How to look for a job...at work?
15 June 2012
Read by 2195 persons
Activating your network, sending CVs, attending interviews...It's not always easy to look for a job while remaining employed. Legally, anything goes, but some methods are more ethical than others.
Goodbye boss, I liked you...Before being able to leave their company for good -and unless they get poached- an employee who wants to leave must start looking for a job. CVs, networks, interviews: these routine steps for a recent graduate or jobseeker can turn into a nightmare for an employed person.
The question of confidentiality arises first. Should you inform your colleagues, or even your superiors, or apply secretly? "There are no rules, it all depends on the relationships you have with them, on the climate of trust that exists or not in the company," explains Véronique Rivalier, associate consultant at the HR consulting firm Profil. When relationships are good, transparency benefits everyone: the employee feels freer in their search and the employer has time to recruit a replacement, to organize the handover of power.
But in case of tensions, the backlash can be brutal. "It happens that a manager becomes pressing or excludes the employee by considering that they are no longer part of the company," warns Véronique Rivalier. Enough to guarantee a few weeks of nightmare, especially if the job search ultimately leads nowhere.
Confidentiality
The employee who chooses discretion will have to be extra cautious, especially in closed sectors where everything is known quickly. "Some clients ask me to look for references on a candidate. I am careful not to call their last employer when I know that it could embarrass them, but that's not the case for all firms," notes Véronique Rivalier. For extra precautions, a candidate can also explicitly ask their interlocutors to remain discreet.
Beware also of not rambling on social networks. A British employee was recently fired for updating his LinkedIn profile to indicate that he was looking for new career opportunities. An unlikely case in France, but it speaks volumes about how some employers analyze the online activities of their employees. "I also recommend not using your office connection or your professional email address to look for a job," specifies Véronique Rivalier.
Ethics and tact
It's a question of ethics and tact rather than regulations, as the employee is not at risk of sanction. An employer cannot obviously prevent their employee from looking for work elsewhere. They cannot either sanction them if they realize that they have been doing so from their workplace, when the time devoted to the search remains reasonable. "I do not advise applying via your professional email address, unless specifying 'personal and confidential' in the subject line, but the employer cannot condemn an employee for that," specifies Alina Paragyios, social law lawyer at the Paris bar.
To attend interviews or have a skills assessment, "managers on a daily flat-rate can easily use their working hours, nobody will ask them for an account". As for the others, "they can ask their employer for permission to be absent for personal reasons. If they grant it, they will not be able to reproach them afterwards, including if they discover that the employees left to look elsewhere," continues Alina Paragyios.
"It is better to set common sense and ethical rules," concludes Véronique Rivalier, especially since recruiters willing to poach are, according to her, rather accommodating: "Firms generally play along, we avoid forcing people to travel unnecessarily by validating as much information as possible by phone, and we schedule interviews at the most convenient times for them."
Alexia Eychenne.
Lexpress.fr
Published on March 5, 2012.
Posted online on June 15, 2012.
Goodbye boss, I liked you...Before being able to leave their company for good -and unless they get poached- an employee who wants to leave must start looking for a job. CVs, networks, interviews: these routine steps for a recent graduate or jobseeker can turn into a nightmare for an employed person.
The question of confidentiality arises first. Should you inform your colleagues, or even your superiors, or apply secretly? "There are no rules, it all depends on the relationships you have with them, on the climate of trust that exists or not in the company," explains Véronique Rivalier, associate consultant at the HR consulting firm Profil. When relationships are good, transparency benefits everyone: the employee feels freer in their search and the employer has time to recruit a replacement, to organize the handover of power.
But in case of tensions, the backlash can be brutal. "It happens that a manager becomes pressing or excludes the employee by considering that they are no longer part of the company," warns Véronique Rivalier. Enough to guarantee a few weeks of nightmare, especially if the job search ultimately leads nowhere.
Confidentiality
The employee who chooses discretion will have to be extra cautious, especially in closed sectors where everything is known quickly. "Some clients ask me to look for references on a candidate. I am careful not to call their last employer when I know that it could embarrass them, but that's not the case for all firms," notes Véronique Rivalier. For extra precautions, a candidate can also explicitly ask their interlocutors to remain discreet.
Beware also of not rambling on social networks. A British employee was recently fired for updating his LinkedIn profile to indicate that he was looking for new career opportunities. An unlikely case in France, but it speaks volumes about how some employers analyze the online activities of their employees. "I also recommend not using your office connection or your professional email address to look for a job," specifies Véronique Rivalier.
Ethics and tact
It's a question of ethics and tact rather than regulations, as the employee is not at risk of sanction. An employer cannot obviously prevent their employee from looking for work elsewhere. They cannot either sanction them if they realize that they have been doing so from their workplace, when the time devoted to the search remains reasonable. "I do not advise applying via your professional email address, unless specifying 'personal and confidential' in the subject line, but the employer cannot condemn an employee for that," specifies Alina Paragyios, social law lawyer at the Paris bar.
To attend interviews or have a skills assessment, "managers on a daily flat-rate can easily use their working hours, nobody will ask them for an account". As for the others, "they can ask their employer for permission to be absent for personal reasons. If they grant it, they will not be able to reproach them afterwards, including if they discover that the employees left to look elsewhere," continues Alina Paragyios.
"It is better to set common sense and ethical rules," concludes Véronique Rivalier, especially since recruiters willing to poach are, according to her, rather accommodating: "Firms generally play along, we avoid forcing people to travel unnecessarily by validating as much information as possible by phone, and we schedule interviews at the most convenient times for them."
Alexia Eychenne.
Lexpress.fr
Published on March 5, 2012.
Posted online on June 15, 2012.
