Yahoo Finance 10 Ways You're Inadvertently Broadcasting Your Job Search
You think you're so smooth -- the James Bond of covert job searching.
Where he used wrist-mounted dart guns and camera-implanted rings, you have deceptive "dentist appointments" and a conveniently angled computer monitor to conceal secret résumé tweaking. Unfortunately, while you smugly sip a shaken martini -- uh, iced coffee -- you may not realize that your cover was blown. Your boss is onto you, and it's no wonder. Below are 10 clues you left that basically scream: "I am job searching!"
You became a LinkedIn superstar overnight.
If managers suspect you're looking elsewhere, your LinkedIn profile is often the first place they'll snoop, says Jenny Foss, founder of the career blog JobJenny.com and author of "Ridiculously Awesome Job Search Kit." Turn off your activity broadcasts so that every savvy move you make isn't announced to your entire network. If the timing of your job search allows, Foss recommends beefing up your LinkedIn profile gradually (and thus inconspicuously). Or better yet, work on it when you're not job searching.
You've suddenly become a Twitter thought leader.
Similar to quick LinkedIn overhauling, Foss says employers will likely notice if you abruptly go from tweeting cat GIFs and "Game of Thrones" spoilers to posting thoughtful, industry-focused content and participating in job-search Twitter chats. These are generally good moves for your job search, but bad ones for keeping it under wraps, so again, take it slow.
Your boss received your résumé from a contact of a contact.
You're networking -- yes! But you're networking so thoroughly within your industry that word gets back to your boss. "The world is small," says Andrea Kay, career consultant and author of "This Is How To Get Your Next Job," so this kind of thing does happen. When sharing your résumé and other job-search materials with new and old professional contacts, explicitly state that your hunt is confidential, Foss says.
Your co-worker blabbed.
"I'm always amazed at how many people tell their co-workers about their job search," Kay says. "That's one of the worst things you can do." Ideally, you wouldn't tell any co-workers, but you may have to if you want them to serve as references. In that case, Kay says, "you need to pick people who you really trust, who don't have a hidden agenda and who won't let it slip."
You're taking four-hour lunches and have way too many dentist appointments.
Yes, it is that obvious when you're interviewing elsewhere and go MIA, with or without a flimsy excuse. Schedule phone interviews for personal hours, like a lunch break, and take vacation or PTO days for lengthy in-person interviews. "That way, you're not feeling pressured during the interview to get back to work -- which can affect how you handle the interview -- and you're not stealing time from your employers," Kay says.
You dressed 10 times nicer than usual yesterday.
People (read: your boss) will notice if you go from sporting a uniform of jeans and a T-shirt to showing up in a tailored suit on interview day. This is all the more reason to take the day off from work to interview, but if you don't, dress as usual at the office. And then, Foss says, "leave the premises, and stop in a McDonald's parking lot on the way to the interview to change."
Your company's human resources staff saw your résumé on a job board.
When you post your résumé to a job board, there's a chance your current employer could see it. In fact, Foss says many HR staffers and managers regularly search for their company names within job board submissions specifically to see if their employees are job searching. Post your résumé anonymously, if possible. "Or forgo that option and stick with LinkedIn," Foss says. "You're way more likely to be found by recruiters and hiring managers there anyway."
You left your résumé in the freaking printer!
Do not print application materials from the office. In fact, create a hard and fast rule to never job search, interview or network from work. "You don't watch porn at work, and you don't work on your résumé at work," Kay says. Logistically, there are too many opportunities to get caught, and ethically, Foss says: "You're not being fair to your employer if you're using the company's dime to get the heck out of there."
You've been avoiding your boss.
When she consults managers, Kay says many of them suspect something is fishy when their employees stop talking to them as often, whether it's to give an update, ask for an opinion or just say hello. As Kay puts it: "You're not doing the things you normally would have to keep the relationship going."
You're just acting weird, OK?
"Any variation to what's expected of you or from you could raise an eyebrow," Foss says. Job-searching employees often send these subtle signals without expecting their managers to notice, Kay says. But they do. "They say: 'I wonder why she kept her head down in the meeting; I wonder why she's not eager to take over that project; I wonder why she's leaving early a couple days a week," Kay says. "You're planting questions in their head."
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