Are you a Job Seeker or a Job Scanner?

To determine this, you should first take a moment to carefully review your current situation and analyze your options.

You are a Job Seeker...

If you are completely sure that you want to leave your current job, then you are a Job Seeker.

You should spend a significant amount of time actively searching for a new job somewhere else. Generally, people at this stage cannot bear to stay in their current situation any longer, and many don't even want to stay in the same company. Their disappointment, frustration, and fear levels are so high that not even changes within the organization can keep them there. If this sounds like you, it's definitely time for a change.


If you've identified yourself as Job Seeker, our advice for you is patience and discretion. We strongly recommend that you do not disclose your decision with anyone at your current workplace, especially your boss. Once your current employer knows you are considering leaving, everything instantly changes. If your boss discovers that you are looking for a new job, it's likely that your employment conditions will deteriorate and your work life could become miserable.


Outside of work, be very careful to whom you disclose your decision. We've all got friends who can't keep secrets. Our experience tells us that discretion in the process of a new job search is critical. It's much easier to find another job while you're still enjoying the luxury of being employed. This also makes you look better to potential employers: now you're a candidate that needs to be attracted to the new organization, rather than someone who is desperate to get a new job. This makes your bargaining power for better salary and perks at least 20% better than someone who is unemployed or perceived as desperate.


Update your resume and start leveraging your network and other employment sources. When being interviewed, make sure you're honest, but don't overstate your unhappiness at your current job (for example, keep it to yourself that you're feeling quite a bit like Jack Nicholson in The Shining) If you go into details about how unhappy you are with your current situation, your odds of getting the job will be decreased significantly. And if you are offered a position, chances are you'll receive a lower offer. Just as an example, I had a friend who was called by a Fortune 50 company. When she was first interviewed, she expressed her frustration and discomfort with her current employer so strongly that the interviewer had concerns about her attitude. She was not called for a follow-up interview.

You are a Job Scanner...

If you are not 100% sure that you want to leave your current company, then you are a Job Scanner.

There is still hope that you can stay and improve things. You may also feel that your current situation isn't that bad, but you want to keep your options open and ready. If this is your case, you're Job Scanner. Job Scanners are employees who are uncertain about whether to stay or leave. There could be several different reasons a Job Scanner would consider an outside offer. These could include problems such as limitations on career growth, an unpleasant boss, conflicts of values, or the company changing to a degree that working there is not the same anymore. The bottom line is that you would consider a better offer if the right opportunity presented itself.


Being a Job Scanner means being realistic about potential new employment deals. Companies do not want to make long-term commitments with employees. There is no benefit to doing this, as their own survival is at stake every single day in the new economy. Hence, you should not be thinking in terms of staying until retirement with your current employer. In the brave new world, it is smarter to be aware of what opportunities are within your current company and also outside.



As you better understand what's out there in the market, you will have a better grasp of what skills, knowledge, technology and resources other companies are looking for. Knowing these signals will help you to find the right information, update your education and skills, and broaden your knowledge of what is going outside your cubicle.



Here are some tips to become an effective Job Scanner:

• Always have your resume updated and polished
• Research what the hot trends are in your industry or specialization, as well as what the hot qualities (skills, knowledge and soft skills) are.
• Continue building on your education: take seminars and update your academic credentials
• Subscribe to Associations and groups related to your job and area of specialization. This network could be your best source of opportunities
• Register with job search and employment websites, especially sites focused on a specific niche.
• Identify and maintain contacts and networks that can help you to find opportunities. Make sure they know that you are open to new frontiers.

In today's job environment, even a top-performing employee can be subject to downsizing, rightsizing or restructuring. In this environment, being a good Job Scanner is a crucial career skill to develop.