I’m going on a job interview tomorrow morning. Not that I hate my job (I certainly don’t love it, but I doubt I’d love any job), but I always keep an ear to the ground for opportunities. I’m not actively searching, but if I hear of an interesting opening, I’ll go in and see if it is a good fit for my career.
I tell my boss I’ll be out of the office tomorrow morning. It’s not that unusual. I meet with clients, attend conferences, do out of office research in addition to any personal responsibilities I may have (which interviewing falls under). It’s simply to let him know not to come looking for me.
I let him know. Usually, I get a “Fine, thanks for letting me know.” Today, he asks if I’m interviewing. I hate lying to my boss (a partner at my firm), but on the other hand, if I don’t want to shoot myself in the foot if it turns out that a job I’m interviewing for is not what I’m looking for.
I said I wasn’t interviewing. What would others have done? How do you handle such a situation?
I probably would have told him I just had some personal stuff to take care of.
Not exactly lying but not exactly answering the question either.
He probably has some reason to think that you are interviewing if he asked you the question and now he probably knows that you are a liar. Not the way to go if you plan on keeping to job.
I wouldn’t lie–in fact, I’d probably blurt out the truth, because I can’t keep my own secrets to save my life–but I’d emphasize that you aren’t actively looking for a new gig, you just came across something that sounded like a good opportunity for advancement of your career (and hell, if you word it the right way, your boss might offer you a similar opportunity, to keep you around).
If I were your boss, I’d appreciate the honesty.
That said, I don’t recommend running into his office and spilling the whole truth every time you get an interview, if he doesn’t ask. My ex-coworker made a big deal out of taking my boss to lunch and breaking the news that she wasn’t happy here, and was looking for another job (and she was–she sent out 10 resumes a week)…
…and then she didn’t find one for 8 months. It was a little embarrassing.
Unfortunately I work for a company whose unwritten policy is to make a scapegoat out of anyone looking for employment elsewhere. If they find out you are looking all of a sudden everything wrong with any project you have ever been involved in becomes your fault. It is convenient for them because they know you are leaving and it leaves the orginazation ‘blameless’ for any errors it may have comitted. This way that can tell the client “yeah, we had some problems but we figured out that D_Odds was the problem. That person is no longer here so there will be no more problems”. I don’t know your situation but the rule around here is NEVER TELL and don’t for a minute feel bad about it.
No offense Auntie Em, but that is terrible advice! Never tell them you are looking. Just take personal time and go.
There is a tendency for people to try to ‘force’ their company to pay them more or promote them by saying they are interviewing. This doesn’t work often and more often leads to you being replaced. If I was a manager (and I am) and an employee told me he was looking or I found out about it, I would immediately look for his replacement. If I found his replacement and said employee was still there…boot out the door. This isn’t vindictiveness on my part. I just need to make sure that the work flow isn’t interupted and people leaving is very disruptive.
If you feel the need to give your current company a chance, schedule a meeting with your boss, preferably the yearly review, and ask some tough questions like what plans they have for you, what they see you doing 2 years from now for the company and such. By doing this, you show you want to advance and it puts them on notice that if they don’t advance you, then you may leave. Much better IMO.
Except in very unusual circumstances, it is always a bad idea to tell that you are going for an interview.
It can never do you much good. Some might say that if your boss is aware you’re looking around, and values you, then he will be moved to offer some new rewards, perks or incentives. Point 1, in your dreams. Point 2, the time to be negotiating some new incentives or golden handcuffs for yourself is while you’ve got an Ace to play, and that’s when you have another offer on the table. Not before.
It can do you some harm. The info that you are looking around can be mis-interpreted in many ways, and usually is. It can be held to equate to “you’re not very committed to your role here”; or “we needn’t think about offering you that new position because you’re not a long-term prospect”; or “we’re paying you and you’re spending some of your paid time snooping around for openings esewhere”; or “you can’t take a bit of criticism”; “you’re not up the the challenge of the job”. And so on. All BS of course, but it happens.
So, if asked, use one of the escape-hatch formulae offered so far. “It’s a family matter”, “It’s a personal appointment”, “I need to be home for reason X”, “It’s a medical appointment”.
If you have lied, and Boss finds out, act surprised that he thinks you had any choice but to say what you said. “Of course I didn’t tell you! I’m an honest person, but obviously I can’t tell you if I go for a job interview, you’re my Boss! Stands to reason!!” If pressed for reasons why not, explain all the possible misunderstandings listed above.
Point 2, the time to be negotiating some new incentives or golden handcuffs for yourself is while you’ve got an Ace to play, and that’s when you have another offer on the table. Not before.
I disagree. This falls under trying to force your company to value/pay you more and is prone to backfire. I have seen it work but much more often I’ve seen it fail.
The most obvious would be “Oh God, we need to get the GM project out next week and he knows the most about it. What I will do is give him what he wants and can him in two weeks”. The company gives you what you want as a temporary measure than fires you when convenient for them.
Even if they don’t can you, nobody likes being forced and your boss/company may hold it against you. Of course, they won’t tell you the reason but evaluations get more critical, you aren’t considered for glory projects because you lack loyalty, given more gruntish work and so on.
Another problem is that when raises or bonuses come around…well you already got yours! I’ve seen this reason last year after year. I’ve even seen someone do this for a measly $2000 raise and lose out on a $1500 bonus PLUS lose his yearly increase.
