Why You Should Be Looking For Your Next Job Even When You Are Happy at Your Current Job

Two themes have become clear to me through the "Great Resignation": (1) the job market is currently very employee friendly and (2) employees often have to move out to advance their careers, whether in terms of areas of responsibility, compensation, title or a mixture of all three.

Putting a New Spin on One's Job Search

Despite these compelling realities, I often talk to people who feel like engaging in a job search, sending out applications and networking are all signs of disloyalty. I always encourage people who view job searching in this negative light, whether because of their own definition of what it means to be loyal or because they find themselves in a toxic environment where that message is made explicit, to try to recast the topic in a more positive light.

Being a good employee and engaging in a job search are not mutually exclusive concepts.

While I agree that employees should always strive to be and give their best every day, I also believe that employees should always be looking for the best vocational context in which they can grow, develop and be compensated at the highest level given their career stage and goals. The reality is that most companies, despite the Great Recession, do not offer the career advancement opportunities that can be seized by making a job change. In this job market, you are literally leaving money and opportunity on the table if you are not out looking for your next opportunity.

Why Looking For a Job When You Are Happy is the Best Time to Look

The best time to look for a job is when you are happy with your current one. That may sound counterintuitive, but think about it. Searching for a job while you are happy and stable in your current role:

• Allows you to be selective in the search process. One of the best pieces of advice I received early in my career is that you should never run from something but, rather, you should always run towards something. Every job move should be a strategic move on the job chess board. For example, my last move was to a direct GC report role where I previously reported up to the VP, Deputy General Counsel (who was himself a direct GC report). When are happy with your current role, you can have the discipline to only apply to roles (and respond to solicitations from recruiters) where the new role would be a positive and strategic move for your career.
• Enables you to negotiate from a place of strength. It is hard to get pay increases and title bumps after you start at a company (at least in the legal context). The reason is pretty simple, there is a long line of people who have been there for much longer than you have. You typically join a new company at the end of the queue; that is, unless you negotiate a spot at the front of the queue from the very beginning. Do you want a new title? Ask for it during the negotiation process. Do you want more compensation? Ask for it during the negotiation process. Do not assume that increased pay and title will come after you have been at the company for a while. While that may be the case, it is far from certain and given that you are happy in your current role, it makes sense to stay put unless you can get what you want from the move.
• Gives you runway to land the perfect next role. Strategic job searches take time. Most applications that are sent either receive no response or the standard autoreply that reads something like: "Thank you for inquiring about employment opportunities with ____. We are currently reviewing your resume and evaluating your professional credentials. If there is a match between our requirements and your experience, we will contact you to discuss the position in further detail." If my experience is any indication, only about 10-15% of applications sent result in an interview process. It is essentially a numbers game where you have to be okay with cold shoulders, rejection and often feeling "less than." Given that fact, the longer the runway you have, the higher the probability that you will engage in an interview process that will yield an offer for a role that fits within your strategic plan.
• Frees you up to be yourself. When you are happy in your current role, you can recast the interview process for what it really should be from your perspective - you simply being yourself and interviewing the people from the company who have been assigned to your interview process. Being authentic and realistic also has the benefit of resulting in much better interviews. Let's be honest - we all know when someone is putting on their interview face and it is painful for everyone involved.

Some Tips on Crafting an Efficient Job Search

The key to having an evergreen job search is structuring the search to take just a little bit of time each day. Here are some search hacks that I have discovered over the years and have found to help me and others who take the evergreen approach to job searching:

• Search Daily. Set up 2 or 3 job searches on LinkedIn and check them everyday. If you look everyday you can limit the search to only the jobs that have been posted during the last 24 hours. This makes the daily search only take a couple of minutes.
• Apply Frequently. If a job fits within the criteria that you have set (e.g., direct GC report, etc.), apply. Sending an application is not a commitment but, rather, an invitation to start a conversation. As noted above, most applications will go into the black hole of nothingness, so you have to play the numbers game. Apply liberally as long as the job represents a strategic move on the job chess board.
• Research Companies. On a periodic basis research companies where you would like to work. For me, that means public companies where I can work from Denver. Once you have a list of companies, send LinkedIn invites to everyone that you can at that company. They may not have a current job opening, but if they ever have an opening that matches your strategic criteria (which you will catch because you are looking every day), you will be a much more attractive candidate if you have connections at the company.
• Befriend Recruiters. Recruiters are really interesting and thoughtful people as a general rule. In my experience, good recruiters are open to connect and are generous with their time and counsel. Sure, there are recruiters who are not those things, but there are plenty who are. Recruiters don't represent job searchers, but it is in their best interest to have a broad network of job searchers. So, it is only a win-win to include as many quality recruiters in your network as possible.
• Make Yourself Visible. The more you put yourself out there, the more likely you are to be exposed to opportunities. As it matches your interests and passions, get out there and write, speak, join and serve.

Putting it Together and An Invitation

One of my life goals is to cultivate gratitude where I am while relentlessly pursuing where I want to be. Always searching for my next role while being my best and doing my best every day in my current role is a key component of executing against that goal. I hope you have been encouraged to take a similar approach.

If I can ever be of help as you think through your next career move or current job search, please reach out. Talking through these important issues with people and offering my views and perspectives is one of the most rewarding things about being at this stage of my career. I absolutely love it and always learn a great deal from the exchanges.