Do you remember the sound of chalk screeching on a blackboard, sending chills down everyone's back and causing entire classrooms of students to go into shock for a moment or two? If you were educated in the age of Smart boards, keep quiet for a minute! Those of us who remember know just how awful that sound could be! There are things that happen in the job search arena that replicate that annoying sound.
Very recently, a job seeker told me that they gave a company $4,000 to develop a marketing strategy guaranteed to deliver a successful job search. What they got for their money was a poorly constructed resume and a web page dedicated to their search which was very generic and resulted in absolutely no results. The ongoing technical and coaching support which was part of the package seems to have vanished into thin air.
A hiring manager told me of a person they added to their staff who stayed about 4 weeks then jumped ship for double the money. Just a few weeks later, it was learned that this individual was out of work because they gave notice without a confirmed offer and the new job was placed on hold before the reporting date.
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Someone lamented to me that she was not receiving many bites from her resume. I asked to see it and questioned how she could have gotten to the level she was working at with only an Associates Degree. Her reply was that she had a B.A. and half of an M.B.A. but that they were not from a school in the U.S. so she left them off!
Decision making is a crucial part of running a great job search. Please do not make unilateral decisions. Seek out the advice of several people such as former classmates, relatives, former colleagues, career coaches, clergy people, etc. Look for a common ground among those opinions and I am pretty sure you will avoid the screeching chalk torture!
