Handling employer conflict of interest as a part-time searcher

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by a searcher
in San Jose, CA, USA

3yrs ago

Handling employer conflict of interest as a part-time searcher

I work for a large tech company and pretty sure my original employment agreement has a clause about side projects. As I am planning to launch my search it occurred to me that if I put my name on my website, it could easily be discovered by my employer.

Has anyone else figured out a model to establish a personal brand via a professional website, without triggering potential concerns from your employer?

I'm not referring to direct conflict of interest, but more to a generic conflict of interest (e.g. time) based on the original employment agreement.

Appreciate any insight on this1

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reply by a searcher 3yrs ago
from Babson College in Austin, TX, USA

To preface - I was a product manager at an insurtech company while doing my search; im currently under contract so not actively searching at the moment.

My two cents is that you should not have a public/professional website if you are doing a part-time search.

First off, investment of time is questionable. Particularly when you're PT and there are X number of higher ROI activities you could be doing. If you're doing a brokered search, even less valuable as a resume should suffice for potential sellers.

Second, the cost/benefit is low as an employee. I'm assuming you want the safety net of salary as you search, if you have a public site, then if your employer finds out then they will question your commitment.

To Bradley's point, they have no right how you use your outside time. But, as a searcher, you are likely going to be searching during your work hours as well as that is when business gets done.

reply by a searcher 3yrs ago
in San Jose, CA, USA

One approach could be to use a no-index tag on the website to block Google from indexing the site. That way, you can have the site as part of your email signature, but it wouldn't come up in a Google search.