Titillating as it can be, gossip is something most people realize they should avoid, especially at work.

But there is an upside to gossip. In a recent survey by staffing firm Randstad USA, more than half of the respondents felt gossip was useful to job hunting. Gossip can also help you identify new opportunities within your own workplace. And even the most casual office chit-chat can give you insight into your work, your company, and even your own job security.

Follow these tips to gossip to your career advantage:

1) Rethink your idea of gossip. Work gossip isn't just about who's dating whom in the office. Any piece of information about a company or industry can be used to your advantage. Reading journals and websites specific to your industry may give you useful information about which employers are growing their workforce. Or hearing a rumor that free snacks in the break-room are a disappearing perk can be a heads up that your organization is doing some belt-tightening.

At all interviews all employers with practically no exceptions do ask about the applicants’ current / previous job and why they do not fancy it any more. Do you have an answer to this question so far? A clear, precise, reasonable and persuasive one.

Reflection on this topic will not only help you to prepare for your job interview, but will also make you understand what kind of position you are looking for. Consider the following points:

1. What is your job?

Just describe it and be as precise as possible: what your daily activities at work are, what you are responsible for, how much time you spend at work, etc. The more details – the better. It is like looking at yourself at work from the distance. It will help you realize:

2. What do you like in your job?

3. And what will you never miss in case you leave the present employer?

Both points are worth reflecting on. And do not say that there is nothing positive you can think of about you current job – there must be if not loads, at least some positive things in it. Think this over and be honest with yourself, objective and specific – it is all for your own good, you do not want to get a new job and keep complaining about the same issues.

The last thing in the world you want to happen is your current boss getting to know that you are searching for a new job. Employers normally do support career development, but only within their own company. Here are some useful tips of how to avoid the awkward situation when you have to explain why you are going for job interviews and, basically, considering a job change.

Never involve company facilities usage into your job search.

This includes phone line, Internet, fax, and computer. Many employers monitor Internet usage and check phone logs. It is also not secure to store your resume and cover letter, job applications, references from former employers and correspondence with potential ones, - somebody can just come across with them accidentally and, believe me, will get very suspicious.

Never use your business email address for this purpose.

You might think that it looks more professional, when the email address on your resume contains the name of your company, but you are not quite right. First, you destroy the idea of confidential job search, letting everybody know who you are. Second, in many companies business email address usage is prohibited for personal purposes, and your employer might be reviewing the external email traffic, and might quite easily discover that you are job hunting. You should rather use a personal email account or set up a free of charge mailbox at gmail.com, for example.

Debbie has been working for Whatever Inc. for quite a few years already. She has been doing good job so far – her boss is happy with the results and cannot point out just nothing that Debbie could have done any better. Debbie is also quite happy with what she is doing, but… But she feels she should move further, grow, develop, meet new challenges and win new battles. Currently Whatever Inc. cannot offer Debbie any career development – they need her in her present job role. So, Debbie goes job-hunting in order to check what the market can offer. Good move! But what if her boss gets to know about it?.. Whoops!

You have never promised to your employer that you will work for them forever; it is natural to look for new possibilities. However, if got caught, make sure you act quickly, because you do not want to loose your job before you find a new one. Talk to your boss. Here are the variants your conversation can be based on:

You are looking for career growth. Just like Debbie.

Explain to your boss that you have short and long-term career development goals, which you need to review on regular basis. Thus, the purpose of you going for job interviews within this particular period of time is updating your current market value and competitiveness information. In this way you are also getting to know in what way you can improve your marketability, which is absolutely true.