Secret
Job Search
Worried about looking desperate or becoming overexposed? Want to make sure no one knows you're looking for a job?
Consider a secret job search. Here’s how it works:
- Use a sponsor who will "front" for you. They need credentials that make them a valid judge of your effectiveness. He or she will provide a recommendation, your value proposition, the reason for not employing you, an explanation of your need for secrecy, and an offer to put the interested reader in touch with you.
- Use a website that's hidden or password-protected so only those specifically invited can see your background.
- Send letters with your sponsor's signature, phone number and email on their stationery.
Your sponsor will answer the calls and emails, and can refer interested parties directly to you.
Your sponsor's stationery
We will create your sponsor's stationery.
If it's their personal stationery, all we need is their signature to scan and print on each letter.
If it's their business stationery, we will reproduce their stationery with some modifications. Both the letter and envelope will be monarch-size, and you have a choice of two colors - natural white or moonstone grey. Click here for your options.
Caution: With all direct mail campaigns, 5% to 10% of the letters will be returned. If your sponsor uses his or her business stationery and business return address, this could be problematic and clumsy. If you send 10,000 letters, they'll get 500 to 1,000 returns - all within a few days. Plus, they'll get many "thanks but no thanks" letters.
Choosing your sponsor
Your best choice for a sponsor is a former boss who personally knows your work history and has first-hand knowledge of your outstanding on-the-job performance. The more prominent and recognized this person is in the business arena, the better.
Pros and cons
A secret job search using a sponsor has the benefit of keeping your job search as confidential as possible. It limits your exposure. It also has an endorsement from your sponsor, which adds to your credibility. And, it makes you look less desperate because someone else is promoting you with what appears to be a one-of-a-kind letter.
The disadvantage is that a secret job search is more difficult to do. And, there will probably be some decision-makers who balk at your secrecy, wondering why you could not write a letter to them directly. We will however manage this disadvantage carefully in your letter.
For what it's worth
We've offered the secret job search to clients for many years ... and keep in mind: our clients have a medium income $300k, 15% make more than $1 million, some make more than $10 million, and some are famous - you may have seen them on the cover of magazines or on television.
So far, as compelling and fool-proof as the secret job search is, none of our clients have done it. Instead, they add a line in their letter that goes something like this: "Please keep this inquiry confidential. The published rumors that we may be acquired have prompted me to look around; and I don't want to disturb my staff or the rest of the company just by considering alternatives."
Do you really need this?
The letters and stationery that we use are the best money can buy, and truly look like they were written one at a time and signed by you in blue ink. Here's the specification. The recipients do not know how many you're sending out, and most will see your letter as a one-of-a-kind, just to them. This one fact alone can overcome the problem of looking desperate or becoming overexposed.
