I hope I don’t hurt anyone’s feelings with this post. But I gotta get it off my chest. Following up from yesterday’s post about the conflict of interest of the state of “malimornia” (that is – we are here to help you but we won’t give you all the tools you need, and should have access to, because we might be helping other people while we help you (um, have you ever heard of “win-win”?)…
note this might sound like a rant about companies not embracing JibberJobber, but read it to the end – there is a smell test for all job seekers…
I had an experience with XYZ Staffing Company a couple of months ago that…. well, was pretty lame. So I went in to talk with a branch manager about JibberJobber, and ask how he could let the job seekers that come through his office know about it and use it. He quickly agreed that it was very very cool, very different, and obviously useful. And then he said “I’m sorry, we’re not going to be able to let our job seekers know about this.”
That’s ok, I thought, because there was probably some policy that prevented outside stuff into their little system. I can understand that, and it is even more valid than a government entity saying no…
But then he went on to explain something that made me sick. He said… “we don’t want our job seekers to know about JibberJobber because then they might not need us. We want them to be dependent on us for all of their job changes. If we let them know about JibberJobber, and they used it, and the increased their network then they won’t need us after long.”
True story! I couldn’t make this up. But it infuriated me because what he was saying was “we want to keep our candidates dumbed down…. we don’t care about their long-term survival, as long as they keep making money for us… blah blah blah!” … “we’re too dumb to realize that if we help people out, maybe they’ll refer more people to us…!”
Can you believe it? Ok, so here is the smell test that I promised up above. IF you find someone that wants to help you and they only promote information that they want to sell you, or keeps you in their system forever, walk away. Keep your eyes wide open and realize that there are other sources of information. Sorry if this offends any professionals out there, but … get over it. I’m not advocating the staffing agency – I’m advocating the poor dude that is JOBLESS.
Nowadays it is pretty easy to find information on the Internet. If you want to keep up with some of the hottest/newest technologies for job seekers I recommend subscribing to https://www.secretsofthejobhunt.blogspot.com (on the top right there is a box to get his feed in your e-mail). CM Russell literally wrote the book on a job search, and keeps very current information on his blog for job seekers. He also runs other job search websites including boards, info aggregators, etc. I recommend this to anyone in a job search.
Also, for a quick search on various job-related issues you can go to https://www.Chimby.com – this is like the Google for Job Searching. It allows you to search on phrases found on job search sites, so you shouldn’t find any (or much) non-related info.
Whew. I’ve been holding that in for way too long 😉
PS – I think staffing agencies are great. If I knew I’d be out of work for 6 months I would have gone to a staffing agency right away, taken a contract job, and likely would have gotten on full-time. If nothing else it would have helped me expand my network.
You better beware someone that concerned with their own four walls that they can’t let your garden grow.
But, the truth is, this is STANDARD PERCEPTION in the recruiting industry.
They make money by knowing MORE than you, more PEOPLE than you, being more CONNECTED than you, and by KEEPING it that way.
There’s a lot of big houses built by recruiters who’ve lived that philosophy. I don’t agree, but it is real.
– I am guessing that person has been in the industry a while.
– They sound like what I might call “jaded”.
– Once upon a time, I am sure they got jazzed when someone got a $1.00 raise.
– I am sure, once in their life, they even helped someone get a job without getting commissioned on it. (gasp!)
Don’t worry about hurting their feelings, though. I am sure they don’t blog on their own… or read others, for that matter.
What if they learned that there’s a better way?
If they learned that GIVING is better than RECEIVING, then I would have more competition… (which I won’t campaign for, but I welcome).
The generation just now entering college is going to change the entire face of corporate life in America. They demand networking. They demand “giving back”. They demand equity, not just salary. They demand opportunity, not security.
Ten years from now, that recruiter may be begging an upstart punk kid for a job, and the interview will go like this:
“Give me the names and contact-details of five people–not in your family–who will say you changed their life, or affected them in an incredibly positive way.”
End of interview.
From my experiences, not everyone is like that, but there are a few.
The industry is changing rapidly, and like any other change, people become fearful quickly.
You’ve got your head in the right place though — keep finding ways to help the job seeker, and the rest will eventually sort itself out 🙂
Best,
Alex Rudloff
Emurse.com