A、When everyone else has a master’s degree. B、When one finds out where he wants the career to go. C、When there are gaps between

A: You know, when it comes to the connections you make in networking and turning them into meaningful opportunities for you, what’s the best way to do that? Because I think it’s far more than handing out your business card at a networking event. There’s a lot more that you have to follow up or it won’t result in anything.
B: Absolutely! And the key is that you have to have conversation. You have to talk to people. You talk to friends and your former colleagues and your new networking contacts. Find out what they do, ask questions. I mean the whole point is you may not know who’s hiring, or what you might even want to do next. But it’s through those multiple conversations that you can begin to collect information that could connect you to your next opportunity.
A: It’s also about talking to your friends, you know, they may see things you’d be fit for that you don’t even know, right? It’s about that.
B: Exactly. And so you need to let people know that you are open to looking so that when they hear opportunities, they can point you in the right direction.
A: What about telling your current boss? That’s really a sticky issue. When is the right time?
B: Usually, it’s best to wait to tell your boss until you have a job offer in hand and you are ready to leave. You know, people will view you differently when they know you have one foot out of the door. It’s just human nature. The one exception to this though is that if you are networking, um, and trying to look for a job internally. Because word gets around, it’s a smaller environment, and you want to break news to your boss before somebody else does.
A: So tell him right away: someone from this department approached me and here’s why, here’s why I’m interested in exploring it, and just be very open.
B: Exactly. Just say, you know, we talked in our last performance review how this might be good for my career path and I’d just like to explore it.
A: More and more people are looking at graduate schools, looking at professional training degrees. But why spend that money unless it is exactly, you know, what you wanna focus on? What do you think the right time is for folks to look in, to get additional training that’s really gonna elevate them in the job search process?
B: Well, people need to have a good sense of where they want their career to go. And if you are looking at different job postings out there, if you see any gaps in your skills or your knowledge, it’s really good to start to fill those gaps now. You know, it’s a really competitive job market out there, so even though you are employed, you do have an edge, but it really helps to try to increase your advantages as much as possible.
A: Night courses, weekend. You can do all of that.
B: Yeah! And, you know, some companies even still have in-house training programs if you can believe that.
A: Right.
B: Take advantage of that while you are still there.
A: See what they are going to pay for and they may help you out there. But I think a critical, critical point you always make is stay on top of your current job, even if you are not happy. You really have to be a top performer. You could lose that job.
B: Yeah. Absolutely. You know, you are much more attractive to a potential employer when you are employed and you have more negotiating power at that point as well. So don’t do anything to rock the boat. Make sure your work is getting done and you are not falling behind. And also don’t raise any red flags. Like, don’t wear a suit to the office, if that’s not the normal dress code. Right?
A: Right!
B: And if you need to do interviews in the personal time like at lunch, or after work, change into your suit just before that. You know, it’s a juggling act but one that stealth job seekers have to manage when they live in these two worlds.
A: Or better to just take a day off if you are going to go to an interview. Focus on that interview, wear the suit all day, don’t go into work dressed up an hour late. Liz, thank you, I appreciate it.
B: Thank you.
This is the end of Part Two of the interview.
Questions 6 to 10 are based on what you have just heard.
Question 6
Why does a job seeker have to make conversations with different people?
(Pause: 10 seconds)
Question 7
When should one tell the current boss that he is leaving?
(Pause: 10 seconds)
Question 8
What would probably happen when one seeks another job internally?
(Pause: 10 seconds)
Question 9
What is the right time for one to get additional training?
(Pause: 10 seconds)
Question 10
Which of the following is forbidden if one wants to stay on top of the current job?