your replacement, before you’ve even had your first interview. For all intents and purposes, act normal, don’t slack off, and don’t rant about how much you’d rather be somewhere else.

Be discreet about fielding interviews and sending out your resume
Obviously, don’t pull up your resume mid-workday and start polishing it up. Do this on your time. There's probably something in your contract that says you can’t do that. On a particularly sh*tty day at the office, I myself have pulled up my resume and started fixing it up, my team was in London so it didn’t matter, but still not a smart move.

When it comes to interviews, phone or in person, schedule these either early or late in the workday. Extended mid-day breaks are a sure sign that something’s afoot. Avoid going into an open conference room with your personal phone to take a phone interview. I’ve done this one too, but by that point I didn’t care about my current job. I’ve also seen former colleagues do this and it was one of the early tip offs that they were looking to make a move.

Keep your resume confidential
If you’re working with a recruiter, this usually isn’t an issue and you can elect to keep your name, contact info, and current employment private. If you’re searching independently, then you will want to avoid posting on public job boards where your resume can easily be found. There are career websites (Monster.com) that will allow you to post an anonymous profile, where you can remove direct references to companies you have worked for - though you can imagine how this might make your job search harder. Some tips:

  • You can use generic company names such as, mid-size investment firm in New York, to avoid listing any direct references to your current position
  • Replace your name with something like "Confidential Candidate"
  • Choose an email address that is discreet i.e. not firstname.lastname@current workemail.com
  • Consider mentioning the confidentiality of the job search in your cover letter.

Be Honest
This last one is important. Be honest with all parties involved. When in contact with a recruiter or a prospective hiring manager you are interviewing with, let them know that your job search is confidential. Use former colleagues as references. Most hiring managers have been in this position themselves and will likely be understanding.

On the flipside, if your manager finds out that you are searching for a new job, come clean and have the discussion. If your manager is mature they will understand your motives and support you while looking out for their best interest. No sense in denying which could make for some awkward time at the office. Best case scenario, it could be the starting point for some negotiations to keep you on board.

As for me, I recently caught wind of an intriguing offer from a recruiter so lets see how well I take my own advice. Any other tips for a monkey looking to hold down a current position while looking for something better

 

I've been constantly wondering this lately. This post comes at a fabulous time. Only thing I want to have insight into now is how to go about doing it at the SAME company. Any insight into internally lateraling?

Frank Sinatra - "Alcohol may be man's worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy."
 
Best Response

I actually just went through this process and accepted a job at one of MS/GS/JPM last week. I haven't even put in my two weeks notice yet at my current firm because I'm not starting there until after thanksgiving. And I didn't tell anyone at my current job, not even people I consider my friends, that I was sending my resume to recruiters.

Which leads me to one important point about being discreet:

Don't ever assume that a co-worker will keep a secret, job related or otherwise. And if you are talking about one co-worker with another, assume that what you say will make it back to them. Even if you think that person is your friend. I always abide by these rules and it will save you a lot of trouble if you do, too.

 

Great post and perfect timing since I was just considering this. My biggest issue is not sending out resumes, but how would i schedule interviews? More than likely it will be a superday so I will have to miss work, but I can't just skip work for no reason, people would get suspicious? Since I am pretty sure I would have to do alot of interviews before I could even get an offer, I would be missing alot of work days. How would you get around this?

 
ValueInvesting:
Great post and perfect timing since I was just considering this. My biggest issue is not sending out resumes, but how would i schedule interviews? More than likely it will be a superday so I will have to miss work, but I can't just skip work for no reason, people would get suspicious? Since I am pretty sure I would have to do alot of interviews before I could even get an offer, I would be missing alot of work days. How would you get around this?

There is no easy answer here. You shoudl be scheduling as many interviews before and/or after hours by phone in the early stages. It is brutal, especially if you are in banking.

IF you do make it to a superday, you have to just call in sick, or see if the firm you are interviewing for is willing to schedule you all in the morning so you can have a long "doctors appointment" one morning and it wont be as suspicious.

Obviously this gets harder if you have multiple superdays....but that shoudlnt happen. You shoud be landing your first one, right? :-)

I remember having multiple interviews when I was trying to break into PE or a HF (and my group wasn't exactly supportive of me leaving)....I kept it under the radar, but it was hard. Getting up at 5:00am after being in the office until 2am the night before so I could hop on a train to Stamford, interview at 7:00am at a small HF and be back in the office by 9:30am for another 18 hour day. Yeah, good times!

 

Great post. Could you elaborate how this differs when you have a fixed term contract (9 month internship)? As it is known to your supervisor/everybody that you will be leaving, I assume you could be more open about the interviews. It would also show that there is demand for you putting pressure on the current company to extend you an offer. Any thoughts?

 

Threads like this help the site, but answering follow up questions really help the site. Anyway we can get replies from people with experience? Things like this reduce the redundant threads.

Frank Sinatra - "Alcohol may be man's worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy."
 

You're putting the cart before the horse. If you're really getting crushed under such a deluge of interviews that your superiors start to suspect all your doctors appointments and sick days, I would hope you were close to sealing the deal on a few offers anyway, rendering it a moot point.

As to the short beard, just start shaving regularly...

 

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