Job Hunting While Your Employed?

So you want to look around for your next career step but you are concerned that
your current employer will find out and give you an early exit? Confidentiality
in your job search is a reasonable concern and makes the way you approach
finding your next position all the more important. Confidentiality and privacy
issues in today's hyper-informative world are issues that should be taken
seriously.

Keeping your intentions of changing jobs a secret is a challenge but secrecy is
in your best interest. It may be tempting to let slip to your current employer
that you are looking around for new opportunities to provide some leverage for a
raise or a promotion but fishing for a counter-offer is a no-win situation. In a
recent survey conducted by recruitment firms, 93 per cent of employees who
accept counter-offers to remain with an employer leave anyway after 18 months.

Common sense rules when going about a confidential job search. Do not use your
work phone, email, or company cell phone to conduct any job search activities.
Do not surf the job sites during your lunch hour or at any time on your work PC.
Be careful of the conversations you have within earshot of other co-workers. Do
not leave your CV lying on your desk at work. Keep your plans and intentions
quiet, even from close office friends whom you feel you can trust. Request
confidentiality from all potential employers until an offer is made.

Beyond the obvious, consider the following tips for keeping your job
search hush-hush:

Remove identifying information from your online CV.

Replace your name with a generic title such as "Marketing Professional". Use
only your cell phone number and a web-based email address that can be dropped
after your job search. Your city is sufficient for address -- no need for street
address or postcode. Remove your current employer's name and replace it with
something that is descriptive, yet unidentifiable such as "Major London-based
Financial Organisation".

Be careful in your networking.

Networking is essential to an effective job search, but indiscrete
networking can breach your wish for confidentiality. Networking carefully can be
even more difficult in closed industries or highly-specialised fields. Ask more
questions than you answer in group settings. Make use of safe networking sites
like LinkedIn with a strong branding profile.

Protect your references.

References should only be provided in an interview, and preferably not at a
first interview. You don't want your colleagues getting wind of your intentions
before an offer is imminent.

The bottom line is that confidentiality starts with you.

A secret shared is no longer a secret and cannot be controlled. If you are
serious about keeping your career ladder climb quiet, you must take the
precautions that are necessary. Employers have a great deal to lose when they
lose employees --human capital investment, corporate information, competitive
data -- so keeping your intentions to leave might well be in your best interests
until the time is right.