JOBSEEKERS risk being sacked from their current posts because they are spending too much time trawling for alternative careers on the internet.
A survey of 2,000 jobseekers already in work by online careers provider Monster showed that 28% spend more than three hours a week looking for jobs at work while 16% are job-hunting online for more than five hours and 7% are searching online for more than 10 hours.
The survey also showed that 60% of respondents say they search online for jobs at work while 50% say they also update they CV, 49% apply for roles and almost a quarter shamelessly carry out telephone interviews from the office.
However, 40% of respondents say they think their boss knows they are looking and 12% say they have been caught by their boss or another colleague. One in 50 of those questioned has lost their job this way.
Furthermore, 39% of respondents have attended job interviews during working hours, with a medical appointment being the most popular excuse for absence, closely followed by a home delivery and a pet emergency.
Six per cent fabricated the death of a relative to explain their absence more than the 1% who would fake sickness or the 5% who would lie about a domestic emergency.
Monster spokeswoman Isabelle Ratinaud said: Looking for a new role can be time consuming and many people are clearly so desperate to move that they will spend hours looking and applying for roles while theyre supposed to be doing their current job.
But it is important that job seekers try to limit their hunt to lunchtimes, evenings and weekends wherever possible.
