Keeping Your Loss Prevention Job Search Confidential

Discretion has always been an important quality for loss prevention professionals, and that same trait can be just as important when involved in a loss prevention job search.

Most loss prevention professionals have gotten where they are because of a combination of qualities: personal drive, cooperation, and ambition along with the ability to analyze, plan and execute creative tactics with integrity and an open mind are cornerstones of the profession. And when we’ve decided that it’s time to seek out new opportunities, those same skills can be extremely important as part of the confidential job search.

Not every individual that becomes involved in a loss prevention job search is unhappy in their current position. Opportunities can come along in a number of different ways, and for a number of different reasons. But regardless of the circumstances, confidentiality remains an important aspect of the loss prevention job search.

It’s still important to develop a clear plan for your search, a powerful resume and sound practices when involved in the search process. If you don’t combine confidentiality and discretion with professionalism and consideration during your job search, the consequences can be awkward—or worse. If you want to be perceived as the best, execute your job search with savvy and integrity.

So how can you search for a new job while keeping your hunt under wraps? Here are a few tips:

1. Maintain your own confidence. To conduct an effective job search, it will be necessary to talk with people about it. However, you should let them know the information is confidential. Be especially careful about telling anyone at work who might accidentally share information that you don’t want to be disclosed. Avoid telling anyone at work when possible, and share your concerns about keeping the matter confidential at all times.
2. Don’t use company resources when conducting the job search. It’s typically not wise to use your employer’s email, computers, or other job-related resources for job search purposes. Research has shown that as many as 75 percent or more of employers monitor their employees’ website activity. Using company time and equipment for anything job search-related can lead to some extremely awkward conversations. Don’t use your work email address as a point of contact. Don’t write your resume on the company computer. Don’t surf job sites from your work computer. Use your own email address and network to conduct your search and reach out to prospective employers. And don’t leave your resume in the copier.
3. Don’t use your company phone to communicate with potential employers and recruiters. Stick to your home and cell phones for your job search, and limit work-hours calls to when you are on a break or at lunch. When you’re on the clock, dedicate your efforts to your current company.
4. Tell recruiters your search is confidential. Seasoned loss prevention recruiters understand the importance of maintaining the confidentiality of all interactions as well as specific job searches, and operate with specific integrity to this issue. However, as a point of emphasis it is still recommended to ask recruiters to inform you and seek your permission before they submit you to a company as a candidate, and to remain committed to that confidentiality throughout the search process.
5. Ask your prospective employer to keep your job search in confidence. Most loss prevention leaders clearly understand the importance for both the candidate and the search, but while many will take this for granted, it is still prudent to request confidentiality in the search process.
6. Don’t respond to “blind ads” in which the name of the company is not given. More than one jobseeker has applied for what they thought was “the perfect job” only to find it was their own company posting that is being advertised.
7. Keep a handle on your social media posts. Resist any temptation to remark on any dissatisfaction you’re your current job, supervisor, co-workers, or employer Don’t discuss your job search through social media no matter how secure you think your privacy settings are, or who you think might or might not be paying attention. Recognize that everything you do may be noticed online.
8. Use caution regarding where you post your resume. If you’re going to apply to a particular job or company online, apply directly on the company web site. Simply posting your resume online in a public domain may lead to someone at your current company finding the post. If that happens, be prepared to answer some awkward questions.
9. Manage your emotions in the work setting. Making the decision to move on can lead you to crossing an emotional bridge. Use caution and avoid the temptation to make your workspace less personal as a visual reminder that this is no longer your home. Resist packing up your photographs or other personal items, and work to keep everything as “normal” as possible until you achieve your goal, have accepted a new job, have the formal offer, and have made the decision to formally resign.
10. Maintain performance excellence. Your commitment to your job and your work performance should be kept at a high level at all times. Finish a job the way you started it—strong, committed, and professional. Letting your performance drift should be unacceptable. Companies want an employee committed to their job, not their job search. Leave the right impression.

This post was originally published in 2016 and was updated April 19, 2018.