Stealth is the
path to follow!
If you are
currently working, Don’t let anyone know you’re even thinking
about making a change if you don’t want it to get back to your boss!
That means anyone and everyone, your best friends, your most trusted
confidants, your potential references, everyone! Even those you trust
the most can make a slip of the tongue. After the word gets out you’ve totally lost
control.
If you want to
utilize LinkedIn, be very careful. For starters, DO NOT connect with anyone on
LinkedIn who is in HR, job search consulting (like me), recruiting, career planning,
resume writing, etc. Because when you get connected, LinkedIn publishes that
fact for everyone to see on your page and your connection’s page
and on the page of everyone you are connected to!
Instead of
connecting to people and businesses who you would like to have help you, email them privately and ask them to be discreet! For
instance, my email address is prominently displayed on my profile just for
people like you. LinkedIn has no idea you are emailing me.
Do clean up your social media act. Hiring
authorities will check you out. It’s not a question of ‘if’, but ‘when’. Be
conservative. Delete everything that could potentially hurt your chances of
getting an interview. Language, pictures, biases, anything at all that might
make a company think twice about hiring you or even interviewing you could hurt
your chances. With ‘squeaky-clean’ candidates available to them, why should
they take a chance on you? They don’t need people who have an alcohol or
addiction problem or joke about it. They don’t need people whose language may
upset others in their workplace. They do need people who are stable, reliable
and productive.
Do create a strong LinkedIn profile, one that
simply represents you in a desirable way without indicating you are seeking
a new job. Use LinkedIn as a research and connections resource to identify
people in companies you may be interested in. But don’t ask for a job; you’re
objective should be to offer help to others and seek information about the
companies and hiring managers.
If you want to
post something on a LinkedIn jobs group, do so, just Don’t say you’re searching. People
who can help will read your profile, see that you’re currently working and
simply try to connect with you. That way you have an opportunity to look at
their profile and decide to connect or not. You are in control at that point.
In the end, if
your boss finds out you are looking, it could hurt you or help you, but which
would it be? Are you sure you know? If you’re certain it will help if he/she
knows, ignore everything I’ve said and go tell him/her your intentions! I’ll
wait for your call for help if you need it.
If you like this blog, let me know by clicking
+1. Add a comment too. And get more job search help be visiting http://www.hoochresumes.com or by
emailing me at kl@hoochresumes.com.