What to do When Your Employer Finds Out That You Are Looking For a New Job

Here’s the scenario. Your boss asks you if you could step into their office for a quick word. You have no idea why, but you readily agree. As soon as you step into his office, he closes the door, asks you to sit down, and casually asks you, “So, are you happy here?”

“Why?” you ask.

“Because,” he says, “I just heard that you had applied to a similar position at Melvin Motor Company.”

Oh, crud. Now, it all comes rushing back to you. You applied on their website a few weeks back to a tantalizing position at MelMoCo, then spoke briefly with the company recruiter. You’re not quite sure how your boss found out, but it may have something to do with the fact that Fred over in the Operations department used to work there, and somebody called him to ask about you.

It doesn’t really matter how your fat landed in the fire. But now you have to explain to your boss your alleged act of treason.

What do you do?

• Before saying anything else, cool off evaluate your situation. Don’t let your emotions be the spark in what can be an electrically-charged situation. Try to think through your position.

• Apologize for how your manager found out. True, almost nobody tells their manager that they’re looking for a new job, but that can’t help that they probably feel betrayed. So, make sure that they know you regret that they heard about your application through the grapevine rather than from you.

• Turn the conversation into a career discussion. Hopefully, prior to this point you’ve been having meetings with your manager about your career aspirations and your opportunities for personal development, so the groundwork would already be in place. Regardless, something sparked you to look at another role – a new challenge, a promotion opportunity, or some other career factor. Let your boss know you truly enjoy working for him and the company, but that you were looking to stretch yourself in the direction you identified, and would love to continue to do so here. Hopefully, this can be the basis for a constructive conversation about where you’d like your career to go.

• Don’t make any rash statements. Your manager may be looking for a promise that you are going to stay – and he may be desperate enough not to lose you that he’ll toss out some promises of his own (promotions, raises, corner office, etc.). Resist the urge to tell him you’ll stay for eternity, or to beg to keep your job – but make sure that he knows you appreciate the opportunity to work at the company, and that your strong desire is to stay at your current company.

• Prepare for the consequences. Depending upon how deftly you handled the conversation, and how valued you are as an employee in the organization, you could face either the carrot (incentive to stay through career development) or the stick (a stalled career or, worse, fired). Pray for the former, but you may need to accept the latter.

Incidentally, make sure that you document the discussion you have with your manager. Any promises by you – or them – about the future should be honored by both sides, and you don’t want to forget what was said.

One last word about confidentiality. Keeping the interview process mum can be tricky and unreliable, no matter how hard you or a company try to keep things quiet. Besides the gossip mill, other leaks do occur – it’s entirely possible (and not entirely unlikely) that you may run into a coworker at your prospective new employer, interviewing for the same job. And in case this didn’t occur to you, your current employer keeps track of what web sites you visit, so applying to the MelMoCo job portal at work may not be such a great idea.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. He is a Human Resources professional and staffing expert with almost two decades of in-house corporate HR and staffing firm experience, and is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).

Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

4 Easy Hacks To Help Get You Noticed on LinkedIn

Are you actively looking for a job? Would you like to get noticed? Recruiters are combing LinkedIn for people to fill their open positions. Make it easier for them to find you.

Here are four hacks you can use to quickly improve your chances of getting your profile noticed on LinkedIn.

1. Change your name! Not literally - but LinkedIn gives you 40 spaces for your last name. Unless you have a really long surname, use some of that space to advertise who you are. For Example - "John Smith – Mechanical Engineer," or "Lisa Weathers – Project Manager." That way, when a recruiter searches for criteria, and they are looking at a list of names - your credentials will pop off the list.

2. Show your value in your headline! You get 120 characters immediately after your name to tell the world about you. Make this space jump out at recruiters so that they can quickly surmise the skills you bring to the table and want to keep reading your profile, separating each skill with a bullet. Some examples: "Software Engineer • C++ • Java • Global Enterprise Applications," or "Strategic Business Executive | Asset Management | P&L Leadership."

3. Select your skills! You have a section in your profile called "Skills and Endorsements." These are searchable by recruiters. Make sure you complete this section and, more importantly, put these in order of descending importance. In other words, if you are skilled in project management and want a job as a project manager, make sure that you have "Project Management" as a listed skill. You have the ability to prioritize your top ten skills - these are the ones that people will likely endorse in your profile; list your most important skills within the top ten. A note on endorsements - you're trying to trigger these by listing your top skills prominently; the LinkedIn system advertises your skills to your connections and ASKS them to endorse you.

