Looking for a New Job? It Could Get You Fired

Sick of your current job, and thinking about looking for something better? Then you may want to save up enough to pay your bills for a few months, just in case your job searching gets you fired. While many people think they can only be fired for looking for a new job if they do it on their current company’s time, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Put simply: it is perfectly legal for an employer to fire you for the sole reason that you are looking for a new job.

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(Photo Credit: Sean MacEntee/Flickr)

Dos and Don’ts of Looking for a New Job

Jacquelyn Smith at Forbes reports on the dos and don’ts for those who are looking for work while they are still employed. The advice is broken up into 13 different tips, but it can all basically be broken down into the following:

  • Do not tell anyone at work that you are looking for a new position. Doing so can poison your current working relationships, and if you tell one person, everyone at work will eventually know. This also means that you should not mention your job search on social media, because if you do, it will get back to someone at work. Also, be smart about other obvious signs. Don’t wear your interview suit to work and take a long lunch if your normal work garb is a polo shirt and you usually eat at your desk.
  • Do not let prospective employers talk to your current employer and do not use your current employer as a reference unless you know that your current employer will be okay with the fact that you are seeking other employment.
  • Do not post your resume on job boards. Your current employer could see it and fire you.

Even this advice might not be enough to keep your current position safe, as technology continues to both improve and intrude more into our lives. In USA Today, Anita Bruzzese notes that employers might be able to figure out that you are looking to leave your current position just by looking at your social media. Lots of activity updating your LinkedIn profile certainly sends a signal that you are starting to care what potential employers think. And your employer could even use Foursquare to track your movements, to see that you have been visiting competitors or spending a lot of time at the copy center (where you thought you were sneakily printing copies of your resume).

The moral of the story is that under most circumstances you absolutely can be fired if your employer finds out you are looking for a new position. So if you are doing so, take extreme care to insure that your employer does not find out, unless you are certain your employer will be supportive in your search. And, to be safe, be sure your savings account is substantial enough to weather hard times, should the worst happen.

Tell Us What You Think

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