If I plan on staying at my job, should I approach my boss about being recruited by competitors?

Question

I am very happy at my current job and do not plan on leaving it. In the past month I have been approached by two in-house recruiters working for two of our competitors asking me to interview with them.

Unlike third-party recruiters e-mailing me over linkedin about jobs they are trying to fill, having these competitors specifically approaching me may be valuable information to the management of my company (I may not be the only one being approached).

Given that I don't plan to leave my job, attend these interviews, or even use the offers as leverage to negotiate with my current company, is there any benefit to letting my boss know about being approached by competitors?

Answer 1

I would say no, don't tell him. That a company is trying to recruit good staff should pretty much always be true so it won't add any more information. And there's a likely chance it will come off as you trying to boast your own importance. Or the boss might take it as subtle form of blackmail; "Just so you know, I have other options..."

I can think of some situations where you might want to tell your boss though. If you somehow get more information regarding why your competitors want to recruit you.

Perhaps they are making a push into an area where you are expert. They might want to recruit you because they are trying to steal a particular client. They are planning to create a new product and want your expertise. They are starting up a new office.

If you are dealing with good recruiters, then this information shouldn't be available, but they might slip up.

Things like that might be valuable information to your boss.

Answer 2

A good boss knows that his/her employees are constantly solicited. He/she can probably give a very accurate guess on which offers you receive.

The core question is: Is this new or important information to your boss? Are there any business actions he/she can take? If your friend was approach in the same way, would the message still be the same?

Examples:

• My friend (mobile app developer) was recently approached by company B, our competitor, who is still doing nothing in the Mobile App development sector. I think they are trying to build up capacity on this domain.
• My friend was approached by company C for a new project they are starting up. Is there anything we could be doing on this new project?
• Recently, a lot of people left Company B because of dissatisfaction. My friend heard this while applying for a job there. This probably gives them problems to meet deadlines. Can we approach some of their clients and try to take some business to us?

The fact you were approached is not important. It is important that this tells you something about the internal situation or strategy at that company.

Answer 3

First of all you need to feel proud of you as your company competitors are looking forward to hire you in their company.

Now coming back to your question about whether to tell this thing to your boss or not depends on your boss relationship with you.

My suggestion is there is nothing wrong in letting him know about offers made by others to you.

If you tell him that you have been approached by the company competitors if he is having a positive mentality he feels proud that he is having an efficient employee which other competitors doesn’t have and he even feels good when he comes to know that you are not interested in the offers offered by others he will trust you more and he may give you more responsibilities which will increase your reputation in the organisation which also helps you to grow professionally.