I know this is a topic that can be very controversial and that many of my colleagues might disagree with me. I have never been a person afraid to speak my mind, sometimes to my detriment. There may be a slim line between bait and switch and actually offering premium services. It is in the way it is pitched that is different. Many years ago I went to a free seminar of careers and job search. The leader was very charismatic. In the seminar, the leader would systematically berate the participant so that the individual felt exceedingly inadequate and would buy his expensive services having felt that they were very ill equipped to look for a job because of a poor resume and poor networking and interviewing skills.
This can happen in any fee for service business, whereby people are paid by offering more and more expensive services rather than a salary. A salaried person gets the same amount of money no matter how many services they provide you, thus they are more likely to be objective. What I suggest here is that you start off by visiting a salaried professional like the career services professional at your alma mater or a state or city employment service.
I would like to review with you some of the fee for service areas that are available for job search:
Resume Services
Resume writers are available independently or through career service portals. It is difficult for the average consumer to differentiate who are good resume writers from inadequate ones. I happen to be a proponent of branded resumes which help you differentiate from others. These resume highlight what competencies you bring to the job which differentiate you from other people in your field in addition to your work history which could be similar to your competition. I follow the recommendations of William Arruda and Kirsten Dixson who wrote “Career Distinction, Stand out by Building Your Brand.” While I am very competent to handle most resumes using this format, occasionally some of my clients want additional attention and cannot afford the services of such high priced professionals. I recommend resume writers who have trained with these writers and have gotten great results.
Beware of some questionable practices on some job board sites. Some of these sites that you have to pay for tell you that they have jobs that you could not access any other way except their board. This is not totally true. They do get postings from various companies. But, you may be able to also find out about these opportunities through vigorous networking using such social networking sites as Linked In. If you don’t get results they tell you the reason you are not getting results is because you have a lousy resume. They then sell you resume services. Then after you do not get results even with the new resume, they tell you need a coaching service. When they sell these additional services they get a cut and so does the coach. Wouldn’t it be better to pay a recommended honest coach a fee rather than pay the job board organization? Remember the more they can convince you that you are inadequate the more money they make.
Job Boards
Many job boards today offer premium services. They show you some sample positions and let you know for an upgrade you will receive premium positions. Like I said before, companies are paying a large fee to them to list their positions. But, they are available through networking, if you are willing to put in the effort. Instead of going through human resources which is required on most job boards, you may be able to access the actual hiring manager via Linked In or Facebook.
A relatively new phenomenon is job boards from vendors that connect to universities. I have been working with two of them. MyWorkster (www.myworkster.com) They list jobs available from employers at no cost to the university alumni. We did a multischool university alumni job fair with them back in June whereby we had 26 schools participated, 78 companies and over 2000 alumni. Several more have been planned. Go to their web site for details. Another vendor is Alumwire (www.alumwire.com) They also have job listings from prestigious companies again at no cost to the alumni and have virtual job fairs. We are doing one with them in November.
In conclusion, don’t let your fears make you vulnerable to the advertised resources that are out here. There primary goal is to make a profit rather than serve you. Visit your university career center and get their advice before committing yourself to services that you can’t afford.
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