Thank you to everyone who has been reading this blog this year. While there is a lot of job search information on the web, most of it seems to fit squarely in the Sales Mindset camp – believers that if you want to find a new job you need to get out there and “sell yourself.”

This blog is different – I believe selling yourself is demoralizing and dehumanizing and I’ve been critiquing that Sales Mindset approach to job search, and exploring alternative ways of thinking. In addition to the publication of my first book, Not for Sale! Why we need a new job search mindset, some of the things that I looked at in 2009 in the blog were:

• The energy of authenticity – a conversation between two people can be so energizing when you are both bringing “you” to the discussion.
• It’s not about the packaging – the huge success of Susan Boyle (first during the Britain’s Got Talent competition and now her CD that’s flying off shelves) is a great story about getting past how someone is “packaged” and looking for the talent and life within.
• Sizzle vs steak – too much job search time is spent polishing the sizzle, too little time is spent discussing the steak. We live in a time when people are desperate for meaning and connection – and that’s what we can be emphasizing not just in our broader lives, but in our job searches as well.
•  Inauthentic networking – too often networking is uncomfortable and disingenuous. It needn’t be that way. We can look for alternatives to a “one-size-fits-all” approach and try connecting with people based on genuine interest. 

It has been a pleasure to explore these topics. Thank you to everyone who has responded with their own thoughts (over email, phone, or in person). Let’s keep this discussion going!

On that note, I just realized recently that my blog was set to only allow comments if you are logged in. I figured out how to turn off this – so you can now more easily post your own thoughts. I look forward to hearing from you and getting your reactions and ideas. 

Happy Holidays to everyone! I’ll be back in 2010 with more thoughts on job searching with integrity

Job search as sales & marketing, Networking, Packaging, Uncategorized job search as sales and marketing, Networking

“With competition for good jobs at an all-time high, candidates who conduct their job search as a sales campaign consistently win out over those who don’t.”

So starts an article called “Win Your Next Job With Three Essential Interview Skills.”

Now, if you’ve been reading my blog or book, you can guess my reaction. I don’t agree at all. There is nothing noteworthy about that -  all over the internet there are thousands of articles with similar arguments and content that I disagree with. What makes this one worth notice is this fascinating opening line.

“[C]andidates who conduct their job search as a sales campaign consistently win out over those who don’t” is quite a claim. Bold, assertive – very sales-like?

The biggest problem with this is that this is opinion presented as fact. There is NO evidence that this claim is true. There is no evidence for this provided in the article, and as far I can tell from my research, there is no evidence anywhere. Perhaps anecdotally many people feel that this has been their experience. And certainly there are legions of people who believe this to be true. But to present this as fact should require far more than anecdotal stories and beliefs.

Too often job search “experts” tell us the right way to do things. But a lot of this (if not basically all) is  based on opinion. There is nothing wrong with opinion - we should just be up front about it being opinion and not fact.

I’ll use the same analogy as used in the article in question. When you go to buy a new car, you listen critically to the salesperson’s pitch (and you know it is a pitch, you know they are using “closing techniques” and looking for your “hot buttons”). You try to step back and evaluate if the offer is really as good as it is presented as being. You know the job of the salesperson is to get the sale – which may or may not be in your own best interest. So you question all claims.

Let’s do the same thing when being sold on the “correct” way to job search. Question all claims. Beware of opinion masquerading as fact. 

Thank you to Christine Fader for sending me the link to this article – you were right  Christine– I did enjoy reading it!

Choice, Criticisms/questions, Interviews, Job search as sales & marketing job interviews, job search, job search as sales and marketing, sales