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I've been in a full time salaried job for about 8 months now. While I really enjoy the work, the pay isn't great, and coupled with the fact that I live in an area with a high COL (Washington, DC), money is sort of tight. Well, I was offered a part time job, for a company that is sort of in the same industry as the full time job, but it's very very unlikely they two companies would ever compete against each other for any kind of business. The part time job is willing to let me work nights and weekends, and the pay is pretty good.
My question is....should I let my full time employer know I have this second job? I'm not worried that the part time job would cut into my ability to do the full time job, but I'm hesitant, because the part time job is with a fairly large and well known national company, and the FT job is with a newer, startup type company, so I'm worried that FT employer will think I'm ready to jump ship (which isn't the case, and talking to my friend at PT company, they rarely offer people in my position the ability to move to full time). FT employeer does allow people to have other jobs, and a few people in my group do, but those are restaurant/bartender type jobs, while my PT job is more "professional".
I've been in a full time salaried job for about 8 months now. While I really enjoy the work, the pay isn't great, and coupled with the fact that I live in an area with a high COL (Washington, DC), money is sort of tight. Well, I was offered a part time job, for a company that is sort of in the same industry as the full time job, but it's very very unlikely they two companies would ever compete against each other for any kind of business. The part time job is willing to let me work nights and weekends, and the pay is pretty good.
My question is....should I let my full time employer know I have this second job? I'm not worried that the part time job would cut into my ability to do the full time job, but I'm hesitant, because the part time job is with a fairly large and well known national company, and the FT job is with a newer, startup type company, so I'm worried that FT employer will think I'm ready to jump ship (which isn't the case, and talking to my friend at PT company, they rarely offer people in my position the ability to move to full time). FT employeer does allow people to have other jobs, and a few people in my group do, but those are restaurant/bartender type jobs, while my PT job is more "professional".
I'd say give them no information and don't make the mistake of telling people you work with , do they freely share information with you - about how safe your job is, your prospects, whether they are going to promote you? I think not.
I've been in a full time salaried job for about 8 months now. While I really enjoy the work, the pay isn't great, and coupled with the fact that I live in an area with a high COL (Washington, DC), money is sort of tight. Well, I was offered a part time job, for a company that is sort of in the same industry as the full time job, but it's very very unlikely they two companies would ever compete against each other for any kind of business. The part time job is willing to let me work nights and weekends, and the pay is pretty good.
My question is....should I let my full time employer know I have this second job? I'm not worried that the part time job would cut into my ability to do the full time job, but I'm hesitant, because the part time job is with a fairly large and well known national company, and the FT job is with a newer, startup type company, so I'm worried that FT employer will think I'm ready to jump ship (which isn't the case, and talking to my friend at PT company, they rarely offer people in my position the ability to move to full time). FT employeer does allow people to have other jobs, and a few people in my group do, but those are restaurant/bartender type jobs, while my PT job is more "professional".
There is a simple rule: Don't answer unasked questions. If you have nothing in your contract about working in another company, this is non of their business.
If there's even a glimmer that the two companies might ever compete, you better speak up.
If your day job is working for an insurance company and your p/t job is working at Toys-R-Us, no worries, but otherwise, let them know.
I have a friend who was in this situation a.5 years ago, she said nothing. She got caught, her employer wasn't pleased, she was not only terminated but also blacklisted. Is it really worth the risk?
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mash123
There is a simple rule: Don't answer unasked questions. If you have nothing in your contract about working in another company, this is non of their business.
Besides contract language, there may be an ethics policy that talks about working for a competitor. Check anything that is available on the HR intranet or documents given to you when hired. If there is such a policy you should quit the part-time job immediately or be subject to firing. If there is nothing in their policies I would be quiet, very quiet and
hope they don't find out as they would still be unhappy about it.
Startups are always wary of corporate espionage.
If the part time job isn't with a competitor, say nothing. It doesn't matter if it's a professional position. All that matters is if it's a competitor or not. I suspect it's not a competitor or you wouldn't be wondering what to do because you would know darn well that your employer wouldn't allow you to work for a competitor. If you do say something, they'll more likely think you're about to jump ship because why else would you be telling them something that really isn't any of their business unless you're trying to squeeze higher salary out of them.
What you do after you leave work is your business as long as it does not impact your full time job in a negative way.
If you live in a very large city where you can work at your part time job without anyone at your full time place finding out then you are in good shape. However, if you are in a smaller town sooner or later your full time boss is probably going to find out. So, if the information is better coming from you preemptively, then you would be wise to mention it. If you feel that it could threaten your full time job, then I suggest you rethink your decision or be prepared to suffer the consequences.
Otherwise, my philosophy is that, as long as you have not signed a non-compete agreement, and the part time job does not negatively effect your job performance or effectiveness, it's no ones business what you do on your "own" time.
If there is nothing in your contract about working another job I would go ahead and keep the second job. Make it clear to the second job that if there is ever a conflict of interests you will need to quit immediately. I wouldn't tell your primary employer, but I wouldn't lie either.
When I was in DC almost everyone I know had a second job of some sort. We mostly just kept quiet about them. It's hard to make ends meet there on an entry level (or even mid-level) salary.
Don't tell any coworkers either. And don't put it on linkedin and don't put it on facebook.
Not that you are hiding things. But if you are ever late or sick at your full-time job, they might place the blame on the part-time job. Also you could be tops on the layoff list because you already have income from the part-time job.
does your first job have a conflict of interest form? we have one on our website we have to fill out every year and if i was in your situation i'd read over it and see if the part-time job was anything they considered a "conflict of interest" on the form.
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