I know a couple who spend part of virtually every Saturday looking at new cars. They drive a 1982 Pontiac. Obviously, they don't intend to buy a new one, but enjoy the experience of looking at them.
There are house browsers, couples who devote literally hundreds of weekends over the course of years looking at houses, yet never buy.
People browse for many things. It represents a particular interest of theirs, a time-consuming, albeit pleasant hobby. Of course, the time they consume of others-like the car salesmen and real estate agents-is another matter.
There are browsers in the employment field, too. These employment browsers are constantly searching for a better job, but when better jobs are offered to them, they always have reasons not to take them. I often get the feeling that these people are dealing from definite lack of self-esteem, and must constantly calm their desirability by being offered jobs.
Like the car and house browser, job browsers evidently enjoy the process of looking for a job, something I never understand. They send out countless resumes, constantly sneaking off from their current employment to be interviewed, take calls from headhunters and encourage them to keep looking for them, but never react when an offer is made.
If you're one of these people, find another hobby. What happens in so many cases is that these job browsers send resumes to so many companies, and are interviewed by so many executives, that the word invariably gets back :o their current employer that they're looking for another job. Result? Losing the good job they already have.
Interestingly enough, there are also "employer browsers." These are companies (more accurately, individual executives within the company) who are constantly looking for people without any intention of hiring. They keep interviewing, never offer a job to any of them, and quickly give the company the reputation that no one can make a decision there. At the same time, the word gets around that the company has a high turnover rate, which keeps really good people from applying there. And their present employees constantly feel their jobs are in jeopardy because Mr. Smith or Ms. Jones "is interviewing people again." They read this as meaning that the company is marking time until the perfect candidate comes through the door to replace them.
In either case, the practice is a bad one and should be avoided.
That doesn't mean, however, that you shouldn't occasionally go out and test the waters. We all need to do that from time to time, if only to establish our relative worth in the marketplace. And by poking your head out, you might discover that things are a lot better where you are currently than you thought.
If you decide to test the employment waters now and then, do it on the basis that if something does come aloof that truly represents a better job; you'll seriously consider taking it.
