The NCAA is unhappy about its bracket leaking before the end of Sunday’s two hour broadcast designed to announce the teams participating in this year’s tournament. It inspired us to think about how to handle your boss learning that you’re conducting a job search before you give your notice to officially leave. There are ways to get through this unscathed, but it’s an uncomfortable spot to be in. Here are a couple of possible ways to navigate these tricky waters depending on the situation you’re in.
Your boss knows you’re unhappy.
If you and your boss have previously discussed your career aspirations and have determined that your next career move cannot be an internal one, you are experiencing the best case scenario. Because of your honesty with your boss and the open communication you have, your boss will be able to respond to the news of hearing about your job search with something like, “She and I have talked about her career, and I’m actually helping her look for her next opportunity.” Or your boss could respond with, “This is not a surprise. She was honest with me when she started her search, and I’m hoping she finds something that takes her career in a new direction.”
The conversation you had with your boss was probably more nerve-wracking than when the news gets out that you’re looking. In this situation, you’ve likely been able to ask for your boss’s blessing, and will get a positive and/or glowing reference as a result!
Your boss is blindsided by this information.
If, unlike the first scenario, you haven’t talked to your boss, that means the information is coming from a third party source. Another co-worker could have let the “cat out of the bag,” your networking efforts could have paid off so well that your desire to leave comes from a mutual friend, or you did something silly like become a LinkedIn pro overnight and left your “notify your network” setting “on.” The way your boss found out about your job search may impact how he or she goes about confronting you regarding your covert activities, but you can be sure that it will likely result in a conversation about your plans. When this confrontation happens, your boss might say something like, “Are you looking for a job?” The first thing you should say is, “Why do you ask?” -Yes, it’s annoying that you’re answering a question with a question, but it will lay the groundwork for you to understand how to craft your response. Whatever response you come up with, make sure it is honest. Do. Not. Lie. -It will come back to haunt you. If you say something like, “I’m not looking for a job for myself, I’m helping my sister/brother/neighbor/friend find their next opportunity,” you’ll have to lie again when you leave because you found a new opportunity. This can impact the way your boss talks about you to future employers, co-workers, mutual friends and can ultimately impact your reputation in your industry in a negative way.
Your boss suspected it previously, and now confronts you.
It’s probably not ideal if your boss calls you into his or her office and says, “I heard about your job search, when were you planning on talking to me about it?” However, you have a couple of ways you can salvage this conversation. One approach is to say, “ I didn’t want it to be something that you had to be worried about because I have no idea what else is out there. I’m just wondering if what I’m doing here is comparable to other people in our industry with the same title. If I’m ever going to advance in my career, I want to make sure I’m getting the right kind of experience to make me promotable.” Yes, you sound a little like a ladder climber, but if you have been in the same role for a few years, this might sound the alarm to your boss that it’s time to talk about your career path at the company. This might end up being the time that your boss gives you positive reinforcement about your future job prospects, job security and desire to keep you on his or her team. If your boss’s response is encouraging and results in a future time to talk about your work and career trajectory, your secret job search may have been just what your career needed. If your response is met with a short, negative response, it’s likely time to kick your job search into high gear. As it’s possible that your boss will become as cold with you as January in Minnesota.
Your boss suspected it previously, and ignores you.
The silent treatment accompanied with a healthy dose of cold shoulder can be a result of your boss finding out about your job search. If you suspect this and know that your boss will never confront you about it, you have two choices; you can charge full steam ahead on your search, or you can confront your boss. As the employee having to lead this discussion, it’s likely best not to assume anything and approach the conversation like your boss is hearing about your job search for the first time. With this kind of boss, or this kind of relationship with your boss, you likely won’t have this conversation until you’re handing in your resignation.
Your boss still has no idea about your job search. . . even though everyone on your team knows.
This is generally a result of every team member wanting to jump ship, and no one wanting to tell the boss how miserable everyone is. While blatant discontent is seemingly acting like an insurance policy against the boss ever being let in on the “secret,” it can backfire. Everyone who is left on the team after the exodus has to cover for everyone leaving, and it can lead to the employees that stay resenting those that left. It can also function as a wake up call for the leader of the team. The team’s leader could see it as a reflection of his or her shortcomings as a leader, and decide to invest in trying to improve their skills, and turning the team around. However, on the flip side, if your boss is a narcissist, he or she will blame the employees for leaving and likely never change until his or her boss sees it as a problem that requires attention.
You think your boss knows, but aren’t 100% sure.
This can oftentimes be the trickiest scenario. Depending on the type of relationship you have with your boss, your best course of action will vary. One of the previous scenarios we discussed will likely direct you to the most positive outcome, but we advise caution in your approach. If there’s any way to get a solid understanding of if your boss knows before you decide on your approach, that will be the best way for you to confidently decide on how to handle the situation.
While having your boss find out that you’re conducting a job search is never a fun situation, you can survive it. No matter what course of action you decide to take, be honest, don’t make excuses, and learn from your mistake that lead to your boss discovering your undercover job search.