When to let the boss know you're looking for a new job? (employee, applying)

[Caldus]

I've been at the current gig for a few years now. Work is drying up here so I'm most likely just going to relocate to another department within my company. The challenge here is that as soon as I apply for a job within the company, the future boss can easily look up my current boss's contact information and even call him if he wanted. I don't want to take my boss by surprise. I screwed up last week and told him about something too late and he seemed pretty irritated about it, so my feeling is that I should probably do the same for telling him I'm looking for a new job. I don't want to tell him too soon but not too late either. I know for sure that once I am scheduled for an interview, the appointment email is CC'ed to him on the system. Am I just going to have to tell him real early, like before I even apply for one job? He seems to get pretty irritated if I don't tell him things early enough, but on the other hand I don't want to tell him and then I end up not finding a job for a long while and therefore souring the relationship between us during that period. How should I play this out?

[emerald_octane]

Ask your prospective boss to hold off contacting your current boss. I've noticed that, when you're a good fit, many hiring managers will be sensitive to that sort of thing, considering that if they *did* want you after the interview, you'd probably have the appropriate qualifications anyway.

As far as you telling your boss, I dunno about that one. It's too early to tell anyone anything until your job title is changed and you report to the other guy; nothing is for sure until its done these days.

[Caldus]

How can I tell the prospective boss? I'll have to go check again tomorrow, but I think you just submit a resume on the internal hiring system and that's that. No section to type additional comments. Unless I put it on the resume, which probably wouldn't be attractive or professional?

That's what I was thinking too. Until things are solid, nothing is real or taken seriously these days. The last thing I want to do is tell him something that won't actually happen until several months later. Then again, I know someone at my group who is also leaving. He apparently is staying until the summer sometime to finish the current project he is working on. I don't know whether he told him early on that he was leaving or what. I guess the future boss was flexible about the start date.

[joeyseven!]

What is your company policy of internal transfer? My company encourages associates to develop their career, managers are supposed to help us. And because the manager needs to add comments on our applications, we usually will talk to the managers as early as possible.

You may talk to the person in your group who is leaving, ask him how to handle the situation.

[rugerjitsu]

Originally Posted by joeyseven!

What is your company policy of internal transfer? My company encourages associates to develop their career, managers are supposed to help us. And because the manager needs to add comments on our applications, we usually will talk to the managers as early as possible.

You may talk to the person in your group who is leaving, ask him how to handle the situation.

good advice...

it's a little different when applying for another job within the same company...i would think it's bitter/sweet for your current boss, but at the same time, he should respect your wishes to advance in the company...with that being said, depending on my relationship with my current boss, i would let him know what my intentions were, and maybe he would be willing to actually help you out and put in a good word to any prospective future bosses...

[hnsq]

You definitely need to check your company policy. With my company, it is policy that you have to disclose to your current boss that you are looking for other jobs before you interview, for moving to a different department at least.

With my company, not disclosing that could lose me both the old and new job! Review your employee manual or talk to someone in HR.

[MSchemist80]

What if you're a contractor working as a temp? I'm in a similar situation though I am on kind of an indefinite temp sort of deal [for them not me since no benefits and I pay self-emplyment taxes]. My instinct is tell them after you sign the new offer.

[Chilkoot]

Depending on what you meant by "work is drying up". If this is the case your current boss will surely know this as well and help you with gaining other employment.

When applying internally you should consider telling him just prior to submitting your resume as you don't want him to hear it from anyone other than you. Externally submitted resumes can wait as reference checks aren't normally done until after the interviews as it's very time consuming to check everyone who has applied.

If the work is truely drying up, it's hard to imagine your current boss wanting to keep you there on the sinking ship.

[dspguy]

Tough situation. You'd be asking a peer of your current boss to more or less deceive someone. I don't think that will be looked upon very well.

I'd have this conversation with your current boss:

You: Hey boss, are there any other projects on the horizon?
Boss: "Doesn't matter what he/she says"
You: I'm concerned about the security of my position since work is drying up. I'd like to continue working for this company. It would be a help if you recommend me to other hiring managers within the company.

You might be surprised what comes up. If you were a dedicated/productive employee, you might even land a better job than the one you are currently seeking.

[Caldus]

Well work is definitely drying up for the short term, but for the long term we may get some more work in. It will be a while until we actually get the funding for it though. I'm just getting deathly bored of this job anyway and I need a change. A lot of people have been leaving recently and they haven't been replacing them. I can't tell whether he would mind me leaving or not.