There are many unhappy employees in the world who wish they could find a new job.  To many are scared if they earnestly search, they will get discovered by their boss. Not many of us can afford to live without a salary, so we feel trapped.  Is there no hope for those who feel this way?  Fortunately, there is hope.  Keep reading as I share three practical steps to help you search for a job under the radar.

Step 1: Hire a Career Coach

The way to find jobs has changed quite a bit in the last few years.  Advancement in technology and communication along with the social media revolution have connected the world more than ever.  If you need to find a good job, that will help increase your happiness, hiring a career coach is a great idea.  This is true if you’re searching incognito or not.  Why?  A good career coach stays up on all the trends and has a plethora of industry connections.  

Career coaches can help you identify your overall goals and develop a strategy that works best for your search.  They also help with the writing and editing of your resume.  With the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) becoming more common, having a strategically written resume is critical to your overall success.  Need help prepping for an interview or advice on when and how-to follow-up after an interview?  Coaches do all of this and so much more. 

Step 2: Use Social Media to Your Advantage

Want to catch the attention of employers, recruiters and industry experts in your field?  Social media is not about who gets the most likes, if you’re on the job hunt.  What it is truly about is making new friendships and building better friendships.  I am not saying you need to befriend everyone on social media, although being nice to everyone is not a bad idea. 

The main goal is to befriend and build rapport with people who work in your industry.  How?  Take advantage of the comments section.  You should not simply send blind friend/connection requests to strangers.  A better method is to start following companies, participating on their social posts via likes/comments.  Find employees who are active on social media that work for a company you’re interested in working for and like and comment as appropriate on their posts too.  You might be amazed how easily it is to befriend folks, simply by showing interest and support. 

We live in vain times, where people obsess over their vanity metrics.  Supporting them helps you because you are giving them positive feedback and they will notice you.  That is the beginning of a win-win relationship.

Step 3: Use ProjectHelpYouGrow.com to Search

Don’t laugh, but one of the many advantages this website has to offer is anonymity.  If you’re searching for a job on a large popular site, the odds are high that you will be discovered by an existing employer.  The odds grow with each day your search extends too as many searches last months now.   In fact, one recruiter I was chatting with recently told me they were seeing an average search time of seven months.  Why chance it?  Because #ProjectHelpYouGrow has partnered with Zip Recruiter, there’s no shortage of job openings, millions in fact.  The best part for you in helping to aid your anonymous search is that #ProjectHelpYouGrow doesn’t feed back user data into the Zip Recruiter system. 

With #ProjectHelpYouGrow, you can search the jobs and stay in the shadows.  You don’t have to identify as a job seeker on your profile either.  The website also has strategy tips and advice to help via the blog and podcasts to help you improve your search. 

Searching for a job is harder in many ways than it used to be, especially if you’re trying to stay under the radar.  At the end of the day, utilize the steps I’ve just outlined, and you should do well at searching discretely.  Best of luck as you search for a job that will make you happy and help you earn the living you desire.