Author Topic: Job search at work?  (Read 3393 times)

annnnnnooooon

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Job search at work?
« on: February 05, 2018, 08:25:35 PM »
Hello oh all knowing Mustachians!

I'm deliberately keeping this very vague.

I'm thinking of working on resumes and cover letters at work, and was hoping to get advice from all of you.

I'm a salaried employee at a midsize company without much standardization, and with generally outdated tech/hands off IT. We do not work in software, technology, or a heavily regulated industry. I do not work with money.
I am in a slow period and have absolutely nothing to do at work for at least the next several weeks. I cannot change this.
I have to sit there anyways.
I have limited extra non-work time, and am not churning out high quality applications at the rate I need to.
I am seriously considering quitting in the next month whether I have a job to go to or not.
If I do not get a job in the next month and a half I am stuck for another year.
No-one can see my screen.

Am I nuts?

Thank you!


Paul der Krake

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Re: Job search at work?
« Reply #1 on: February 05, 2018, 08:57:55 PM »
You are nuts for putting so much thought into this.

annnnnnooooon

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Re: Job search at work?
« Reply #2 on: February 05, 2018, 09:06:54 PM »
You are nuts for putting so much thought into this.

That's what that many hours of nothing to do will do to ones brain :)

katsiki

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Re: Job search at work?
« Reply #3 on: February 05, 2018, 09:17:05 PM »
This seems like a terrible idea.  Can you quit now and devote 100% of your time to finding a better job?

annnnnnooooon

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Re: Job search at work?
« Reply #4 on: February 05, 2018, 09:28:21 PM »
Katsiki, my stache is pretty small. My current plan is to give notice in two weeks for my own sanity, but I'm unsure of the wisdom of it. I'm nervous about job searching while unemployed, as I have only been in my current role about a year and my field is competitive.

letired

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Re: Job search at work?
« Reply #5 on: February 05, 2018, 09:37:52 PM »
Go for it, especially if you're actually going to bail asap anyway.

Personally, I would use something like Google Docs or a thumb drive with https://portableapps.com/ to keep things tidy.

Padonak

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Re: Job search at work?
« Reply #6 on: February 05, 2018, 09:43:54 PM »
This seems like a terrible idea.  Can you quit now and devote 100% of your time to finding a better job?

Is this a joke?

OP, just start looking. If you want to quit, don't worry even if they find out.

Gone_Hiking

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Re: Job search at work?
« Reply #7 on: February 05, 2018, 09:52:29 PM »
Job search on the job is usually a bad idea.  The only exception occurs when your employer has given you a layoff notice and your boss is is now remorseful and trying to help you find something else to do.  It's not what others can see on your screen; it's the documents that you save, web pages visited, sometimes keystroke records.  Better safe than sorry: better to work on your resume at home and on your own device.

lbmustache

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Re: Job search at work?
« Reply #8 on: February 05, 2018, 10:00:15 PM »
I did it at my old job. I ended up quitting anyway... depends on if you need their reference or not (I did not).

katsiki

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Re: Job search at work?
« Reply #9 on: February 06, 2018, 08:11:24 AM »
This seems like a terrible idea.  Can you quit now and devote 100% of your time to finding a better job?

Is this a joke?

OP, just start looking. If you want to quit, don't worry even if they find out.

No, not a joke...  Doing what he suggested is a very bad idea, in my opinion.  As a manager, I would can him in a second if I saw this behavior.

Since he is planning to quit in a month, I was suggesting he do it now if he could afford it.  Sometimes, you know it is time to go...

Best of luck, OP!

Mgmny

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Re: Job search at work?
« Reply #10 on: February 06, 2018, 08:13:35 AM »
Why would you be "Stuck for another year"?

annnnnnooooon

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Re: Job search at work?
« Reply #11 on: February 07, 2018, 08:52:18 AM »
Why would you be "Stuck for another year"?

The answer to that is field specific, and is a level of detail I do not want to post to a public forum.

Lady SA

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Re: Job search at work?
« Reply #12 on: February 07, 2018, 10:21:28 AM »
Based on
I have to sit there anyways.
I have limited extra non-work time, and am not churning out high quality applications at the rate I need to.
I am seriously considering quitting in the next month whether I have a job to go to or not.
No-one can see my screen.

I'd say discreetly work on your applications at your desk, but the priority would be doing any work your current job needs you to do first and with good quality. Just have a work-related tab open that you can quickly switch to if someone wanders over.
If my job was treating me like this (no active work, clearly not wanted or needed) I would feel no qualms about taking care of myself first. The only one who will take care of you, is you, don't expect a company to go out of their way to treat you well. But, this has a heavy caveat on my question below--

These sentences:
I am seriously considering quitting in the next month whether I have a job to go to or not.
If I do not get a job in the next month and a half I am stuck for another year.
seem to be at odds. Will you or wont you stay at your current company if nothing comes up? Saying you will quit regardless and then a few sentences later saying that you would be stuck at your current job doesn't compute. Which is it? That greatly affects the answer -- either you can afford to burn bridges accidentally or you can't.

If you are willing to burn bridges at your current company, I say stop caring so much and just look out for #1: yourself. And that means drawing a paycheck AND using your time efficiently, so hell yeah I would use my idle time to find better work.

If you are NOT willing/able to burn bridges, then you shouldn't do anything to put your current position in jeopardy. Only you can be the judge of that.

Edit: also, a month and a half isn't much time to do a job search, the process of searching and interviewing could potentially take that whole time. How is the job market in your field/area, are you confident you could quickly land a job with just a bit more time/effort, or are you down to the wire?
« Last Edit: February 07, 2018, 11:03:31 AM by Lady SA »

annnnnnooooon

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Re: Job search at work?
« Reply #13 on: February 07, 2018, 07:45:36 PM »
Lady SA, thanks for your reply.

I am confident I can get something, though it may be a step or two down. I know my market and my field well, and am a high quality employee with an excellent reputation and a good track record in the job market. I am relatively early career, and my field is in serious flux at the moment so I am somewhat vulnerable, but I think I can pull it off. I am also likely willing to walk away from my field entirely if I can't. Recent changes in the industry have made it much less of a good fit for me.

Also, re: burning bridges. My field is tiny, so can't blow things up too badly. I am not really dependent on them for a reference though.

« Last Edit: February 07, 2018, 07:47:14 PM by annnnnnooooon »

Paul der Krake

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Re: Job search at work?
« Reply #14 on: February 07, 2018, 08:11:40 PM »
Just do it. Don't get caught.