Looking for a new job while in one

LegacyUser

Right so I want to start looking for a new job while continuing my current one. I've lways been advised this is the best method of getting a new job but I've never heard advise of how to go about it. I want to know from people with experience what they did when going for interviews? Did they tell there employer they were going to the dentist? If so, if i was going through say three interviews in 2 weeks, what then? what would I tell them? or have people just told there employer that they have a job interview?

advise from experienced people would be most appreciated

thanks a mil

Xiney

There are plenty of dental procedures that require repeat visits in the same week.

Kila

I moved job about 7-8 months ago, and I found my current job while working in my previous one. I managed to interview fully (repeat interviews, test, etc.) for 4 positions, as well as phone conversations and one or two initial interviews where I decided not to proceed further.

It's difficult, but very possible to do. This was how I managed to get through it.

Online Searching
First and foremost, get your cv out there. Set up a LinkedIn profile, and keep it up to date. Join groups that are relevant to the industry you want to work in. (I actually got a few job offers through connections and mutual group memberships on LinkedIn). Put your cv up on Monster - most of the recruiter phone calls that I got were from people who had found my CV on Monster.

Online searching can be done at any time, which makes it really handy. During a quiet period in the day, during lunch, or after work. If you're willing to give up your weekend time, you can get an awful lot done (cv preparation, job hunting, and online applications). I fully prepared my CV and portfolio, my online presence, and my initial batch of job applications during a long weekend (Easter weekend '08, after I had decided to move).

Phone Calls
I was in a lucky position that I was alone in my office, so had ample time to take calls. However, there were days were I wasn't alone and I had to be discreet about calls. In my initial searching stage, where I was getting a lot of recruiter calls, I tried to limit the number of times I'd step out to take a call to about once or twice a day. I'd let the others go to voicemail and catch up with them as soon as I could, either during a break or during lunch. If your employment is listed on your CV as "to date", they'll understand that you're still working and have to be discreet. If you absolutely have to answer a call, but don't have the time to talk, step out for a moment, answer, and arrange a mutually convenient time to call back (e.g. during your break, lunch, etc).

Interviews & Time Off
This is always the tricky one. Much as I hate to endorse lying, in this case, I'm going to say that you're probably going to have to. Unless you have the worlds most understanding boss, they're probably not going to be thrilled that you're looking elsewhere.

Doctor appointments, dental appointments, and possibly family issues may all be accepted as reasons for absences with short notice. Depending on what you do, you may be able to work from home (e.g. if you do computer based work). If this is the case, you may be able to say that you are needed at home because of a family illness (a child or parent that needs to be cared for), but that you will keep up with the work from your home to make sure you don't miss time. If you end up having to schedule an interview at short notice (e.g. call on Monday, interview on Tuesday), that's the time to use your emergency dental or doctor appointment excuse. If you can schedule a little bit later in the week (or the following week), and your employer is usually reliable enough to give off days that you ask for, consider simply taking a day off. Remember, you don't need to tell them why you're taking the day!

I managed to do many interviews with only a little time off because I was smart about the scheduling. If you are contacted on a Monday by a recruiter, see if you can schedule the interview for a Thursday or Friday. This gives you enough time to ask for a holiday day or similar, and while it's not a large amount of notice for your employer, it's not as "last minute" as asking for tomorrow off. Also, I often scheduled several interviews in one day (one morning interview around 9am, a midday interview some time between 12-1, and an afternoon/evening interview some time around 3-4). This meant that I minimised my time off work. Be prepared though, because it also meant that I was totally exhausted by the end of the day! If you're going down that route, plan your day carefully, your route to each place, etc. It's unlikely that you'll have a lot of extra time to play with if you get stuck in traffic or lost.

In total, I worked from home for 1 day (I had a morning and an evening interview), I took one holiday day off (I did three interviews that day), and I took one emergency dental visit off (I had three interviews that day also, which were the final interviews for the positions I had been interviewing for).

It is possible, and there's lots of advice online about how to be discreet about your search.

Good luck!

homeOwner

Jobman wrote: »

Right so I want to start looking for a new job while continuing my current one. I've lways been advised this is the best method of getting a new job but I've never heard advise of how to go about it. I want to know from people with experience what they did when going for interviews? Did they tell there employer they were going to the dentist? If so, if i was going through say three interviews in 2 weeks, what then? what would I tell them? or have people just told there employer that they have a job interview?

advise from experienced people would be most appreciated

thanks a mil

Schedule interviews after work hours, most managers will stay after 6pm to do interviews. Or schedule two interviews for the same day and take a holiday day off work.

Dinkie

I went sick one day, the rest of the time I scheduled the interview for first thing in the morning, and asked my boss if it would be o.k. if I was a bit late in. I try not to lie if possible. For phone calls I used to let them all go to voicemail and ring them back at coffee / lunch time.

I think its probably much easier to get a job when you have one already. I think this is because you are more relaxed going into the interview knowing you already have a job.

When it comes to getting a reference from the present company for the new potential company, I usually don't ask my direct boss for the reference. I choose someone else I trust in the organisation and ask them.

Shelflife

be careful about looking for work during your working day, if your caught using company equipment ,company time to look for work you could end up out of a job quicker then expected.

it depts can and do monitor emails and web searches on company computers and it wouldnt take einstein to work out that your searching for a job and thus harm your current status.

MysticalSoul

I found going for interviews after work, around 5.30pm, or around lunch-time has worked well for me.

thebman

Shelflife wrote: »

be careful about looking for work during your working day, if your caught using company equipment ,company time to look for work you could end up out of a job quicker then expected.

it depts can and do monitor emails and web searches on company computers and it wouldnt take einstein to work out that your searching for a job and thus harm your current status.

That isn't true of any IT department I've ever worked in. We can but we don't unless a specific request comes in to do a report on a user which has happened once ever but not because of job searching where I work.

The biggest issue I think is getting email into your work email account. Setup a bloody personal email account for that stuff, it comes up all the time on email log searches when people complain about a mail they didn't get or that wasn't received by a client or whatever.

Subject line with Your application has been successful - websitename.ie sticks out like a sore thumb and usually a manager is standing behind us when we do the log searches as they are asking for something specific and think they are too important to follow the company procedure of using the request logging system.

murphym7

I would request interviews after 4pm, it is often easier to just tell your boss you need to head off early to collect somone or something. Most hiring managers are so eager to fill their roles they will do interviews up to and sometimes after 6pm. Its easier to get out a little early than try to explain away a day off at short notice.

Spoofing illness/doctor apointments is a tricky way of doing things, although most have had to at some point.

I would never use the company email for communicating with new employers/agencies, thats stupid. You can set up a gmail or hotmail in no time at all.