Be careful what you do with your cover letters... (or, how to get fired)
 

A coworker has been looking for a new job on the QT. It seems he's been using company time and resources during his job hunt.

How did he get found out?

He accidentally copied and pasted his cover letter for a particular job into a trouble ticket. When he submitted the ticket, the entire text got emailed out to a number of people, including his boss.

He tried to cover his ass by claiming that it was an old cover letter, but it didn't take much masterful google fu to learn that the company he named is currently hiring for the position he named, and the job was posted very recently. So, yeah, his days are numbered.

A word of advice for anyone who is employed and looking for a new job: Discretion is key. And it's a really bad idea to keep your cover letters and resumes on your work computer. Send your job applications from home.

Wow. That's just a stroke of genious right there.

what happened to jump drives? that way you don't save anything on a work computer...

Well, jobs to which you apply usually contact your current employer during the application process/reference check, right? I remember a time when I applied for a job and they did that, so when I turned in my 2 weeks notice, they weren't surprised. Well, what about that? It wasn't a big deal because I got the job, but what if I hadn't?

I'm talking about ways of indirectly letting your job know you're looking elsewhere, not emailing a cover letter to the entire company!

They are usually supposed to ask before contacting the company you are currently working for. Otherwise it could get ugly if you end up not getting the job.