May 24, 2005

• Not worth it. Career counseling, resume services, and interview coaching may be worth spending hundreds of dollars on. But thousands of dollars? No. Note that the fact that only 20 percent of open jobs ever make it to public forums does NOT mean that these guys have access to the other 80 percent. Get yourself some career counseling, if you're changing careers. Get your resume rewritten professionally. But if you have the skills employers with "hidden" jobs are looking for, headhunters should be more than willing to work with you to get 'em -- gratis (since they get paid by the employer).
• I've been out of work for a while, so I've talked to a whole lot of people about job finding tactics. The reason you can't find the "hidden" jobs is because their existence is not yet known outside the company that is hiring. It stands to reason that these services would not know of them either. Best job hunting advice I've received: decide where you want to work and pursue the job as though you were courting a potential mate. I've been on the hiring end often enough to know that you do not let a good candidate walk out the door, even if you don't technically have an opening right then.
• I remember seeing a TV documentary about the career marketing industry a couple of years back, I can't recall where, but the gist was pretty much what HawthorneWingo said. Here's an article from the WSJ on the subject.
• Anything where they want your cash is sleazy. I have spent years working with recruiters and agencies who take money from the client and they are still incredibly sleazy but at least you get to keep your money. In my dayjob field (computers) you just put your resume on dice.com and a zillion headhunters will contact you about any job you are vaguely qualified for (or whose related keywords you happen to have mentioned in your resume)... there may be a similar site for your field.
• I'm looking to make a switcheroo... That sounds like an excellent career choice. I think it'd be fantastic to be a switcheroo maker. Seriously, don't get a resume professionally made. I've had a lot of career counseling, and they've always been adamant on that point. The only stuff they'll be able to put on it is what you tell them, which means you're capable of producing the exact same resume. If you're having writer's block on drafting it (I always do), copy someone else's, and then switch out the details with your own info. The library will have plenty of resume books to find examples from, or you can use a friend's.
• Enter your city and area of interest here--, Indeed.com --, bookmark your search settings, check twice a day. Best (and cheapest) career marketing service out there.
• So it's an inverse recruiter? I've heard of recruitment agencies where the employer seeking staff pays the recruiters to find someone for them, not the other way around. When we came back to NZ, #2 contacted a number of recruiters and found that they ranged from being very good at matching the employee to the employer to absolute pushy used-car salesmen. He eventually found his job in an ad in the newspaper. He says he found one good one out of about six, half were terrible and he would never pay for the services they provide. The difference here is that recruitment agencies don't (I believe) do the resume tweaking and interview prep for you, but they do have to make sure they provide the employer with good candidates or they don't get the commission -- therefore it's in their interests to present you well. So I'd say call up the places that are receiving their commission from the employer, not the employee looking for work, and be sure to shop around.
• Mr. Knickerbocker: For high-level (and high-dollar) exec positions, it can be worth it to have your resume done by a legit exec-resume service. Otherwise, I agree with you.
• Jeez louise, that Wall Street Journal article basically outlined the *exact* initial pitch that I got from these guys. No one's easier to market to than a marketing guy, I guess. Thanks, everyone, for setting me straight on this.
• Best of luck, Fes.
• Thanks. It's hard, I've worked here for eight years, through a lot of red ink, two very difficult layoffs and three different CEOs in a year. The company's been good to me over that time, but there's blood and lawlessness in the air (again) and I'm feeling the wood of the executioner's block under my head (also again), when I thought I'd dodged it. I'd much rather go out cordial and on terms than be issued a pink slip, a severance check and a box for my family photos some Monday morning.
• I need to hire a lawn boy. The pay's bad, and there are no benefits, but the upside is I get to sell your children into white slavery AND you can sleep with the brown recluses in my garage. Interested?
• I'll get back to you.
• From the article that Islander posted: Mark Peterson of Radnor, Pa., signed with Merrill-Adams Associates of Parsippany, N.J., for $10,800 in July 2000 in hopes of assistance in landing a CFO job. The firm promised to mail his resume to decision-makers but didn't follow through. What always amazes me about these scam companies is that they fail to deliver even the tiniest minimum. They got $10K! Send the damn e-mails already! It would've taken maybe what an hour to do that? Good luck Fes.
• does your industry have a specific jobs site? such as, for journalists it's journalismjobs.com. as soon as a job goes public, chances are it's posted there. and of course it helps to just contact friends around the country in your given industry. good luck! and remember, change is good!
• Fes, I didn't read any of the linked articles, but you have by now drawn the correct conclusion that by and large these firms are scams. One to watch out for is Robert Half, Inc.--and I am not going to say anything that will get anyone into any trouble here--they sell their career marketing services with all of those buzz words exactly as you wrote them--hidden job market, and so on--but they also run one of the biggest temp-to-permanent hiring agencies, for which they get a big cut of your pay (from the employer--you don't notice it so much, you just don't get paid what the person next to you gets). When I faced a similar situation to you--still on good terms with the employer, but the skids already greased for an exit--I asked my VP and other execs for leads to headhunters inour industry; they gave me contacts that were quite valuable. I also asked other people I had been in regular contact with (customers and vendors)for leads to headhunters. The best hunters get paid on placement, not on referrals, so they best ones are motivated and professional. If it doesn't feel right to you, it isn't. Industry association meetings/journals/publications are also a good place to look. And the advice from Cali is excellent as well--research upfront pays off.