If you were to look for a new job while toiling at your old one, you certainly wouldn’t be alone. According to a survey from Willis Towers Watson, about a third of U.S. employees are actively looking for work. You can bet that many of them do so while on the clock with their current employers. You don’t want to get fired for looking for a new job—and you could be. It’s much easier to leave on your own terms than to be forced to do so because your employment was terminated. There are also ethical issues with job searching on your boss’s dime (even if you can’t stand them).
Who Is Watching You Work?
According to an ExpressVPN/Pollfish survey, 78% of employers use monitoring software to track their remote workforce. Over half of those employers tracked their team’s time spent on apps and/or monitored their screens in real time. A third utilized periodic screen capture technology to see what their employees were looking at during their workday. But it’s not just remote workers who need to worry about employers snooping on their screen time. A Gartner report showed that half of large U.S. employers were using monitoring techniques like analyzing employee email data and social media usage. Legally, employers are within their rights to use these techniques. What you do online, at least when you’re doing it from work, is your employer’s business and not much of it is private. Therefore, it’s important to be careful.
Do’s and Don’ts of Job Searching at Work
The best way to job search discreetly from work is to do all of your job-hunting activities on your own device. It’s also important to manage your time carefully, so you don’t get caught.
Use Your Personal Email Account
Do not use your work email address for job searching. Use your personal account—don’t send resumes and cover letters from your work email account or use that email address when you apply online. Another option is to set up a free email account using Gmail or another email provider, specifically for your job search. It will make it easier to check the correspondence you’ve sent and to track applications when you have everything in one easy-to-access place.
Don’t Use Your Work Computer or Phone
Don’t use your employer’s computers or phone system. Keep your resume, email correspondence, and anything related to your job search in the cloud or on your home computer, tablet, and phone. Use your personal phone for job-searching calls and texts. Check for voicemail discreetly during the workday so you don’t miss important calls.
Check Your Privacy Settings
Before you start job searching, check the privacy settings on all your social accounts. Make sure that your posts are viewable by the right audience. There may be some content that might benefit your job search if it’s work-related. Other posts might make a prospective employer think twice about hiring you.
Watch Your Online Comments
If you have a blog, be careful what you say on it. People have been fired for making comments about their employers. The same goes for what you write on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites. On the flip side, social media can give you terrific exposure. Post news and information about your industry and career field (where relevant), especially on LinkedIn. It will help you to be noticed by employers.
Search on Your Own Time
Use your lunch hour or your break for job-hunting activities. During your lunch hour, visit a bookstore, coffee shop, or library with internet access, and use your phone, tablet, or laptop. This is also a good time to return phone calls from prospective employers, especially if you can take an early or late lunch to catch them in the office.
Be Discreet
Be careful whom you inform that you’re looking for a new job. If you tell co-workers, you can be sure that it will get back to your boss, one way or another. When you’re talking to networking connections, ask them if they would treat your job search confidentially. Advise them that your current employer isn’t aware of your job search, and you’d like to keep it that way.
Build Your Professional Network
Each of us should have a network of colleagues and contacts to use for building our career, whether we are currently job searching or not. If you’re like most people, your LinkedIn network includes contacts from previous employers, your current employer, vendors, customers, and colleagues. Staying in touch with those contacts and keeping abreast of what’s happening in your field can help your employer as well as yourself. Yes, you’re positioning yourself for the future, but you’re also using a tool that can help you to learn about new products and make connections that could help your company succeed.
Use Your Network
You can kill two birds with one stone: building your network on professional networking sites like LinkedIn can help you and your employer. For example, a web developer used his LinkedIn network to find someone to help with usability testing for his company’s new website. During the process, he also made a new contact who could help with his future job search.
