When I was younger and first getting into the workforce, the idea that I would leave one company to take a job at another one seemed an oddity. One of the lessons I have learned over about two decades as a professional is how the business world we are in is not one where many people spend their entire career at one, maybe two companies, although that was always my idea since I am fiercely loyal. In light of that, it is perhaps not too surprising that I now have a fairly well-honed process of trying to leave a current position for another one. A key part of that is simple: don’t let anything leak!
A stealth job search is supposed to be just that – stealth. That means the only people who know about it are the ones who need to, and that number should be quite small. And as this story shows, it doesn’t take much for your best-laid plans to put your work behind the scenes in danger.
The consequences of letting your plan get out early could be dire. You could be living paycheck to paycheck and be escorted out the door before you have even interviewed for another position, which no one wants. For that matter, your manager could find out from someone other than you, which almost certainly means not leaving on good terms in what could be a small world of an industry.
There is a simple rule of thumb for this: only tell a few select people who really need to know. Obviously, people at companies you are attempting to move on to need to know, mainly those who are involved in the interview process, and it makes sense for any family members to know as well. A few trusted contacts in your network, such as your references, make sense – after all, they are there to help you out, and references are likely to be contacted somewhere along the way by a prospective employer and should not have them come in cold.
Aside from that, however, telling almost anyone else is risky. You don’t want news of your impending departure to leak. This is why attempting to find a new job while employed via the likes of Monster, Indeed or Dice (for those in technology like me) is a nonstarter. There is a good chance your employer will find that your resume is active there.
There has been one exception to this in my career, and like all exceptions, it proves the rule. I had such a good relationship with my manager, and a trust in being open about anything, that I felt comfortable letting him know that I was looking to leave the company, albeit for a job that met some specific criteria. When I was let go a few months later, I had no reason to believe it was due to letting him know I was looking, especially since it was a few months later instead of a few days or hours after I let him know.
This all goes a little deeper, though, as the previously linked story shows. Even when you have the offer, don’t tell anyone who might leak this out until you have the letter signed, sealed and delivered and have informed your manager of your impending departure. There will be a time to let the world know; that time is not at this moment.
Every industry is different in terms of how competitive it is, and even to which some will not take kindly to an employee leaving for a competitor. Putting aside non-competes, whose effectiveness is being debated, in some industries companies will do anything to keep an employee or to hurt them if they leave while in others companies will have little reaction. In my industry, it’s basically accepted that people will move on from time to time nowadays, although this may be the case more so in some areas like Silicon Valley than others.
All of that aside, the safe thing to do if you’re changing jobs while employed is to be very careful about who you share this with until you have signed an offer letter. The story referenced earlier is but one example of what can happen if this leaks to the wrong person before you are ready to let that be known, and fortunately that story at least had a happy ending, although there were surely some anxious moments along the way.