In general I like to talk about the “dos” of the job search and not the “do nots”.  However there are a few job-search related things that can get you into a lot of trouble so I want to cover them on the site as well.  For today, here are some reason’s why job searching at work is not a good idea.

With limited time away from work, and with a computer right it front of you, it can be tempting, but resist the urge.

Yes, I know people do this… a little job searching at lunch time, sending off your resume to a contact, etc. But here are a few reasons why you shouldn’t job search while you’re at work.

Job searching at work is just unprofessional

First, the most obvious reason – it is completely unprofessional.  You are on the clock getting paid to do a certain job. The same way it’s not okay to browse facebook or online shop all day, it’s also not okay to job search on the company’s dime.  Even if no one’s looking, this is not the behavior of a great employee (or a great candidate!)

If you get caught searching, you can get in a lot of trouble (including getting fired)

Doing certain things on company technology (on company time) are taken pretty seriously – more seriously than you may think.  Getting caught doing this by the wrong person could even get you fired.  Even if it doesn’t get you fired, it’s going to guarantee that the people around you will feel that you are not invested in your work and the company.

When you’re on company technology, there usually is no privacy

This is the most important thing to remember when you are doing anything on your work computer.  When you are using company property (or your company email address) you are likely not entitled to any privacy at all.  At any time, there could be a report on how you are using your computer, your browsing history, your emails and much more.  That means that it could be pretty easy to figure out that you’ve been doing a little job searching lately.

It can send a bad message to a future employer

If you are applying for a job or sending an email and it is the middle of the day (and it is known you are employed based on your resume) this looks really bad.  If you are doing this type of thing at your current company (and spending your time not working on the task at hand) it can be assumed that you will do this at the new company too.

If none of these reasons convinced you (and hopefully they did), the other thing to remember is you should be job searching when you are truly focused. If you are distracted or nervous or “not in the zone”, you are not going to get the best results.  Deciding how you are going to spend many of your waking hours over the next few years of your life does demand your full attention – so make sure you give it that!