new job while still at old job

[suckerfree]

I have seen that many times when individuals have left my current company, they have not publicized their next job title or company until well after they have left.

What do you feel are positives and negatives of this approach?

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[coroner]

Their next "job title" is secondary to what hospital/lab/group they are going to. Presumably they were already staff pathologists before, so why would their job title change and they'd want to keep it confidential? Unless they were in academics and they never got promoted full rank prof. but moved on to another academic institution and were promoted to chair or something in which case most people would know or could find out pretty easily anyway.

 

[suckerfree]

I guess what prompted my query is that at my current group, individuals who have left over the past few years generally have not been public about their next job. I suppose some individuals may either be self conscious, or perhaps others may feel it might only invite jealousy if it is a "better" position. I really am just asking an open ended query for general thoughts about optimal tact and form when making a professional transition.

 

[coroner]

Highly variable. If they departed on less than stellar terms i.e. contract not renewed or there was friction between other colleagues, then I would not expect them to be public about their next move. If however the circumstances were more genial e.g. spouse/family reasons or the job was not in that person's ideal geographic location and they made a long distance move just to get the job then it would be more likely to expect them to be public about it.

Ultimately, I think it comes down to the individual i.e. Did they have a more open/gregarious personality and make friends in the group? Or, were they the type to just read their slides and scuttle home? In any case, I really don't think there is optimal vs suboptimal way to tactfully handle whether one chooses to inform people of their future position. If they move on, they move on. In my opinion if they choose to not publicize this information I wouldn't say it's showing poor form necessarily. Likewise, if they choose to share it I would appreciate them sharing it with me, but that's about it.

 

[gbwillner]

A good reason for this may be concern for legal action. Lots of companies/groups have non-compete clauses and non-solicitation clauses. While in general non-enforceable, these are written into many employment contracts. Why publicize that you are starting somewhere specific to your company, including possibly your company lawyers, who could then initiate the process of identifying possible breeches of contract? Better to have them go out of their way to figure it out.

 

[yaah]

Having the fact that you are looking for another job may "encourage" your employer to think about replacing you anyway - because you aren't committed to their mission or whatever. It also may reflect poorly on you to those you work with - because you want to be somewhere else. In an ideal world people would understand, but the real world is not ideal. It's often just simpler and easier to look around and not tell your current job. But you have to be aware that if you do take a new job and people are surprised to hear it, that is also going to cause significant issues with your current job. If I knew that someoine in my group was looking to go elsewhere, I would definitely want to know why so that we could maybe improve their situation locally. If it isn't possible (sometimes people leave for family reasons or significant promotions), then best of luck, but tell us early so we can prepare.