“Aren’t your criticisms of the sales mindset for job search really just semantics?” I got this question during a webinar presentation I did last week. And it’s not the first time I’ve been asked this. The rest of the argument is that “it’s really just words - you can change the words but what job seekers need to do doesn’t change - they still need to sell themselves.”

I appreciate the question, because I think it is one that comes up in many people’s minds when trying to decide if we really need to tranform job search from a sales mindset to something more aligned with our integrity and authenticity - is it really worth changing this? Or is it “just semantics“?

My response:

1. There’s no “just semantics.” This phrase “it’s just semantics” is meant to dismiss concerns about language and suggests that words are just words - changing them doesn’t make a big difference. But words are not just words - words communicate meaning and paint a particular picture. The words we choose dictate the concepts, values, and images that we experience. And then those direct our behaviours. When we choose to tell job seekers to “sell themselves” we are placing all the images, concepts and values that are attached in our minds to sales, to those job seekers. And this is problematic (see my previous post about the Used Car Salesman Syndrome for one example of the negative impact of the sales language).

2. I want to change not just our language for job search, but also our behaviours. I do believe it starts with the language - first we replace words such as sales, with other words such as integrity and authenticity. Then, with this different mindset, we feel, think, and act differently. Some of those differences may be subtle, others quite dramatically different. But overall, our entire approach has a different attitude and orientation. There is a detectable difference in how things feel and look.

3. And to respond to the final part of the criticism, that “job seekers do need to sell themselves” I would say - what evidence do we have of that? Over a decade spent with job seekers, I’ve seen an awful lot of evidence that selling gets in the way of success for many a dedicated and otherwise skilled job seeker.

Really, is there any “just semantics“? Language is so important - when we start by changing our language we can open up a whole new way of thinking and behaving - and of creating a life (and a job search approach) more in line with how we want to live.

Authenticity, Criticisms/questions, Integrity, Job search as sales & marketing