A director in another unit wants to meet me to “continue a conversation we started last year”. He is referring to the time I had asked him if there were openings on his team. That was over a year ago. I am not too happy where I am right now ( I stayed where I was). I also don’t know if he really has an opportunity or if this is just some corporate circle jerk where my current director is trying to “smoke me out”. I don’t speak poorly of my team/work. How would you approach this conversation?

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Relax, have the chat. Don’t say anything bad about your current role or team, but indicate interest in trying something new or learning more.

Agree that the likelihood of them taking the time to game you is low. Even If your manager doesn’t like you or thinks you are looking, he likely still doesn’t care enough to hatch an elaborate plan with a colleague. And that colleague isn’t likely to think any such plan is worth their time.

likesmart

Internal candidates have faster track to a position, in the end of the day the director is looking for someone to take off some workload. Offer your service, take care of his problem, be pleasant socially and you should get it.

smart

Use some tact, and candor. I’m surprised no one has suggested this.

Say this: “I’m excited for this new team and the skills fit what I’m looking for LT better. However, to be transparent if you can be empathetic to my position here I was hoping we could keep the discussion between us until we settle on something as I wouldn’t want to be portrayed as a flight risk to my current team.”

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It’s just a bit of behavioral science. People like living up to a positive image you cast them in. So implying something like that they’re empathetic will nudge them towards acting like it.

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Have the conversation... you’re already looking externally and you’re clearly not happy where you are. Just be tactful and if it comes up with your director, just explain this was a continuation of a relationship built during the re-org. Nbd!

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I would suggest, keep it casual and light. He took the first step, so you just respond with your readiness to talk. He would explain what position, growth trajectory etc it is. Tread lightly but without fear; he maybe just looking to hire you right away; Hiring managers often look for people internally due to much faster hiring time. relax!

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In my experience, most people at the director level don’t have the time or energy to go out of their way to “smoke you out.” Not only does it create overall distrust for anyone else who likes their org but not their role (who most companies still want to retain) it requires time that could be better spent elsewhere.

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SAA1, fair point on the distrust. I know they talk and exchange notes feverishly on who said what, but they probably don’t want people going around feeling they can’t trust seniors.

Just claim you are happy with your current team but your long term goal is aligned with skill XYZ that’s more relevant to his line of work.

likesmarthelpful

This. ^^^^

Reframe from "leaving because of X push factor" to "being pulled by Y pull factor." Flip it and reverse it, yo!

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You're overthinking it. As a director, I doubt they have any spare time to be spent 'smoking people out' - there's just not that many hours in the day. There are probably some openings in the team now that weren't there last year. Just have the chat, see what may be on offer (just don't slag off your current team). Good luck!

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I think you are overthinking this a bit. You think your current director and another director are working together to “smoke you out”? I would highly doubt that is the case and they probably have enough going on without spending time to create an elaborate plan to trap a ream member.

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I had the same thing happen — I’m now transferring to a new team and office. No one was trying to 12D chess me, they were just following up on a previous question lol.

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Lol. Congrats PWC1!

I just went through this myself. Have the conversation! I wouldn’t view it as a bad thing and it might be worth exploring something different and you can still continue the external search on the side so you have options

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I did! And it was posted on the careers site/LinkedIn, so I made sure to do some due diligence on it before diving deeper into the conversation and then asked around with a few trusted people

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regardless of you want a new position externally or internally, it's best to continue speaking highly of your current position.

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I do!

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In case you’re wondering - it was ok to ask him about opportunities on his team last year because we were in the middle of a reorg, so such conversations were acceptable.

As far as my preferences go, I’m already actively looking outside my current employer, but I am open to accepting the right role on the new director’s team. I know him and his team as I worked on a project with them for 8 months.

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What do you mean by smoke you out?

Never complain about your current job or boss - ever! Not to another hiring manager in the firm, not to another hiring manager anywhere else. Hiring managers hate that thing - I was given a good advice by one during one frustrated rant. No one needs to know why your current job sucks. What they need to hear - how excited you are at the potential and possibilities of the new job (once you find out what it is, of course!), and what a go getter and a driven person you are! I would suggest - talk to him; don’t say anything bad about about current job; if at all asked about why you are interested- say something generic like - I love the firm and looking for growth and experience in different things.. your team will give me the experience I need.. blah blah

likehelpful

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