Poaching (as in talent from competitors)

[Deleted]

I say listen to your gut!

[Peace Of Mind]

I would keep it quiet until you have an offer in hand. And then only mention it to your current employer if you are seriously considering taking the offer.

I almost didn't click on your thread because I was afraid it was about animal poaching. Maybe if you add "job or employment poaching" you'll get more hits. Just a thought.

[Deleted]

I think it depends on your relationship with your current company.

If it is a good relationship, i would be careful. It sounds like the job is essentially the same position at the competitor's company. If so, you better have a strong reason for leaving, rather than just you'd like to see how green their grass is. If you don't have a good reason, I think you might burn some bridge.

If you do have a legitimate reason and your current company can match it, great.. that is a win.

If you do have a legitimate reason and your current company can't match it, I don't think they can fault you for leaving.

[Waffle]

I agree you should keep it quiet. It sounds like you don't know anything for sure yet. At this point, if I was the boss and you told me I'd probably just be annoyed and think that you were playing me.

[Chocolate Lover]

He got a few hits, we just all fell asleep before we finished reading.

[Deleted]

Jan 25, 2011 16:18:50 GMT -5 Peace Of Mind said:

I would keep it quiet until you have an offer in hand. And then only mention it to your current employer if you are seriously considering taking the offer.

I almost didn't click on your thread because I was afraid it was about animal poaching. Maybe if you add "job or employment poaching" you'll get more hits. Just a thought.

I thought it was going to be a question on how to poach a chicken breast.

[Bob Ross]

Keep quiet about it until you get an offer. Then you could play the counter offer game, but if you end up getting one and staying, you could be frowned upon since you've done that multiple times. But then again maybe not. You'd have to be the one to make the judgement call on that.

[Opti]

I would keep it quiet and only tell your employer if you choose to take the offer. Some employees job shop as a technique to get raises. As an employer, I'm not sure I'd offer you a raise the second time to keep you expecting that a third time will be coming in the near future.

[Deleted]

Jan 25, 2011 16:23:44 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

I would pretty much be leaving my job to take the same position with a competing company. Last time it was more of a promotion with the new company, which my company matched.

But are there legitimate reasons to take that job?

better opportunity for advancement over there?
opportunity to work of different kinds of projects?
better geographic work area?
a better fit organizationally?

[Peace Of Mind]

Dark, how long would your contract be for the new position? That would be huge for me before I would consider it. Are your benefits comparable? Your 401K match and insurance - better, the same?

[rileyoday]

Your a smart person. Listen to the gut.

[The J]

How likely would your boss be to find out through the grapevine? If you told him the first time upfront, and you don't this time, assuming he finds out he'll think that you're looking to leave, as opposed to simply exploring an opportunity that was thrust in front of you.

[The J]

Jan 25, 2011 16:29:35 GMT -5 rileyoday said:

Your a smart personmarried man. Listen to the gutyour wife.

Fixed!

[Deleted]

Jan 25, 2011 16:35:52 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

But are there legitimate reasons to take that job?

I will say that part of the reason I'm thinking about it is that I've been a little bored on my current contract for a while. A change of pace, some new challenges, new office dynamics, etc. all sound pretty good right now.

I think that is legit. I would bring this up to your current company. Maybe there is something they can do to change things up for you. If not, I don't think they can hold it against you that you want some new experiences.

[reader79]

"The agency about to get the systems I maintain uses a different contractor to service their stuff and that contractor is the one hiring."

That is the key point. Mohammed - Mountain, yada, yada, yada..... And if they are looking to bring you in to service this system that speaks to your reputation. Why worry about burning bridges? People leave jobs all the time. If you interview and they make you a decent offer, I would tell my manager only if I had made a final decision to go. Present it as a done deal, let them know that you will be willing to train your replacement, and give a formal two weeks notice.

[Wisconsin Beth]

It's like that, and now I want a beer.

Read more: notmsnmoney.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=fun&action=display&thread=2293#ixzz1C5Qmbu00

Me too.

[Deleted]

God damn brewery! You know that brewery makes 10,000 bottles of beer a day. I drink 45 of them, and I'm the asshole!

[imawino]

::God damn brewery! You know that brewery makes 10,000 bottles of beer a day. I drink 45 of them, and I'm the asshole! ::

LMAO Archie!

[Bob Ross]

Jan 25, 2011 16:52:58 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

Picture the new company as.. like.. Budweiser.

