This tricky question was posed to AskTheHeadHunter.com‘s Nick Corcodilos who,  like me, answers job seekers’ questions from a recruiter’s point of view.

The woman who wrote in to Corcodilos said her husband had started a new job 2 weeks ago and wasn’t sure if it was ethical to speak with someone about another opportunity or if he should mention that he just started his job 2 weeks ago in the discussion with the hiring manager. It was a job he had applied to but hadn’t heard back from. And now here he is, fresh at his new position and he finally hears back from a job he wanted more. So what should he do?

Corcodilos advised not to divulge anything he didn’t have to in the interview, saying while some might think going on an interview only 2 weeks into a job is an unethical thing to do, simply exploring a better opportunity is not unethical.

I would agree and tend to advise candidates to always learn about new opportunities, at the very least, to stay abreast of what is going on in your industry, to keep in the know about new start ups and new positions, network and meet hiring managers at other companies, and start to think about what may lie on the horizon.

Corcodilos goes on to say that unless the company offers the man in question a job, he isn’t being asked to make any ethical decisions, he’s simply becoming educated.

If and when the new job is offered, however, is where the situation gets sticky. Explaining to a relatively new employer that you’re leaving after such a short tenure, might tarnish your reputation. But Corcodilos says, if you don’t intend on doing this again for awhile, the gains in taking the better opportunity might outweigh the damage to your reputation, that you will eventually recover from.

An interesting and astute point Corcodilos made was that while some might find jumping ship two weeks in to be a pretty unfair thing for an employee to do, it’s just as ethical a concern as downsizing is for an employer.

If the opportunity is a better one in more ways than one (meaning not just salary, but in experience and opportunity for growth), then I say it is certainly worth your time to explore. As Corcodilos said in his column, it’s business, not a tea party. So, while I certainly don’t endorse the idea of up and leaving a post so soon and as a recruiter, I work to find my clients reliable candidates who will stick it out for the long run, exploring and learning about new opportunities is definitely not a crime.