Conflicts of Interest Among Searchers

January 11, 2023

by a searcher from Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT Sloan School of Management in Florida, USA

Is it common (or OK) for searchers to do "self-funded" searches on the side along with a full time job in order to keep income flowing? What if the search is in a searchers specific industry where they have expertise but still have a full time job?

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Reply by an investor
from United States Naval Academy in Colleyville, TX 76034, USA

From a non-lawyer standpoint, also look at it from the perspective of your employer. Even if it's "legal" or "not against the rules", if your actions appear "kind of shady" it may impact your upward mobility if you stay at your employer or your reputation in the industry. Don't give people reasons to call your character into question.

If you think it might be questionable, get an okay from your boss. If you don't want your boss finding out about it, that may be an indication it's not the right thing to do.

Reply by a professional
from The Johns Hopkins University in Basking Ridge, NJ 07920, USA

While this is not specific legal advice, people who are searching, have side-hustles, second jobs, etc. (a) should review all internal policies at their FTE to see if their are restrictions on moonlighting and (b) in any case, they should never use FTE resources or conduct the secondary tasks on FTE time. Moreover, depending on the nature of the secondary efforts, there may concerns with non-competes or non-solicitations in an addition to possible conflict of interest.

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