Is It Wrong to Look for a New Job While I’m Still Employed?

You’re collecting a paycheck, but secretly polishing your resume. Is that dishonest—or just practical? In this episode, we explore the ethical tension of job hunting while still employed through a Buddhist lens. We’ll look at the Middle Way between guilt and justification, Right Intention, and the liminal space of bardo—the in-between state where clarity often begins. If you’ve ever wondered how to honor your current commitments while still making space for change, this one’s for you.

Transcript

 Hello and welcome to What Would Buddha Do, the podcast where we bring timeless wisdom to modern dilemmas. I'm Lena DiGenti. I was raised in the Shambhala Buddhist tradition of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, and I've been a lifelong meditation practitioner. I'm also a coach, a meditation instructor, and a yoga teacher, currently training to be a chaplain at the Min in.

The Master of Divinity program at Naropa University. Today's question is, I'm feeling stuck at my job. I don't hate it, but I don't feel aligned anymore. I'm trying to be patient because there might be another job opportunity opening up soon, maybe even at my same company, but I'm also starting to look elsewhere, and I feel a little guilty.

Like I'm betraying something or someone, is it ethical to explore more options while I'm still being paid and relied on? How do I do this in a way that feels honest and not shady? Okay. This question is about so much more than job hunting. It's about loyalty, self-respect, uncertainty, and the deeply uncomfortable territory of the in-betweenness.

It's a familiar place. Maybe some of you are in it right now. You're not unhappy enough to quit, but you're not energized enough to stay. You're hoping for something to shift, but unsure how long you should wait. And all the while, you wonder if looking elsewhere means you're being ungrateful, impatient, or disloyal.

And this episode, we're not going to give you a simple yes or no because Buddhist practice isn't about blanket rules. It's about discernment. There's a term in Vean Buddhism called the bardo. Bardo refers to the in-between state, between death and rebirth. But bardos aren't just about what happens after we die.

They show up anytime the old has fallen away, but the new has yet to arrive. And this space, it's disorienting, vulnerable, and sometimes even painful. We don't know how long it will last. You don't know when the new thing will appear, and there's often no clear map for how to behave while you're waiting.

That's what this question touches on. How do I navigate this bardo, this space between? I think I'm done here, and I don't know what's next. There's no rule book for that, but there is practice. You can begin by acknowledging. This is a real moment. I don't have to pretend I'm totally committed when I'm not, and I don't have to jump just to escape the discomfort.

Sometimes, the most ethical thing you can do is be honest with yourself first. Not to make a sudden move, but to name what's true. I am in transition and I want to move forward with care. So once you've named that, you're in a transition. You're not fully here, but you're not fully gone. What's next? How do you take action?

That's honest without being impulsive? How do you look for something new without burning down what you're still inside of? This is where the teachings on the framework for how to live, which is also called the Eightfold Path, really offers two incredibly relevant steps. There's right intention and right effort.

Right. Intention asks, Why am I doing this? Not in a Shay, don't be selfish kind of way. But in a discerning and honest kind of way, am I moving towards something that feels aligned and wise? Or am I trying to run away from discomfort? Am I looking for a new job because I feel called to grow, or because I wanna punish my boss, or prove something?

The Buddha described three aspects of bright intention renunciation, which are the letting go of craving or attachment, non-ill will, which is not acting from anger and harmlessness, and choosing a path of compassion. So, before you send out any resumes or take any recruiter calls, pause and ask, What's my actual motivation right now?

Am I acting from clarity or reaction? This is where right effort comes in because it's not just about why you act, it's how the Buddha never said that effort was bad, but he did teach that effort needs to be skillful. Not pushing or grasping, not shrinking back in fear, but cultivating the conditions for clarity to emerge.

So maybe right effort in this case looks like updating your resume with honesty and care. Taking a call with a recruiter, but not overselling or hiding your current situation, being curious about options while still showing up fully where you are. Right. Effort is slow, steady, and mindful. It's the opposite of scrambling.

You don't have to go cold and secretive, and you don't have to overexplain or apologize for exploring. You just move. One step at a time from the part of you that's rooted, not the part that's panicked.

And this is a hard part. You might not be ready to tell your employer that you're looking. You might not even know that yet. If you'll leave. That doesn't mean you're being dishonest. It means you're in process. It's okay to hold clarity close until it's fully formed, to practice. The practice is to keep checking in, not to perform loyalty, not to ghost, but to be honest with yourself so that when you do speak, it comes from steadiness, not fear.

Sometimes people think walking the middle way means finding a perfect script, but really it's about how to move with integrity in each specific situation. And I've been in both. In one case, I was a partner at a company, and it became very clear to me that it was time to move on, but I also knew the team was not ready.

They were in the middle of a rebrand. Systems were still being rebuilt, and my leaving at that moment would've caused chaos. I stayed for a full year, not because I was afraid, but because I wanted to leave. Well, I wanted the foundation to hold after I stepped away in another role. The timing was completely different.

I had just finished a big project, and nothing new had launched yet. When another opportunity came along, I was able to talk honestly with my boss. We figured out a smooth transition plan together, and it didn't even take two weeks. They were two very different situations, but in both, I asked the same questions.

What's the kindest way to handle this? Will this choice feel clean to me a year from now? Am I leaving from wisdom or running from discomfort? There's no parable in the text that gives you the modern HR playbook, but there are plenty of teachings about presence and patience and not needing to be right or fast.

Just honest and awake to what's happening now. That's the middle way. Not a straight line, but a path made visible by how you walk it. So what would Buddha do? He wouldn't tell you to lie to your boss. He wouldn't tell you to blurt out your doubts just to feel clean. He'd invite you to slow down to clear your motivation to move from truth, not fear.

To act in a way that you can live with, not just today, but later when the dust settles. Transitions like this are bardos. They're thresholds, and thresholds are inherently vulnerable, but they're also full of possibility if you stay present. So whether you stay, leave, or are still sorting it out, remember right intention doesn't mean you have it all figured out.

It means you're willing to walk the process with honesty. Integrity isn't performance, it's practice. Let your next step be gentle. Let your reasoning be clean and trust that when you move from clarity, the path behind you and the path ahead will both feel lighter. Thanks for listening to What Would Buddha do, and if this episode sparked something for you or brought clarity to a situation in your own life.

I'd love to hear from you, and if you have a question you'd like me to explore in a future episode, please send it to me. Until next time, breathe notice and let each moment be enough.