Self-Funded Searchers with Full Time Jobs

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June 02, 2023

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

If you are a self-funded searcher or doing this part time and also holding down a full time job, how do you manage the potential aspect of conflicts of interests with an employer who might not allow you to be searching part time? Is anyone out there searching in industries where you are also employed? I realize this is a conflict of interest, but how do you handle it? There's generally no way to just leave a job and search full time without an income stream or unless you are independently wealthy...

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commentor profile
Reply by a searcher
from Michigan State University in Kalamazoo, MI, USA
1. I can't speak to the conflicts of interest piece, but most employers do have some sort of clause saying you can't have outside employment/ other business interests. (I believe this is silly, but that doesn't really matter)

2. If you can work remote, this helps tremendously as it allows you to "cram" all meetings into standard work hours and then do your "computer work" off hours. Even then, you will likely have to quit your job once you get a deal under LOI, and I just read that ~50% of deals under LOI don't close.

3. You don't have to be independently wealthy to search full time, you just have to have enough cash saved to create a###-###-#### month opening.

4.*MOST IMPORTANT* If you are set on searching part-time, you must accept the fact that it may cost you your job, which makes #3 above even more important.
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Reply by a searcher
from State University of New York (SUNY) in Buffalo, NY, USA
As an employee you have a responsibility to your employer to avoid conflicts. This may preclude you from searching in your current industry. You are probably ok looking at businesses that aren’t competitors and don’t reasonably expect there to be a business relationship between the companies.

Many people launching a self funded search build up a nest egg prior to leaving full time employment or have some other income stream to live off of (consulting, spousal income, etc.). It’s possible to build up a nest egg over a###-###-#### year career and launch a self funded search or a shorter period if in a high income field.
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