I know I just wrote an article not too long ago titled “Someone wants to charge you money for a job? Are you Crazy?” about the rise in numbers of career coaches. I have gotten a lot of positive feedback about that article which has prompted me to make a few more points. I’m not looking to bash legitimate career coaches since some of them are great at what they do and I’m in the process of looking for some to help write articles for a blog. I am irritated by those who have decide to jump on the gravy train to take advantage of this market by sucking the life out of those that are in need of some help.
The job market today is a client driven market, unlike the late 90′s which was a candidate driven market; which meant if your candidate was breathing, you got them a job. We would interview a job candidate in the morning, have them interview with one of our client’s in the afternoon and by the end of the day we would have an offer. Today the job market is quite the opposite. Since it’s been slow, many recruiters stopped recruiting and are looking for greener pastures and are now calling themselves career coaches. To me it just doesn’t sit right. I know that there are people out there that take advantage of every situation they can, but how do they sleep at night?
There are career coaches out there that have been in that line of work for a very long time. I respect what they do and some are great at guiding you through the process of getting a job. Some of them can craft a great resume and make it flow in a way that will make a difference in getting your foot in the door. They can help with dress attire, interviewing techniques and perhaps help you gain some confidence. Some of them do it because they enjoy and have a passion for helping others and I commend them for that. The problem lies with the “NEW” career coach. The opportunist who went from being a third party recruiter to HR in the last two years then onto part time used car salesman. These guys and gals are the ones that are trying to take advantage of the current situation that people are facing with our growing unemployment. People, you need to wake up and look into the backgrounds of these so called experts before you spend one red cent, other wise, Barnum was right in saying that “There’s a sucker born every minute.”
Here is some FREE sound advice for those who can’t really afford to spend about six thousand dollars for a six month subscription for a career coach. Join a gym for about six hundred dollars a year that would be my suggestion and a much better deal. I’m just saying a little exercise goes a long way. Losing some weight will not only make you look younger but by releasing some endorphins you’ll even feel better about yourself . You know there is nothing that makes you feel better than dropping some weight and then hitting the stores for some new clothes. A brand new tailored suit with all the trimmings will not only make you look great but will make you feel great too. Feeling great about yourself is obviously something that I keep harping on because if you are out of work you need to understand that confidence perhaps is what you may be lacking. Let’s face it, if you have been interviewing and not getting anywhere spending six grand isn’t going to help, in fact in six months you’ll be depressed about spending the six grand! In times like these you need some major me time! For many of you it’s not your fault that you’re not working. You need to make sure that things are in prospective and exercise can play a major role in your mental well being. Don’t allow some snake oil salesman to con you out of your hard earned money by convincing you that they have the answer.
What everyone today is really looking for is some good sound advice that is relevant to today’s economic times. There are so many places you can go to get FREE advice. LinkedIn is one of those places that you can ask all the questions you want and people will answer you. Some people seem to be making it a career by answering everything from tuning up your car to filling out your taxes. Keep in mind though that not all advice is created equal and you need to check out who is giving the advice, but it is FREE. There are things that perhaps your friend can tell you honestly or you can get some advice from someone at a search firm. Heck, they’ll even meet with you for free. They might not be able to place you in a job at this time but they’ll probably help you with some pointers.
When it comes to paying someone money for advice you have a lot to lose. After all a career coach has no skin in the games since you pay them upfront for their advice. It’s like pro athletes, once they get paid their numbers seem to go down. A good example is the New York Yankees left fielder Johnny Damon. This was his last year on his contract so he is looking to get paid for next year, and man did he ever have a great year. I know some will say “Well I have my reputation on the line!” My answer to that is RIGHT! Recruiters have skin in the game because they are investing their time to try to place you with one of their clients so that they can get paid. If a career coach is so good at what they do then why don’t they just charge you after you have landed a job? Their answer to that is “Well we need to make sure we get paid.” The truth of the matter is that they know the more interviews you go on and the more practice you get, the law of large numbers comes into effect. Which means you will eventually land a job. Somehow they want you to believe they had everything to do with it.
So my advice would be to practice, practice, practice and in between sweat, sweat, sweat!
I am very glad to read this article. It is time to call out those who are taking advantage of people.
I am very happy to have come across this article. It’s true that for most of them it’s not their fault to be out of job. However the case may be, it’s just better to practice, practice and more practice in order to win in interviews.
Thanks for the article.
If the theme of your post is about taking responsibility for oneself and researching options before investing, bravo. If the theme is victimization- woe is the person who is taken advantage of- then I’d suggest scratching it and going back to the first theme. Every person looking for employment should be adult enough, and responsible enough, to make good decisions. Career coaches are trying to do the same thing- eek out living. Every person is responsible for his or her own decisions in each part of life. So take the responsibility to do the research, and quit whining.
These career coaches aren’t scam artists. They too are trying to help out people – just as your established career coaches did when they first started out 10 or 20 years ago. Yes, these new coaches did jump on the opportunity – they may have been laid off and felt that there was a good market that would support a new business venture. Isn’t that what smart business people do? Find a need and offer to fill it?
There is a difference between people who know what they are doing and those who do not. I have met many established career coaches who are truly not qualified to do that work. I personally feel that to be a good career coach, you should have significant subject matter expertise in HR and recruitment and ideally should have a strong background in psychology and management. That’s in addition to the fundamental coaching skills.
