It's always easier to find a job when you have a job. Your employer wouldn't be too pleased, however, if he found out you took time off to find another job. How do you attend an interview to secure the new job without your current employer finding out?

You have to come up with that dreaded interview excuse again because you don't want to tell your boss you're leaving just yet. And unless your reputation is so hot that you're headhunted, you're going to have to get out there, apply for jobs and do some interviews.

You need a whole day to prepare for the interview you know is going to lead to the job of your dreams. But you want to have a job to come back to if it all goes wrong. Here are some suggestions about how to do this without raising suspicions.

Try to schedule interviews for times you would not normally be expected to be working. Discussing the situation with your potential employer may find them to be sympathetic to your plight and many will respect your conscientious effort to minimise the inconvenience of your current employer.

Schedule interviews early in the morning, at lunch-time or late in the day so you're not coming in and out of the office more frequently than usual. Interviews over breakfast, lunch or in the early evening are not uncommon. If these options are not possible, using a doctor or dentist appointment as an excuse is the next best option, but be careful, they can be used only rarely.

Depending on your position, you may be able to schedule interviews when you are out of the office on business, on sales calls or on road trips. It can be possible to arrange a number of interviews on the same day and then take a day's holidays to attend them.

If your interview is to take place within a few minutes walk of your current job, it may be possible to step out for a short time at any time of day. A casual remark to a nearby colleague that you "have to sort something out at the bank" or "oh no! I must get a birthday card for." will probably be sufficient to cover your tracks for a useful amount of time. Take care to avoid being seen going in or coming out of your competitor's office though.

If you only manage to take part of the day off, managing to get dressed properly for the interview will be a problem. Unless you work in a formal business environment, you'll probably be dressing up to go to the interview. You'll need either a place to change between your work and your interview or a good excuse to dress up. A dead giveaway that you have been at an interview is to show up at a casual-dress workplace in a suit.

No matter how you go about attending a job interview, it's important that you do not neglect your current job responsibilities or do something unethical.

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