4. Like what other people have to say – and add your own two cents! In your news feed, you'll see your contacts' posts - they will create their own updates, photos, or articles, or they will like what their contacts have to say. Take a few minutes each day to see what people are posting, then like or comment on their updates. This way, you will appear in your contacts' feeds for your activities. And if they like your comments, their connections may see your activity. On LinkedIn, activity is currency. Just a word of caution: I encourage you to stay away from posting anything political or overly controversial. While it's okay to post your opinions, bear in mind that LinkedIn is a business-oriented site, and it's best not to say or post anything which may hurt your public image - here's a good perspective on this: https://www.quora.com/Is-it-appropriate-to-post-non-business-content-on-LinkedIn

#resume #career #jobs #LinkedIn #Profile

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. He is a Human Resources professional and staffing expert with almost two decades of in-house corporate HR and staffing firm experience, and is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).

Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

3 Questions To Ask Yourself Before Accepting That Promotion

Our culture values ambition. History is rife with stories of leaders who have climbed the corporate ladder to attain executive leadership positions – and the public reverence and accolades that come with it.

Don't believe that we place our business leaders on a pedestal? CEOs' photos fill the newspapers' society pages, books crammed with their philosophies dot the New York Times' Nonfiction Bestseller List, and a prominent business owner tops a major party ticket in the U.S. Presidential election.

And why not? Business schools consistently drill into students' minds the value of upward mobility. Individuals who are elevated to increasingly responsible positions often demonstrate initiative, intelligence, and interpersonal acumen – all traits we value. And by combining these to get promoted, we improve our social standing, influence, and personal wealth. We get more power, and we get paid more money to wield it.

Climbing up the management ranks has its perks, but it also has its drawbacks. If you're currently an individual contributor (i.e., you don't manage anybody), consider the following about life as a manager before accepting that promotion to Department Supervisor:

• Managers usually get paid more than non-managers. You will likely be rewarded for moving up the chain, as you are being compensated for taking on more responsibility and the additional value you are expected to provide.

• Risk increases the higher you climb. Your paycheck grew when you took that promotion, but some of that money is hazard pay. Expectations on your ability to deliver increased with your title. In addition, there will be people who will be gunning for your job, who believe they deserve the position.

• Managers are responsible for the results their department produces. In other words, your team may or may not meet its goals, but as manager you own the end result regardless of how hard you worked or how well you believe you directed your team or set strategic vision.

• Supervisors are expected to lead their teams – and others. There's a great deal more to managing employees than giving directions and expecting the team to follow them. People are sentient beings with their own desires, perceptions, and ideas. Just because you ask them to perform a task doesn't mean that they necessarily will do it the way you want – or do it at all. A good manager can motivate, inspire, educate, mentor, influence, persuade, and cajole, modulating their message to their employee to maximize results. And he or she can also be a taskmaster when the situation calls for it.

• Delegation is essential. If you're a detail oriented micro-manager, where you need to be in control of absolutely every detail and you have a hard time trusting others to get things done, managing others will keep you awake at night; you will worry whether your employees will complete their assigned tasks to the standards you expect and you'll be popping Rolaids like candy.

• Management is a different job. Let's say you started your career as an engineer, and you've been tapped to lead the department as Manager. You're going to find yourself doing a heck of a lot less engineering, and many more managerial functions: budgeting, resource planning, scheduling, hiring and firing, conducting performance appraisals and talent reviews, putting out fires, attending status meetings, strategic planning, fighting for resources, reporting, and so on...

Before accepting that managerial promotion, it might be wise to ask yourself the following:

1. What is my tolerance for the additional demands this promotion will place on me? Am I prepared to play the political game? How about the extra stress and responsibility? Can I handle the extra risk? If you welcome the uncertainty and the challenge, it's probably a no-brainer.

2. How well can I manage other people? If you've never supervised anybody before, this can be difficult to answer. But try to be aware of how people have responded to you when you've worked with them on projects or delegated assignments to others. Likewise, try to be aware of whether you can handle having other people do tasks instead of doing everything yourself.

3. What would I enjoy more? The job I was hired to do, or the managerial responsibilities the promotion entails? If you're ready for some new and different challenges, management may be perfect for you. On the other hand, if you bristle at the idea of giving up a career as an Account Executive to manage sales people, then you may be better off staying in your current position.

Bottom Line: As you progress higher up in an organization, you will need to leverage different skills and competencies than the ones you utilized when starting your career. Before accepting the promotion into a managerial role, carefully evaluate the position, what will be expected of you, and the value you will bring to the organization, and ensure that your skills - and desires - are aligned with the new position.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. He is a Human Resources professional and staffing expert with almost two decades of in-house corporate HR and staffing firm experience, and is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).

Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.