On Resume Writers and Career Coaches

I’ve been getting backlogged on my blogging and this morning decided to tie in a few different posts into one summarized version. Note that I really don’t care for posts that say “go read this” and “go check that out” as I am too opinionated to just leave it at that. But there is a series of posts that my friend and author CM Russell has put up from a conference that he just attended, and I want to point you to the ones I’ve found most useful… and of course put my 2 cents in there!

Note that CM is a veteran observer of this industry. He has written the book on the job search, he owns and operates a number of job boards, he has a number of blogs that he operates for you, the job seeker (passive or active), recruiters, etc. His perspective is very broad which makes him one of the foremost experts in this arena. I’m very pleased to see that he went to this conference (I wish I could have gone) and explored this quirky world a little. So here is my 2 cents (note, there are 4 links IN BOLD that I’m highly recommending… go to the rest if you want but definitely check out the bolded links):

First, here is a recording of career coach Barbara Safani’s (here’s her blog) presentation where she picks apart various social networking sites. It is a very interesting presentation and I like at the end how she says something like “and if all of this is very confusing you can use JibberJobber to help keep track of it all.” I was wondering how she was going to tie JibberJobber into her social networking analysis but this made me smile with pride 🙂 [note: she has another podcast interview here, I haven’t listened to it yet but plan on listening to it today – I really like Barbara and have been following her blog posts]

Second, here is a post from a newspaper about the black hole when you apply to posted positions. I found this very useful and it rang true… I had applied to about 75 different places and only got 2 real replies. What is up with corporate HR and recruiters when they can’t even send an e-mail saying “we got it, thanks, we’ll let you know.” I’m not talking about the lame automated reply but something with a human touch. It is very discouraging… and if you, the executive, are used to people jumping when you say jump, you better get ready for this humility shock! Anyway, the article talks about the power of networking and other things… it is a good read for sure.

Third, here is another one of my favorite people, resume writer Louise Kursmark, talking about things that resume writers talk about :p I found this interview to be very informational and it answered a lot of questions for me about resumes (including “what can someone expect to pay for this service“), etc. I highly recommend you take the time to listen to this one, no matter what stage you are in.

Fourth, CM wraps it up (I think – we’ll see if there is more tomorrow) with his assessment of resume writers. I love how he describes many of them, and has an absolute endorsement for their profession: “if you are thinking about writing your own resume, forget it.” I echo that, money permitting – but understand that some hidden mistakes on MY resume kept me out of lots of interviews, and I didn’t realize it until I had applied to over 100 jobs!

So I have to mention these other two interviews… just for fun. One is from a rep from a paper company how he is talking (pleading?) about how the paper resume isn’t going away (it made me think of asking Santa Claus if Christmas is going away). I don’t buy into his statistics and internal studies which makes it sound like having his cotton, heavy weight paper will have a major impact on you geting you the job… you’ll have to hear it for yourself (6 mins). The other one was with a salary negotion expert (here’s Jack Chapman’s website)- it didn’t capture my attention much because I think that 6 mins just wasn’t enough time to get real meat in the interview (I’d like to see a series of podcasts on this issue). But you may want to check them out – they are short.

So there you go, I hope that these links (in bold) provide value to you as an active or passive job seeker! I feel its worth the time to sharpen your saw on this stuff, that’s the only reason I’m writing on it. Have a productive day!