No, I think ask questions like what their plans are for you, what you need to do to get promoted and watch them and how they answer. In my last job, I decided to leave when I asked what he (boss) saw me doing there in 2 years and his response was an “Oh shit” silence because he envisioned me doing the same thing. He could have used this to come back to me later with some plans for moving up but he didn’t, so I started looking and left in short order. It gives them a chance but is not threatening them directly.
It’s too bad you weren’t able to think on your feet and give a non-responsive but truthful answer (e.g., “I have an appointment”), but I wouldn’t feel bad about covering your butt. Your boss had NO right to ask you that question (I’m assuming you’re using a personal day or the equivalent while going on this interview; using time for which you are being paid by your current employer to interview really IS sort of tacky).
I was in a similar position recently - my organization froze raises this year and I NEED to be making more money (baby on the way). So I’m sort of casually looking. I’m a writer, so I need to have samples of my work I can leave behind after interviews; I went to the mail-room guy and asked him to save my stuff when throwing out old company publications, because I wanted to stockpile them.
My (wonderful) boss was, unbeknownst to me, standing around the corner within earshot. She came in to the mailroom and said, “Why are you collecting writing samples? Are you looking for another job?” (I have to say, the panicky tremble in her voice was VERY gratifying.) I answered cheerily, “If I WAS, do you think I’d TELL you?” She laughed nervously and went back to her office.
I knew I couldn’t leave it at that, or she’d start to panic - so I went in to her office and told her that I didn’t want to leave this job that I love (true), but that I needed more income (also true), so I was looking for freelance work to close the gap (true as well) - hence the need for writing samples. I failed to mention that I was also open to finding a new full-time job if it paid enough more than my current one, offered advancement, etc.
Thanks for the viewpoints. I didn’t really want to lie, but was asked directly a question that would have been difficult and probably detrimental to answer honestly.
BlinkingDuck, in my experience, you are 100% correct. CEO’s get golden parachutes; other’s near the top of the food chain may get silver parachutes. The rest of us just see how high we bounce.
Opengrave, the only reason I feel bad about it is that I like my boss. He’s treated me well and never done me wrong. However, that alone isn’t a reason to stay, although it will play into any decision I make.
I hate to advocate being less than truthful, but here’s a story:
My secretary (who is a tempermental looney toon) is shared by myself and another manager here in our office. About a year ago, she gave us a very emotional speech about how horrible it was to work with us, and telling us she would be searching for employment elsewhere.
In the past 12 months, she has received the following offers: Zilch.
She still complains a lot. But her other boss and I don’t care nearly as much as we used to before. It has degenerated into “Eh. If she doesn’t like it, she can leave.” It’s pretty hard for her to get perfectly valid problems addressed; I make an effort to be objective about it, but the other guy doesn’t. And I don’t know how much I can blame him, really. In addition, anything she ever thought about advancement within the company has been torpedoed.
On the personal side, whenever I got a job offer from someone, I always went directly to my boss and said “XYZ Company just offered me [position] at [salary].” Sometimes I got matching offers, sometimes a going-away luncheon. Either way, don’t say anything until you have a firm offer.
Never, ever tell them you’re interviewing. It causes all sorts of problems down the road. Take the whole day off. Psych yourself up for the interview and then screw around the rest of the day. You’ll be more relaxed that way.
I’ll repeat the “Don’t lie if you can possibly avoid it, but don’t tell the direct truth, either” comments, but take it a little farther (because I have been asked this in interviews):
If the person who is interviewing you asks where your current employer thinks you are while you’re at the interview, the correct response is “taking personal time.” Don’t say that they think you’re at a doctor’s appointment or anywhere else. After all, if you lied to your current employer, chances are that you’ll lie to them, too.
I will second (or sixth or seventh) the idea of never tell your boss that you are out looking. I know quite a few people who, once it got out that they were interviewing elsewhere, either got the shit assignments, the problems clients, whatever. One friend noticed in the want ads the next day an offer for a position sounding strikingly like hers, with her company’s fax number for the contact.
I have no problem telling the boss some other reason why I am out. Doctor’s appointment usually works for me. I don’t take sick time for it, though. If I will be out more than an hour or two, I take half a day for personal time.
If they were interviewing someone for your position, do you think they would tell you?
Definitely tell your prospective employer that you will need time to finish up loose ends at your current job. The interviewers will expect that if you are willing to screw your old work, you’ll happily screw them too.
Boss asks you if you’re interviewing ('cos he knows and wants you to admit it). You say no. He thinks, untrustworthy bastard. I’ll never believe him again.
Boss asks you if you’re interviewing ('cos he knows and wants you to admit it). You say yes. He thinks, uncomitted bastard. I’ll get rid of him as soon as I can.
Boss asks you if you’re interviewing ('cos he knows and wants you to admit it). You say none of your business. He thinks, rude bastard. I’ll make sure I dock his pay for not telling me what he is doing on company time and then get rid of him.
Boss asks you if you’re interviewing ('cos he knows and wants you to admit it). You say yes. He thinks, I like this guy and want to retain him, so we should talk and see if there are problems that can be resolved without increasing his pay.
Boss asks you if you’re interviewing ('cos he knows and wants you to admit it). You say yes. He thinks, ahh, he wants more money, screw him and the horse he rode in on.
You can’t win, but you have to know your boss and trust your relationship with him. If you have a good relationship, tell him the truth. If you have a bad relationship, then maybe you don’t.
What would I do?
IMHO (even though we’re in MPSIMS) I would tell him, yes I’m interviewing, but not intending on leaving and then go into detail as to why I’m doing it.