AssociateSpeak

A while back, we discussed the stealth layoff–the process in which a firm manages to fire an associate while conjuring up an image that the departure was voluntary.  Well, both sides can play that game.  Today, we discuss the stealth interview–the process in which an associate manages to conduct extensive interviews during business hours while conjuring up an image that the associate is gainfully working on her cases.

Let’s say that you’ve already mentally checked out of your firm and decided that it’s time to move on to (potentially) greener pastures.  You’ve arranged, either by yourself or through a headhunter, a series of interviews with other firms.  The challenge is this: how are you supposed to justify your absence at the office when partners are always hovering around you like vultures seeking carrion?

Most associates make the mistake of taking the path of least resistance.  They start leaving the office to go to various doctor, dental, and eye “appointments.”  Here’s the problem: how many of these appointments can you schedule in a month without it looking suspicious?  Soon enough, associates who are attempting to interview at numerous firms realize that they have to get through at least two, if not three, rounds of interviews with each firm, and all that time adds up quickly.  Meanwhile, you realize that partners are not stupid.  They’ve seen it all, and the “I need to go to my fifth doctor’s appointment in two weeks” is going to raise a red flag.  At that point, you might as well announce to the world that you are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to bail.  So much for stealth.

So what do you do after you’ve burned through two or three “appointments” and the suspicion is starting to rise?  You can’t use the doctor excuse anymore so you start using your vacation time.  This is fine, of course, but do you really want to be wasting vacation time when you are not, in fact, on vacation?  I mean, who considers interviewing at other law firms to be a vacation?  Not only that, but if you’ve read my previous posts on vacation, you would know that this vacation time is valuable and shouldn’t be so easily squandered.  Especially when departure is imminent and you are looking to cash in on your golden parachute.  If you have no idea what I’m talking about, please read this post:  http://associatespeak.com/2009/11/24/investing-in-your-vacation-time/

Let me suggest some alternatives to the “burn doctor appointments and then destroy your golden parachute” approach to stealth interviews.  First, if you’ve been following AssociateSpeak for the past few months, you would already know that I’ve advocated for working at home or out of the office on a regular basis (http://associatespeak.com/2010/03/20/the-3-day-work-week/).  Well, there’s another advantage to doing this that I haven’t yet discussed.  Your frequent, and regular, absences from the office will be something that the partners get accustomed to, and when you need to shield your stealth interviews, it becomes easy.  If Jane is almost never in the office every Wednesday for the past two years, partners aren’t going to bat an eyelid if Jane is not around on Wednesday because she’s interviewing at another firm.

You may argue that, unlike a situation where Jane is actually working at home, there is still the problem of her not being available to answer emails or take phone calls during the interviews.  Is Jane’s cover blown as a result?  No, of course not.  The beauty of the BlackBerry is that Jane can still check for urgent emails coming in on a 30 minute basis.  It is rare for something to be such an emergency that it can’t wait for a response in 30 minutes.  If Jane checks her BlackBerry in between her interview slots, she should be just fine.  And if she really needs to return a phone call, she should do so–even at the firm that she’s interviewing at.  This actually promotes the image that Jane wants to project to her potential future firm–that she is indispensable and busy.  The fact that she has to return a phone call to a client or partner may do far more than anything she actually says during her interview in landing her a new job.  (Of course, Jane should be careful not to disclose client confidential or privileged information during the call, and should in likelihood take the actual phone call outside of earshot of her interviewer.)

Another suggestion is to break down the stealth interviews into several shorter segments.  Explain that, due to your incredibly busy schedule, you simply can’t be away for a whole morning or afternoon.  In addition to promoting your unavailability, you may find that the firm interviewing you will be able to schedule breakfast interviews with one or two partners.  Breakfast interviews are great because they can be done early in the morning, at 7 or 7:30 a.m. when you are not expected to be at work anyway.  You get a free meal and the only downside is having to wake up so early.  You are in and out early, you don’t burn a doctor’s “appointment” or vacation time, and it may even allow you to shortcut the whole process.  Some firms, when faced with the inability to schedule full rounds of interviews with you, will sometimes give up and allow you to pass through the first round on the basis of a strong breakfast interview with one influential partner.

If you are going to be out of the office on legitimate firm business–interviewing witnesses, taking depositions, attending a court hearing–you may be able to schedule a stealth interview during that time.  Bundling your stealth interview with legitimate work allows you to say, with all honesty, that you will be gone for work on Partner X’s case.  No one is going to question why you were gone for an additional five hours on the front or back-end of your legitimate reason to be off site.

Then, when all of these options have been exhausted, this is when you use a precious doctor’s “appointment” excuse.  Reserve those for critical final round interviews at prospective firms.

Bottom line: Make it a habit now of working off site on a regular and frequent basis so partners get used to the idea of you being gone.  Schedule stealth interviews during your regular “off site days” or bundle them with legitimate work that takes you out of the office.  Try to break down the initial interview into shorter segments, and convince prospective firms to shortcut the process with breakfast interviews.  Only use doctor’s “appointments” as a last resort.  Never burn your vacation time for stealth interviews.  Good luck!