Perhaps I missed the point of your article. I don’t see how it is that these coaches differ from your established coaches that you respect so much. You promote getting FREE advice – which established coaches generally don’t do. In fact, they tend to be the ones who charge those $1000 / month rates. Newer coaches tend to start out at lower rates and oftentimes do offer plenty of initial free advice to establish a reputation of credibility and value.
This article was extremely disjointed and failed to make an actual argument that showed any logic or subject matter expertise on the very subject you are writing on.
What exactly qualifies you to even write on this matter? I’m missing that too. Taking your own advice, wouldn’t I have to dismiss your entire article – and everything else you write – as worthless bunk until I have delved into your background and areas of expertise?
So please take a moment and show us your credentials and what qualifies you to write such bunk.
Actually when one goes from being paid by a company to all of a sudden charge a job candidate is someone that happens to be taking advantage of the current job market. I’m not a career coach nor do I promote them! What I am saying is every Tom, Dick and Harry are putting up a shingle saying they are now a career coach. I get paid by companies even in this market. Could I take advantage of the current situation at hand? Very easily! Instead I went out and invested thousands of dollars for such sites as myjobcast.com to help those that are not getting jobs (for free). I am also giving free advice to all based on 12 years of placing job candidates with companies. In the process of doing this in my own business I have made a pretty good living at it. People who have been a career coach for over 10-20 years must be great at it because they made a living at it when people were not desperate. Today job candidates are desperate! And what makes them all career coaches? What have they done that they can teach anything? I know what I can teach and that is what I have done. I have yet to met one that makes in a year what I make in a month! Is that off base saying that?
Any career coach worth his/her salt in today’s environment will be talking with clients about a ‘career’ view, not a ‘next job’ view. While many have ‘next job’ as their goal, in today’s environment that next job is likely shorter term and then the search process begins again. This may distinguish between a job coach and career coach although the terms are used as if interchangeable.
A knowledgeable career coach will guide a client toward becoming clear on their own value in a turbulent marketplace and teach the skills to become adept at demonstrating one’s value. In addition, an expert career coach helps a client examine their beliefs around careers and work so the client recognizes the match (or mismatch) with 21st century business reality. Without these assists, the client will find themselves in the same situation in 12 or 24 or 36 months and not have learned valuable long-term strategies for creating economic security.
Career coaches who truly focus on the changing career environment are out there, but their expertise is a combination of their experience and their command of a fluctuating business economy and organizational reality. Clients must do their homework to find a coach who can assist them both short and long term.
Its hard for many to get that next job or understand how to navigate their career path. The student, learner should only work with people/professionals who have “Proven” learning by doing track records no matter who they are.
Those who have the experience and ability need to help business and help people no matter who they are.
Those that have fished and can fish need to teach others to fish or at least point them to where the fish are!
Many of us have encountered the bottom-feeders during these difficult times. Just use your good common sense. Things like they string you along with no clear fee structure until they think you are enamored with them. Again; use good judgment.
Super article – I am a 25 year headhunter who began counseling applicants many, many years ago (it wasn’t 25 consecutive years). We headhunters had to counsel the applicants because, if we did not coach them into a good performance in the interview, there would be no offer and two of us would fail… the applicant and I.
What made us pay close attention and serve the candidate the best was the fact that we were straight commission folks at the time. If the candidate did not succeed, I did not eat. It makes a difference.
Wonder how many career coaches starting out would be willing to offer their full services and, after all is said and done, accept what the client felt the services were worth? I would do it and have done it.
Yes, there are some great coaches out there, but, I bet the vast majority of newbie coaches wouldn’t consider straight commission. Heck, if they were good at coaching, they would still be in the recruiting business.
For those that truly want to ‘just help” the poor unemployed… great time for altruism. Donate your time or, offer to do it with the payment plan described above.
There is some great stuff in this article. At first glance you might think I fit in there, but I don’t. I was a recruiter for 22 years and am now a job coach, but that was a decision I made before this craziness. I am appalled at the number of people who have crawled out of the woodwork in the last 2 years calling themselves coaches and taking advantage of confused, depressed, unsure job seekers.
Not just recruiters, but hiring authorities in general have jumped in to “coaching.” Even candidates who have made successful job transitions in the past! And even people who don’t know what they’re talking about, but have decided to become “experts” by bringing other “experts” to people’s attention!
It’s absolutely buyer beware. My retained program, which I did for 2 years but no longer do because I’m changing my biz model to reach more people, was only $600/month and 1 month minimum. And I do a lot of free; A teleseminars. I keep things low because they need to be affordable to people who have been out of work for a while. But there are a lot coaches who don’t, and who don’t “get it” either. They don’t really know what they’re talking about are after the C-level execs figuring those guys can pay, while the others are left behind. Where’s the compassion and the caring and the help here? So many of them are just regurgitating stuff trying to sound like they know what they’re talking about.
I realize I sound rather vituperative, but I honestly worry for many of these job seekers who have expressed to me the times they’ve run into a lousy coach who wasted their time and money. But I don’t advocate sticking with only the free stuff. Find a coach who’s worth it and pay what your budget allows to get the help you can based on who they are, how they treat you, what they know, and how they work.
A good way to find out if someone values the coach’s advice is to subscribe to their newsletter before buying anything. Subscribe to a bunch! Read them all for a few weeks! You’ll (generically) find out very quickly who’s blowing smoke with general theory and who actually knows what they’re talking about and can help you with specifics.
Jeff, thanks for writing this.