I'm curious - what are the opinions of this board on how open it's okay to be with your current company that you're looking at other opportunities outside the company?

LilSebastian13 said:

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I'm curious - what are the opinions of this board on how open it's okay to be with your current company that you're looking at other opportunities outside the company?

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First why?

Not to be harsh, but a corporation will cut you the second things go slightly south.

You work had every day and they pay you for it! You don't owe them jack!!!!

You don't say a word until you have an offer in writing in front of you. And only then do you say a word other then here is my 2 week notice for unless you want to try and stay.

But you need to be 100 % ready to walk out the door.

If you start talking to your boss, your boss is concerned about his job and what it takes to get it done. If your looking, he will probabaly start interviewing your replacement. You are not leaving him any choice.

Keep your mouth shut!!!!

Exactly! Don't say a word.

Not claiming to be an expert, but I am in Talent Acquisition/HR

Under no circumstances should you tell your boss you are looking for another opportunity, unless you are 100% prepared to be let go on the spot or at any point in the near future. Even if you and your boss are "cool", it isn't smart.

Now, having a conversation about looking at other opportunities within your current company can be productive and should be encouraged if done properly.

When you tell them about an offer that you're prepared to take should be the first time they hear about it.

The soonest your boss should hear about it is the conversation where you inform him and you have accepted the fact that it could very well be the last conversation you have at your current job. Be prepared to be walked out (especially if the other offer has ANY competing or overlapping positions with your current company).

If you are looking for something out of your current company (benefits, pay increase, new role, etc.) have that conversation independent of the fact you have another offer or are having other conversations. Companies will say MANY things to keep you there if they need you at the time, but rest assured it will most likely affect your future at the company.

If a company makes a promise to do something for you, would you rather know they did it in good faith without knowledge you had another offer, or potentially they felt strong-armed knowing you had another option? If the latter, and you do decide to stay, get any commitments in writing. Most likely they will not want to write it down, which should tell you all you need to know about how genuine they are about following through.

There's nothing to gain by being open about it. Trust me, just go about your business and keep it to yourself.

LilSebastian13 said:

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I'm curious - what are the opinions of this board on how open it's okay to be with your current company that you're looking at other opportunities outside the company?

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I would never say I looking but perhaps start a conversation on how you can advance to the next step in your career at the current company.

I'm probably the contrarian here. It may be wise to not tell your boss you are looking at outside opportunities; however, it 's more important to discuss with your boss the reasons you are looking at outside opportunities.

I really hate when I have an employee that comes to me ready to resign because they are looking for a certain opportunity that we could have (and would have) provided had the employee discussed their desires with us before having another offer in their hand.

Troglodyte said:

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I really hate when I have an employee that comes to me ready to resign because they are looking for a certain opportunity that we could have (and would have) provided had the employee discussed their desires with us before having another offer in their hand.

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Its also possible that you're soon to be ex-employee is not being forthright with you. When I've left jobs, I've never told them the real reason for leaving because my mind has been made up.

"Leaving for a better opportunity" is a cookie cutter response for leaving a job.

I'm not sure what you hope to gain by divulging your manager that you're looking for another opportunity; that sounds like a very awkward conversation.

Troglodyte said:

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I'm probably the contrarian here. It may be wise to not tell your boss you are looking at outside opportunities; however, it 's more important to discuss with your boss the reasons you are looking at outside opportunities.

I really hate when I have an employee that comes to me ready to resign because they are looking for a certain opportunity that we could have (and would have) provided had the employee discussed their desires with us before having another offer in their hand.

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If you're a manager in charge of shaping employee performance outcomes, and your direct report resigned because they didn't think they could discuss future opportunities with you, you failed as a manager.

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Add me to the crowd that thinks the first conversation you should have about "looking outside" is the one where you're ready to turn in your resignation letter.

Hahaha. You have a whole thread of people saying "Don't talk to your boss", but its the boss's fault when bad communication results in an employee leaving for a new job. OK.

My advice stands as.... Take responsibility for your own professional growth. If you have someone you trust at your current employer and your skills are marketable, don't be afraid to explore your options at your current employer. Sometimes, the devil you know is better than the devil you don't OR the grass isn't always greener. If you really want something, see if its available at your current employer. If so, great. If not, leave. If it doesn't work out, I guess blame your boss.

Welp, I'm going to go down the middle of the road here and say "it depends". I was at the same company for over a decade and had several managers and bosses before getting into that level of leadership. I can think of two bosses that were absolute polar opposite. One, was very much a good friend, family man, and the kind of person who absolutely put your development before the job. For this boss, I had a relationship where I can and did go to him several times when I felt I wanted something more. Had my situation been such that I needed to find a new gig, I probably would have run that by him first but framed it as more of a desire for mentoring on my career choice. I would have had zero concern for this costing me my job.

My other boss was one that I would have never dreamed of discussing such things. This one is the one who put the job first and the subordinate second. He would have found out about my new job as I was walking out the door and I would not have even afforded him a two weeks notice. He is the one that would deny vacation requests such that I started giving two week requests to him the Friday before I was leaving and when they were denied…I'd just take vacation anyway and let him deal with it. For this type of boss I wouldn't say a word.

So, again, I really feel this all completely depends on your organization, it's culture, your leadership, and your relationship with them.

People don't leave jobs, they leave managers.

Something like that...

JamesPShelley said:

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People don't leave jobs, they leave managers.

Something like that...

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I hear this a lot and its just not true...manager may be a deciding factor if everything else is good but if you are being wildly underpaid relative to the market, you could have the greatest manager of all time and you aren't staying

A good manager will interpret "looking for other/more opportunities to expand my responsibilities within the company" as "if you value my employment you better start talking raise/promotion soon or else the next talk we have will be my 2 weeks".

There's ways to say you're looking without officially saying it.

I had that exact talk with my boss a few weeks ago as I have some other offers I'm weighing...

it went right over his head...

People absolutely leave jobs and not managers.

I have a good manager. I can go talk to him frankly about what I want and don't want (figured this out when I almost left the job for another that didn't end up being what I wanted - this opened up communication).

I still don't want to be in the field I'm in long term - even though I'm good at it. I want to leave the field - but not because of my manager.