Best Time to Look for a Job

The best time to look for a job is when you don’t need one. That probably sounds counter intuitive, but let me explain. When you need a job, you are in the worst bargaining position possible. Anytime you put yourself in a position where you can’t walk away from a deal–or where it is hard to walk away–you lose your advantage in negotiating.

I found out about a job opportunity that would have been the perfect fit for a friend of mine. I told him about it, but he didn’t want to apply because he was happy with his current job. This is they way most people think. If I like my job, why should I go to the trouble of getting my resume ready and talking to someone else? What most people (including my friend) don’t realize is that being happily employed may make you a much more attractive employee to the company looking to hire. (If you were hiring would you rather hire a qualified candidate that someone else decided they didn’t want, or one that another employer wants to keep.) It also puts you in a position where you can turn down anything except for a truly great opportunity.

Another advantage is gaining negotiating experience. You are much better off honing your negotiating skills when failure doesn’t mean you’ll miss a mortgage payment. If you don’t have any income coming it, it probably isn’t a good time to be experimenting.