Approaching competitors with a speculative job enquiry
Discussion
A friend of mine has recently decided that having been with his current employer for a number of years, the time is right to start looking around for something else.
His industry is fairly well spread around the country but that doesn't bother him as he fancies moving further south anyway.
He's asked me for my thoughts on a few points and I thought that given PH has an "expert" on everything, I'd ask you lot, on his behalf.
1) When writing to a competitor, asking if they have any jobs going, is it wise to ommit his current employer's name from the CV? Chances are they will see where he lives and work it out for themselves anyway.
2) The industry is fairly well connected, with directors from many of the competitor's knowing each other and it's possible that they could drop him in it - Whats the best way to handle this?
3) He doesnt want to sound like he is unhappy at work, or that he doesnt liek what he does, so he's thinking his best tact with the covering letter is to go down the route of "looking to relocate to the area near to where I grew up" - does that sound reasonable?
I have said that he needs to be careful that people dont just invite him in for an "interview" to milk him for information - Ive seen that somewhere I've worked before.
The real reason he's looking to move is that he has simply exhausted all possible avenues of career progressing with his current employer. He sees no where else to go as the man above him is a director and there is no large growth expected which could see his team increaseing in size at all. He would also love to move to another part of the country as its a bit grim in the Midlands!
His industry is fairly well spread around the country but that doesn't bother him as he fancies moving further south anyway.
He's asked me for my thoughts on a few points and I thought that given PH has an "expert" on everything, I'd ask you lot, on his behalf.
1) When writing to a competitor, asking if they have any jobs going, is it wise to ommit his current employer's name from the CV? Chances are they will see where he lives and work it out for themselves anyway.
2) The industry is fairly well connected, with directors from many of the competitor's knowing each other and it's possible that they could drop him in it - Whats the best way to handle this?
3) He doesnt want to sound like he is unhappy at work, or that he doesnt liek what he does, so he's thinking his best tact with the covering letter is to go down the route of "looking to relocate to the area near to where I grew up" - does that sound reasonable?
I have said that he needs to be careful that people dont just invite him in for an "interview" to milk him for information - Ive seen that somewhere I've worked before.
The real reason he's looking to move is that he has simply exhausted all possible avenues of career progressing with his current employer. He sees no where else to go as the man above him is a director and there is no large growth expected which could see his team increaseing in size at all. He would also love to move to another part of the country as its a bit grim in the Midlands!
Chris_OCR said:
As per the last paragraph, tell him to be truthful, if the last paragraph is the 100% truth, there would be no problems explaining this to a potential employer regardless if they are a competitor or not.
Of course it is 100% truth - clearly you've not been to the Midlands recently 
The Midlands are f
ked over currently.
Would it be worth him speaking to his current employer, they may have plans or be able to improve his position, if he leaves on good terms then things may be easier an employer may get worried if you start applying to competitors, there is potential confidentiality and competition issues.
ked over currently. Would it be worth him speaking to his current employer, they may have plans or be able to improve his position, if he leaves on good terms then things may be easier an employer may get worried if you start applying to competitors, there is potential confidentiality and competition issues.
Goochie said:
3) He doesnt want to sound like he is unhappy at work, or that he doesnt liek what he does, so he's thinking his best tact with the covering letter is to go down the route of "looking to relocate to the area near to where I grew up" - does that sound reasonable?
TBH, no it doesn't. But this does:Goochie said:
The real reason he's looking to move is that he has simply exhausted all possible avenues of career progressing with his current employer. He sees no where else to go as the man above him is a director and there is no large growth expected which could see his team increaseing in size at all. He would also love to move to another part of the country as its a bit grim in the Midlands!
Irrespective of whether he's applying to a competitor, career development ( or a lack of it in his current position) is a perfectly good reason to be looking to move on and shouldn't alarm any prospective employer.Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff