As a rule, it is better to look for a new job while you are still employed in your old one. Being employed while job hunting has definite advantages. You are under no time pressure or financial pressure, and you are generally more attractive to a PE than an unemployed candidate.
The main disadvantage of job hunting while employed is the need to conduct your campaign in secret. If your present employer finds out that you are looking, you can lose any chance for a promotion or raise and you may even be fired. Unfortunately, the secrecy requirement makes it difficult or impossible to use some of the techniques discussed in this book. It will also lengthen your job campaign.
The basic principles outlined in this book will help any job hunter find a superior job. Here, we will focus on the changes you must make if you are employed to conduct your campaign in secret. The techniques described will increase your security at your present job and help you to perform your duties adequately while job hunting.
How to Reorient Your Sales Letter Campaign
Depending on your job level and other factors, it may not be wise to distribute sales letters through your industry, since your present employer could learn of your campaign. To get around this problem, you can use the third party technique. Write your sales letter so that it appears to describe someone else, not you. For example, in your attention getter do not say, "I turned a $500,000 loss situation into a profit within six months." Instead say, "I know an executive who turned a $500,000 loss situation into a profit within six months." For your explanation paragraph say something like this: "If you need a general manager, you may be interested in some of this executive's other accomplishments."
In the motivation part of your letter, describe your accomplishments just as you would in a sales letter. Change the credibility paragraph to read something like this: "This executive has a BS in engineering from Iowa State University and an MBA specializing in finance from the University of Illinois." In the call to action say, "If you would like further details, call or write the undersigned, who will arrange a personal interview."
What to Do When You Are Contacted by the PE
When you are contacted by the PE, reveal yourself as the job candidate only after the PE is committed to an interview. If you have any doubts about the authenticity of the call, don't reveal yourself until the interview or until you have enough time to investigate the company.
Obviously, this method is hardly foolproof; and if your present employer gets hold of your sales letter, it will be obvious just who you are fronting for. However, the third party approach does allow for an element of doubt and makes it more difficult for your present employer to take punitive action against you. It also has the advantage of being more objective than a first person letter, since it appears that someone else is commending you rather than you saying good things about yourself.
Who Should Sign Your Third Party Sales Letter?
Depending on your situation and the resources available to you, you may not want to sign a third party sales letter yourself. You can increase security by having a friend act as your front. Your friend would sign the sales letter, take telephone calls, and set up interviews for you. If you use this method, you need not admit deception, as you must eventually do if you sign the letter yourself. Also, there is less chance that your employer will find out about your job campaign. Naturally, if whoever signs the letter is someone well known or important, such as a company officer, this will increase your response rate.
Brief whoever signs your letter on exactly what to say on the phone and what questions to ask the PE. Naturally, you want to get as much information as possible so that you can decide whether to call the PE.
If your campaign is to be conducted in secret, use the third party sales letter in writing to headhunters. After a headhunter calls you, reveal your identity only if the recruiter and his modus operandi sound right. If the executive recruiter has no specific assignment for you, make certain he understands that you do not want any information on your background distributed to his clients.
Most executive recruiters are ethical. They realize the extreme confidentiality of the information you give them and will not release any information that could get back to your present employer. However, it is wise to stress to any headhunter that you are presently employed and that the information you provide is sensitive. Remember also that there are all kinds of headhunters, so you must be cautious.
Adjusting the Length of Your Campaign
A campaign conducted in secret will take longer than one conducted in the open. Because you are fully occupied during normal working hours, you must spend evenings and weekends on your campaign. Your unemployed competitors have two major advantages. They can spend eight hours or more on their campaign every day, and they are highly motivated to get a job as soon as possible. Such a competitor can beat you out of a superior job if you are not careful.
But do not be dismayed if you are employed and must conduct your campaign in secret. If you are careful and take the precautions, it is unlikely that your present employer will find out about your search. There is no sadder sight than an unhappy executive who plods along for years in a job he detests because he is afraid he will be fired if he looks for another job.
Don't let fear of losing your present position keep you from getting a superior job. Take the necessary precautions and work hard on your campaign. If you do, you will be able to find a superior job within a reasonable time without jeopardizing your present position.
