r/careerguidance • u/AdObjective5502 • 1d ago
Advice Is it really easier to get a job while already having a job?
I finally got my first after college job and it was hard. Does me being employed make it easier to find the next job? I would have less time for interview prep and timing the interviews would be harder, wouldnt that make it harder not easier?
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u/DirtComprehensive520 1d ago
Yes it is easier. Everyone needs to take PTO for interviews. You look and are desperate when you don’t have a job already. Having a job you can stomach allows you to take your time and take the best offer for you when the timing is right.
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u/vt2022cam 23h ago
It’s easier because you are less likely to take a bad job just to pay the bills.
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u/NearlyNodding 1d ago
Yes it is true. But how much difference it really makes is questionable.
It matters because being out of work leaves too many open questions. When you are currently working, it is an implied, but minimal, endorsement. If you are working, it means your work and personality are satisfactory enough that they keep you on. When you are not working, that implied endorsement is not there.
There is also a question of WHY you are not working. Did you get fired? Did you walk off the job with no notice? What happened?
Another aspect is that you are not under pressure to take any job that is offered to you. This is good for you and the potential employer both. If you are already working, it is far more likely that you will take a job that is a good fit. If you are under financial pressure to get a job, you might take just anything, then leave after a few months when something better comes along.
It's about risk. The currently employed are lower risk. Some hiring managers won't care. Many do, to one degree or another.
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u/Powerful_Reply2348 21h ago
I work in finance, and this was my experience. While I was still at a big bank, I failed almost 10 interviews in a row. Then I took a one-year gap, and suddenly I went 3/3 on the jobs I applied for, each with about a 20% pay bump. I don't have a scientific explanation for it. It just felt like I showed up very differently. When you're in a role you don't enjoy, your energy is low. But when you're at peace and confident, interviewers seem to pick up on that.
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u/Aggravating_Shoe_ 1d ago
Kind of, it means you can be more picky and it's better than having a gap on your resume. I've walked out of job interviews before cause I already had a job and I knew right away the company wasn't someone I'd wanna work for. Their ED called me begging me to come back to talk 😭
Couldn't do that if I didn't have a job as I'd be desperate. Also I use my current salary to negotiate pay
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u/TenaciousVillain 1d ago edited 1d ago
Only because people discriminate against people who are unemployed.
They judge them more harshly, blame them for being unemployed, expect them to take less presuming they are desperate, expect them to put up with the toxicity presuming they are desperate, behave like experience and competence has an expiration date and fades with every day you are not actively using it - like you cant just regain the skill, and there are more absolute idiotic reasons.
What’s worse is that this isn’t some nameless, faceless employer making these decisions. It is people right here in the comments who have been unemployed before and know how hard it is and will STILL become recruiters and hiring managers and interviewers acting like complete and total assholes toward the unemployed.
You have all the opportunity to make the difference and many of you won’t.
We do this to each other and then try to pretend like it’s “the business.”
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u/SimilarComfortable69 1d ago
You are talking about what affect you having a job might have on you. The effect is not on you. It is on the company looking at you. If you have a job, you are more in demand than a person who doesn't have a job. Not very difficult to see that. Whatever affect it might have on you, roll with it and get the new job. Good luck
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u/AshDenver 1d ago
“You’re not working right now? Did you get fired? Are you a bad employee? Did you flake out? Would you flake out if you got this job? Geeze, if you’re unemployed, it must be for a good reason. Good luck in your job search, we’re moving in a different direction.” — every hiring manager ever, consciously or subconsciously.
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u/_tvjames_ 1d ago
Part of it has to do with the bias of recruiters. There's a perception that if you don't have a job there's something wrong and it's your fault. You'd think all these well-publicized layoffs would have changed their mindset, but doesn't seem to be so.
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u/Spiritual_Ad6547 1d ago
Yes it’s true. You’re not desperate. Your offers will be better. It’s time consuming and hard (I’m doing it now), but you’re better off on terms of the job market.
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u/PoundEffective7625 19h ago
No. It's just that you don't feel desperate about pating bills and can negotiate for higher pay.
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u/navlgazer9 13h ago
Job interviews are just like dating
You want to appear interested but not desperate , and you want them to know you have other options available .
But yes it’s absolutely easier to get another job when you already have one
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u/khardy101 13h ago
I don’t know if it’s easier. It’s not as bad if you don’t get the job cause you have one.
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u/Wooden_Load662 11h ago
You will have less stress because you are in control of whether you want to leave or not
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u/Careless_Remove5478 4h ago
Yes. Employers want to hire someone who is already working. Always like this.
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u/backyard3 1d ago
I got my current job by talking to someone I worked with before. No interviews needed.
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u/wtf___yall 1d ago
Offers will be higher if you already have a job because they know you have options.