But it is a bit delicate to search for a new job while you are already working.

Generally you don't want anyone to know you are shopping around, so you have to be careful about setting up interviews during the workday, answering follow-up questions from human resources or faxing your résumé when you think no one else is looking. And then, of course, you have to worry about someone seeing you interviewing at a competitor's office across town.

It is a myth that it's easier to find a new job when you are working, said John Challenger, CEO of Chicago-based outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

It actually is more difficult because you don't have as much time to devote to a search because you are already working, he said. It also is harder to network, to tap into the so-called critical hidden job market, when you want to keep your intentions a secret.

And you still have to explain to a prospective employer why you want to leave your current job.

''You have to take some chances that your company will find out,'' Challenger said.

The process involves other people, and it is impossible to make it foolproof. But if you still are eager to give it a try, here are some tips.

l Use your cell phone and home phone to return calls and set up interviews. Avoid using your office phone - everyone will notice the whispering.

If you get a call when you are at work, ask if you can call back and then go outside and call from somewhere private.

l Don't use your office phone to call your spouse to report on new developments in the job search. Or even hiss, ''I'll tell you later,'' and hang up. Unless, of course, you regularly hiss, ''I'll tell you later,'' and hang up.

l Don't make a common mistake and use your company e-mail to send résumés or correspond with a prospective employer, Challenger said. It's too easy for the information technology department to spot it. Use a personal account.

l Similarly, don't use the office printer to copy your résumé, said Nancy Levicki, president of Dress for Success Houston. Someone could pick it up before you get to the printer. Use a copy shop or the library.

l Do your online job searching from home instead of the office, suggests Sandy Robinson, client principal with the Capital H Group, a business consulting firm that deals with human resources issues. A lot of companies have Internet tracking software and will spot the hits on the big job sites.

l When you're working, you've got to be extra careful with networking. Don't blanket the town with your résumé because you never know where it will wind up, said Eric Nielsen, managing director of Korn/Ferry International in Houston, an executive search firm.

The best way is to connect with someone at the company for which you want to work and let that person act as your champion - discreetly, of course, he said. And let the person know you're still working and you don't want the fact you are looking to get back to your company.

l Don't tell anyone at work about your job search, even your best friend. You think people will be discreet, but they still talk, Challenger said.

l If you show up at the office in a power suit when you usually wear a skirt and blouse, that is a dead giveaway you are going on a job interview, Levicki said.

l To avoid detection, meet a potential employer in a neutral location, recommends Nielsen, who was working for another search firm last year when he was recruited by Korn/Ferry.

Nielsen remembers how concerned he was that his employer at the time would find out he was being recruited.

''That reinforced in my mind what I put people through every day,'' he said.

l Tell your spouse about your job search.

When a search becomes serious, Nielsen likes to call candidates at home, and, hopefully, they won't be there so he can leave a message. It is a good sign when a spouse knows who he is and why he is calling because it shows the candidate is indeed seriously considering the job.