….career coaches…personal marketing experts

there are few things really tick me off..i can deal with most stuff…people tell me what they think they want me to hear (..i.e. lie)…or simply don’t even call when they say they will… say they need a job, then drop out of site…or the need to hire someone, claim it is a high priority…then i never hear from them again….

it ain’t right…but it’s OK..people are gonna be people

however…career coaches…not all of them…but most of them really tick me off…yesterday, in a sydicated column that went to millions of people, one of these folks wrote the biggest bunch of junk i have seen since hearing about swamp land in arizona…

this author writes:..”now is a perfect time to search your soul, …become a fearless (career changing) fish out of water… finding your dream job, entering a new industry…

“go fish for the real you…use your difference as a lure…find fish like you…swim in their ocean, but swim your way…put yourself on the line..evolve by casting a wide net…reel in your unique power…”

CRAP…all of it…titled the thing “To land the job, develop your desirability”….that’s it…just be desireable…

this is sooooooo misleading…even deceitful..

unless a career coach has actually found people jobs…i.e. you can talk to previous clients of their’s that, as a result of the advice they received, got a job…run from them..

#1. This is not dating…it is a job search..

#2. You are going to get hired based on your ability to make a company better by performing a job better than anyone else

#3 You have to prove you can perform the work..just cause you dream you’d like to play ball on the same team as LaBron, doesn’t mean you will

the problem i have with this stuff is that most career coaches give people the idea that they can be anything they want to if they “dream…work hard…blah, blah” regardless of their talent or ablity or the market demand..

we get candidates weekly that tell us the “want” a job that is so far beyond their skills and ablity but think they can get it because some “coach” convinced them they could find it

cut it out…this market is tight…why would an employer take a chance on an unproven candidate when there are hoards of candidates with strong, specific track records available???

sooooo “desirability”…doesn’t have as much to do with your getting a job as your “ability”…don’t pay people to kid you

the further away you venture from what you can prove you can do in a job search, the greater the risk a hiring manager is going to take…they don’t need to take many risks in this market…

take the money you are going to give a career coach and give it to charity…you’ll get a much greater return

this advise stinks like very old fish…

…why don’t people follow the instructions

it is sooooooooo simple…

my candidate asked, when interviewing with two of the sales people

that were part of the interviewing process: “are you going to recommend to the president that he hire me?”

they said: “..well, it is really not my decision..”

he said (and this is great): “i’m not buying that…you are part of the decision making process or you wouldn’t be interviewing me….they obviously think highly of your opinion…

what attracts me to this company is that you all are a close knit group… you rely on one another…you seem to watch each other’s back…i really like that and want to be a part of it…

..now, are you going to tell the president to hre me?”

he had to ask one of sales people this question twice…but he got the answer he wanted…”yes…i will recommend you..”

when he was interviewing with the v.p…he asked the v.p. five times if he would recommend him…the v.p. finally said, “you really want this job, don’t you?”…”you have my vote!”

what is funny/sad…whatever, i try to teach every candidate i get past first base to do this and they don’t..

the highest compliment a teacher can get is a student who executes the plays the way they are drawn up…go figure …

..why don’t people follow the instructions?????

…social networks

will social networks help get you a job???…too early to tell

it is the rage..plaxo, linkedin, facebook…and now twitter??? ..folks publishing books on how these things will find you a job…oh, brother..

i’m old enough to remember when the fax machine was gonna revolutionize the world..(i placed a sale guy with burroughs one time who was  hire to sell fax machines…for $100,000 a machine…)

and the world was gonna go “paperless” with the advent of the internet…and we use more paper than we ever have..

hey, look..i’m in  the trenches every day helpng people find jobs..one person at a time..i really don’t have time to care if you twitter me that you have to go to the bathroom…and neither do our clients or your future employer..in fact, it may get quite annoying

but, if any of these things help you get face-to-face interviews…have at it..but don’t hold your breath and think that they are going to revolutionize your job search..or above all, make you a better candiadate..

one of these books about getting hired via the internet never even mentioned being interviewed or how to do it…

don’t be suprised if all these things go the way of the job boards…simply so much information it is overwhelming…

again, use this stuff if it helps you feel good or helps you get an interview…but don’t expect it to be the “answer”