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.
This chapter will focus on the changes you must make if you are employed and must 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 "desire" 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 individual 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 senior corporate officer, this will increase your response rate.
Tell whoever signs your letter 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 how to handle the situation when you 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.
How to Respond to a "Blind" Advertisement
One of the most difficult tasks in a secret job campaign is answering a "blind" ad. Responding executives are often horrified to discover that what appeared to be a truly outstanding opportunity was a job at their level or lower in their own company. Imaginative personnel managers can do wonders with the most prosaic of jobs. Employees who blissfully respond with little caution or forethought are needlessly risking their present jobs.
You should respond to blind ads that hold interest for you. As mentioned previously, blind ads usually generate fewer total responses than open ads, since many employed job hunters are reluctant to use them. Thus a significant portion of your competition is eliminated before you even pick up your pen.
Before responding to the blind ad, you must discover who is behind it without revealing your own identity. Some methods of concealing your identity while breaking a blind advertisement have been discussed in previous chapters.
Another technique you can use is a variation of the third-party approach. As in the third-party sales letter, begin your response with "I have a friend who..." or "I know an executive who..." Then lead into a special explanation: "I am writing to you in response to your advertisement for an advertising manager. However, because this individual is currently employed, he does not wish to reveal his identity until your identity has been established." Take the advertisement apart as discussed in Chapter 6, listing each requirement and describing specific accomplishments that qualify you for the job. Your concluding paragraph should read along these lines: "This individual will be happy to meet with you to discuss further details of his background and the position. Please contact me at the address or phone number listed in this letter."
Another way to discover the advertiser's identity is to use an answering service at a rented address. In this case, you should write a first-person response to the advertisement, ending with the following sentence: "Because of the sensitivity of my current position, I cannot reveal my identity at this time. Please call or write the answering service listed in this letter". Don't forget to instruct the answering service not to reveal your name to callers.
Finally, you can rent a box number and use that for your address, signing the letter with the box number rather than your name. At the end of the letter explain why you are not revealing your identity and when you will be prepared to do so. The major disadvantage of this method is that it requires the PE to respond in writing. Many PE's prefer to contact prospective employees by telephone. Keep in mind that any method that does not allow a PE to call will cost you a certain number of interviews.
Additional Guidelines for Conducting a Campaign in Secret
If you are currently employed, it will be difficult to participate in the TTP unless you use vacation time or take time off from your normal routine. However, if you can manage to practice TTP techniques to generate interviews, use the third-party approach. Start your conversation, as in a third-party sales letter, with "I have a friend who…" or "I know someone who... After interest has been established you can reveal yourself as the job candidate. If a PE requests information by mail, keep your identity secret until an interview is confirmed.
Regardless of what technique you use, you must be extremely careful of what you say about yourself until you are ready to drop your cover. Unusual experiences or assignments can be particularly revealing. You must either omit these items from communications with a PE even though they would add to your presentation or disguise them in such a way as to cake them innocuous. For example, if you earned a Ph.D. in Paraguay, don't mention the school or country in describing your education. If you are the only one in your industry who has worked in China, either do not indicate where you obtained your experience or describe it as "experience in the Far East."
In general, you can trust PEs to keep your file confidential. But it takes only one exception-one PE getting back to your current employer-to endanger your security. For this reason, you should make it clear to every PE that you do not want anyone contacted until you have a firm offer. To make sure that your wishes are followed, do not release the names of former employers until you have an offer and are interested in going to work for the PE.
Use descriptions instead of names. For example, if you must fill out an employment form, describe your present company as "a major firm in the garment industry" or "a small independent petroleum company". Do the same with former employers. For your references, write descriptions of their present office or function: "manufacturing manager of a large company" or "past president of the American Bar Association." Finally, note on the application that you will provide names of companies and individuals after mutual interest has been established, and that you do not wish your present employer, references, or anyone else contacted until that time.
The Story of Engineer X
Engineer X was a bright, experienced engineer who once worked for me. He was doing well and as far as I knew was happy with his assignment. One day, out of the blue, I received a form letter from the personnel manager of a large company in the East. The letter stated that Engineer X was being considered for a job and asked me to fill out a detailed questionnaire on his salary, qualifications, and duties and my opinion of his performance.
When I questioned Engineer X, I was surprised to learn he had specifically requested that his present company not be contacted until he had accepted an offer. At the time I received the form letter, no offer had been made. Since I believe that employees are not showing disloyalty by trying to better their job situation and have every right to do so, I took no punitive action. But it is an unpleasant fact that such unauthorized inquiries are made. The burden is on the executive job hunter to take the necessary precautions.
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 great 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 I discussed in this chapter, it is unlikely that your present employer will find out about your search. There is no sadder sight than an unhappy employee who plods along for years in a job he or she detests because of fear of a present employer finding out about a search for another job., Don't let fear of losing your present position keep you from getting a great job. Take the necessary precautions and work hard on your campaign. If you do, you will be able to find a great job within a reasonable time without jeopardizing your present position.
