Hey Career Coach! Get Me a Job!

In the course of most conversations, the question inevitably arises, “What do you do?” My short answer has always been “I’m a career coach” -and I love to hear the reactions I get to that! They range from “hey can you get me a job? to “oh, so you’re a recruiter?”. Let’s set the record straight right now.

1. No one can “get you a job.” Not your momma, not Career Builder, not a recruiter. The job is yours to get- and it should be. If the “right job” is what you are seeking, and I hope it is, only you can identify what that is and will recognize it when you find it. This is not something that can be outsourced.

2. Recruiters and Career Coaches are different. As I explain in my book “Stop Peeing On Your Shoes- Avoiding the 7 Mistakes That Screw Up Your Job Search”. Recruiters are paid by the company with a job to fill- a company that has agreed up front to pay the recruiter and and is looking for a square peg for their square hole. If you happen to be square, you may get that job. But be very clear-the recruiter works for the company. We work for the one who pays us, right?  There are some people who are skilled at both career coaching and recruiting, so wear both hats. But I have found that they are few and far between.

Anytime there is a demand or need for something, people will pop up and give themselves that title. I once met with a woman who worked in market research, and was having a hard time finding a job. She did enjoy talking to people about their job searches and giving them emotional support. She announced to me that she was considering being a career coach. I am still proud of the fact that I was able to restrain myself from spitting my coffee across the table. Not only was her resume bad, but she had no idea how to find herself a job, let alone help a paying client.

A good Career Coach is on your side- not the side of any employer- and will not only guide you through the search process, but will give you objective counsel. I tell my clients ” I’m the only objective person in your life.” I would laugh while saying it, but I wasn’t kidding.

Here’s the deal, peeps. A good Career Coach should be able to guide you through the process of figuring out what you want to do next AND ( pay close attention here) be skilled in guiding you the process of getting it. Admittedly, this is one of my pet peeves. An understanding of the hiring process, and how business works is a critical part of what a Career Coach should know- beyond the “what do you want to do next” stuff. There are people from the counseling/therapy side that can be good at helping you through the emotional and self-analysis side, and others that only understand the hiring process/HR stuff. But if you need and want both sides, please make sure before you write that check that your coach is skilled and qualified to do both. You can usually find that our by looking at his/her experience and recommendations. LinkedIn is good for this. If he/she doesn’t have a robust LinkedIn profile, move on to someone else because they have just proved that they are not “up to date” on their use of technology.

Over the last few weeks, we have gotten calls from three people who were in desperate need of career coaching. In both cases, they had been looking with no guidance for 6-12 months with no luck. Both were now looking for a career coach, but informed us that they had no money. Huh?