Is There a Monster in Your Closet?

With LinkedIn's service I have reconnected and kept in touch with old colleagues, met potential employers, learned from many combined years of professional service, and used my network as a sounding board for my own questions and ideals.

Below are answers to just one of the many questions I have asked of my group of contacts.

Cindy Allingham

IT VP/Director
in Service Management and IT Operations wrote:
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Any boss who discovers his employees have accounts on job boards might be taken aback, but should very quickly snap out of it! Corporations these days make sure they have the latitude to downsize or transition workers as the market dictates, so why shouldn't employees be prepared for any eventuality?

Kevin Morrison, PMP

Senior Project Manager
at WeightWatchers.com wrote:
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If your boss is surprised by this then your boss has not been paying attention. Maintaining these accounts is a fact of life in a world with no job guarantees.

Tim Tymchyshyn

Chief Bottle Washer in the Church of the Evangelistic Unwired wrote:
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I was more surprised to find his

Jun Loayza
Chief Executive Officer
The Veridical Group
www.theveridicalgroup.com wrote:
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Hi John,

I feel that the new generation of employees are of much higher skill and are in greater demand than the past generations. Thus, professionals are less likely to be loyal to their companies and are always on the lookout for better opportunies to work. I have many friends in large corporations that are always on the lookout for a better paying job. This puts pressure on companies to find enticing ways of keeping employees happy, whether it be through bonuses, benefits, or a lively company culture.

The Boss should not be surprised that his or her employees have a monster account; they should be expecting it. Once the Boss realizes the brutal fact that his or her employees WILL leave the company if they are not treated exceptionally, the Boss will be able to implement ways to make sure employees are kept happy.

Best,

Jun Loayza
Chief Executive Officer
The Veridical Group
www.theveridicalgroup.com

Keith Hamburger

Quality Assurance Team Manager
at Kemtah wrote:
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I have to agree with most all of the answers above. Only when companies return to guaranteeing jobs and a comfortable retirement if you work hard should you guarantee to stay in the job indefinitely. Most jobs today can only be counted on for the length of the current contract or project. And, even then, if the profits aren't there to support the staff, that might not even work except for the most exceptional employees.

Promises and guarantees have to go both ways. If your boss is surprised you are keeping your eyes open for better opportunities, I would hope that he is making sure that any opportunity you might uncover could not possibly be better than what you have.

Keith

Lesley Ward

Sales & Marketing Manager
at Procyon Fire & Security Ltd wrote:
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Depends if he was surprised to find you using it during his time!

Aaron Guilmette

Sr. Windows Administrator at R. L. Polk & Co. wrote:
A few short weeks after I got married, I was laid off. I had wedding bills, college tuition for my wife due, and housing payments. Ever since then, I have maintained profiles on the major job boards, and even field interviews on a regular basis just to keep in practice. With the ever-changing local and world economies, I think it's a reality employers have to be willing to live with, and it should be an incentive to provide competitive pay and a good working environment.

I look at it this way: I've got a wife and three kids. I love my job, but I think I would be doing a disservice to my family if I wasn't paying attention to the market.