Your Best Bet: Stay Employed While Job Hunting

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Job Hunt

 

entrepreneur-962848_640If possible, stay employed while job hunting. Although it’s more important to be employable than employed, there is still a positive bias toward someone currently employed. Although this bias can seem irrational, it’s human nature to want what’s in demand. That’s why people tend to flock to the most popular movies, buy the books on the best-seller rack at the bookstore, and to look twice at merchandise they’ve seen others use or wear.

By contrast, if you seem needy and easy to get, people will be less eager to hire you and more reluctant to make a handsome salary offer. As James Crowe, CEO of Level 3 Communications, says, “We want people who are in demand. They generally have to walk away from money. Then we will do what is appropriate [to get them].” Having a current job while you search for your next job enhances your personal brand as a person who is in demand.

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Debra Benton

D.A. (Debra) Benton has been helping great individuals and organizations get even better for over 20 years. Just as exceptional athletes rely on excellent coaching to hone their skills, Debra's clients rely on her advice to advance their careers. She focuses on what is truly important to convert what you and your organization want to be from a vision into a reality. TopCEOCoaches.com ranks her in the World's Top 10 CEO Coaches noting she is the top female. And as conference keynote speaker she is routinely rated in the top 2%. Her client list reads like a “Who's Who” of executives in companies ranging from Microsoft, McDonald's, Kraft, American Express, Merrill Lynch, United Airlines, and PricewaterhouseCoopers to the Washington Beltway and U.S.Border Patrol. *She is the author of ten award-winning and best-selling business books including The Virtual Executive and CEO Material. She has written for the Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Businessweek, and Fast Company. She has been featured in USA Today, Fortune, The New York Times, and Time; she has appeared on Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, and CBS with Diane Sawyer. To learn more Debra advising leaders, coaching, facilitating a workshop, or speaking: www.debrabenton.com

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