| Topic Name: |
Job Searching |
| Message Name: |
Full Time |
| Date Posted: |
07/15/2005 |
| In Reply To: |
Guidelines:
Make sure you get the right KIND of professional career help.
Anyone can call themselves a career coach. Most professional career coaches provide motivation and focus counseling. In addition, some claim to be able to assist you in determining what kind of job would make you happiest. HOWEVER, just because a particular line of work (or industry) sounds exciting doesn't mean that you have a realistic chance of actually getting it...at least anytime soon, and without having to possibly take a big financial hit or obtain specialized training AND be prepared to start at the lower rung of the ladder.
Because the term "coach" is a very popular one right now, some career counseling firms have begun marketing themselves by referring to what they do as "coaching". Apparently, they feel that it's easier to get clients by doing so.
Career coaches charge ONLY by the hour. That's one of their MAIN selling points: the fact that you don't have to pay for things you neither want nor need.
Career Counseling firms charge a flat fee...anywhere from $1,000 to $15,000 or even more. Career counseling firms offer a variety of things: some offer career testing, nearly all rewrite (or edit) resumes and cover letters. Some provide lists of companies and tell you to call them up. Some do mass-mailings of your resume. NONE actually set up interviews. MOST provide Networking tips, because they tell their clients that the way to get a job is by Networking (which obviously relieves the c.counseling firm of the responsiblity for your success & puts the heaviest burden...getting interviews squarely on the shoulders of the job hunter).
Some career counseling firms tout their success rate for how long it takes their clients to get a job. They may tell you that their clients get new jobs in less than three months. Maybe some do. But, so do a lot of people who AREN'T their clients. Besides, every person's situation is different, so UNLESS they can cite verifiable stats on people whose situation is very much like yours, I'd be very skeptical of their success claims.
Once you have decided on what kind of position you want,and that there is a REALISTIC probability that you can get it, then the #1 challenge becomes how to get interviews.
Today, companies use resumes to screen people out. You can have the spiffiest, most powerfully written resume in town, but it's unlikely to be any more effective than one you could write yourself...UNLESS you are making a strictly lateral move. It only takes a screener (HR...or whoever looks at your resume) a nanosecond to see if your current job title and industry are similar to the position they have open. That's why resumes fail to generate interviews 99% of the time.
Results come substantially faster to people who understand that job hunting today is a Marketing problem, NOT a resume distribution problem or a Networking problem.
Effective marketing is all about having the right STRATEGY for EACH and EVERY job opening you apply for. Professional sales people don't use the same "spiel" on every prospect, and neither should you in your job search. Furthermore, changing a few buzz words on a resume is not much of a marketing strategy.
Get a very clear understanding of what is being offered before you sign a contract with any kind of career-related firm. Find out WHO is responsible for making sure you get interviews, and if they say they are - ask them how they do that.
Get some references you can talk to, but also do some due diligence by going to "complaint" sites like www.ripoffreport.com or www.complaints.com etc., and see if there are any complaints about the FIRM. Also, check to see if there are any complaints listed against the PEOPLE at the firm.
As President Reagan used to say: "Trust, but verify".
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| Message: |
Dang, now I understand why it's said that looking for a decent job is 'full time'. I have my work cut out for me.
I did spend considerable time yesterday searching for information about coaching and the like. Some of the things being said here ring true. It's rather difficult wading through all the information, but I will agree that in the end, I will be a much happier person as a result of my hard work.
Thanks much . . .
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