Job Hunting While Still Employed
Conventional wisdom has always maintained that it’s easier to find a new job while
you’re still employed. Like much conventional wisdom, that’s only partly true. While it
may make it easier for you to pay your bills, it isn’t always easy to find the time or energy
to conduct a good search. Here are some guidelines that you can use to incorporate a job
search into an already hectic schedule.
1. Make your job search a priority. Although you obviously cannot devote entire days
to looking for a new job, you can work every day toward the goal of finding a new
job. If you can find a way to carve out 30 to 40 minutes per day for job search
activities, it will help you sustain your motivation and persist in your efforts.
2. Take time to engage in some meaningful self-assessment before you start barnstorming
the job market. To facilitate that goal, use the checklists in Section 1, take some
vocational tests, and, if necessary, find yourself a good career counselor who can
help you clarify your goals and direction.
3. Write your resume with your job objective in mind. Use the Internet to research
potential employers and identify open positions which match up with your goals.
4. Develop a networking strategy that you feel comfortable with. Because you are still
employed, you need to think carefully about who you can trust with the knowledge
of your job search, as you don’t want the information that you are job hunting leaking
back to your current employer.
5. Use common sense and good judgment. Don’t read the classified ads at your desk
or leave your resume in the photocopy machine. Do bring your cell phone to work
and use it to make and receive calls during your lunch hour and on your break, but
be careful to safeguard your privacy. You don’t want anyone to overhear your conversations.
6. Set up networking meetings and interviews before or after work or during your
lunch hour. However, if you are normally a casual-dress person, suddenly starting to
wear suits to work is going to send a red flag to the people you work with.
7. Don’t ignore your current job responsibilities. They are also a priority. Even though
your heart isn’t in it, don’t develop a bad attitude or turn out slipshod work. The
key is to balance your job search priorities with your job responsibilities so that neither
one suffers too much.
8. Be realistic about how long it takes to move from one job to another. Because you
are still employed, your job search will inevitability take longer than you want it to.
This is the compromise that you accepted when you elected to stay in your current
job. If you work steadily toward your goal of finding a new job and stay motivated,
energized, and optimistic, the process will be less frustrating and ultimately more
successful.