You mean to say they'll get bought out by a foreign conglomerate, and then proceed to fire everyone? Sorry man. Bad analogy. Trust me on this one.

I work for one of the behemoths in the defense industry, in a smaller satellite office. My group's ok, and I haven't been here long enough, but from what I've been reading online (employee reviews and whatnot), it seems like upward mobility is pretty much non-existant. A smaller place where you get recognized might not be a bad place to be after all.

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

I agree, keep it quiet until/unless you have an offer in hand. The one time I told an employer I was looking elsewhere, I got fired.

[verrip1]

I'm sure there are tons of things your boss doesn't tell you that you really should know about. Follow his lead. And get rid of those antiquated notions about loyalty to employer that underlie your concerns - you're just asking to get screwed.

[wvugurl26]

So you'd still have a job once you turn over those systems to the govt? I'm just confused on that part. I thought that was happening soon and then once that's done you'll do something else with current company? As for being unchallenged any chance of new stuff when you turn over your current stuff? Or maybe do some classes or certifications on the side? From everything you've said it sounds like a pretty sweet setup, you could probably do homework/studying in your downtime at work.

[Bob Ross]

So wait. You work for a contract agency? I'm surprised they don't have some sort of non-compete clause in your contract to prevent poaching.
I've gotten dicked over by non-compete before. A new agency took over our project with the client, and I wasn't "allowed" to transfer over to the new guys and keep my job due to the non-compete. I ended up with jack squat. Well, my original agency ended up finding me another job with a different client, but that was after the fact. Anyways, I was so TO'ed regarding their non-compete enforcement that I quit at the earliest possible opportunity. Good riddance.

[The J]

Jan 26, 2011 13:23:10 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

Crap... I do have a non compete. I'll need to read through it and make sure I'm kosher. It was mostly about not going freelance and competing on bids. It's pretty common for people to jump from company to company. Basically any time one of these companies gets a contract that another company used to have they make offers to most of the team to keep their jobs. Most of my non compete was that if I put in a competing bid on a contract renewal for one I've worked with this company, they'll sue the ever loving crap out of me, take everything I've ever or will ever earn, my first born child, give me an STD, and infest my home with bed bugs... or something like that.

Little do they (and Loop) know, you already have a STD!!!

[Bob Ross]

If you're switching over to a different agency to work for a different client, you should be fine. If you'd be switching to a different agency to work for the same client, that's usually where the non-compete can nail you.

[Tennesseer]

Jan 25, 2011 16:10:49 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

As most of you know, I'm a contractor. I work for one of those "evil" companies that bid on fat government contracts and suck the American tax payer dry, or whatever.

Anyway, I'm coming back from lunch today and I get pulled aside to talk to a contact here in the building. Turns out one of our competitors is hiring and my name was mentioned. I should probably point out that this same competitor offered me a position two years ago. I let my managers know about the offer and they made me a competing offer to stay. I got a pretty decent raise out of it.

I'm thinking if I pursue the offer and let my managers know they'll just let me go this time. I am kind of curious about the offer though, and am tempted to look into it. The back story is that the agency my current contract is from is turning over a major system and a few minor ones to another agency. The agency about to get the systems I maintain uses a different contractor to service their stuff and that contractor is the one hiring. I'd have several recommendations from members of their current team, along with my experience maintaining the systems they're about to get. I might be able to get a little more money out of a jump.

There are a few other reasons I'm thinking about it as well, but I'm worried about burning my bridges with my current employer. Telling your boss that a competitor is trying to poach you and you're thinking of accepting is one thing, telling him that the same competitor is at it again, and you're thinking about it again, seems like it might be something else. What do you guys think? Look into it? Pretend it never happened? Tell my boss early and see if he wants to counter? Keep it quiet until I have an offer in hand?

Last time I told him right away and let him know that I was setting up an interview. I wanted him to hear it from me, instead of through the grape vine, and our team was short at the time so I wanted to give as much notice as possible in case I took the offer. For some reason I feel uncomfortable handling it the same way this time. My gut is telling me to keep it on the down low if I pursue it.

From someone who worked many years in HR, I would say keep quiet about it period. Make your decision without talking about it to your current managers and move forward. Mentioning to your current managers the new contact from a competitor only tells your managers at some time you are going to go and why not let you go now.

Your managers offered you an incentive to stay once-I doubt they would again. And it also calls into question (with them) your continued loyalty. Employers look for that in their employees and contractors.