Articles and Insights

We’re seeing a lot of job seekers on the market now who haven’t looked for a job for years. Many who thought they’d never have to. Unfortunately, we’re also seeing a new breed of “career coaches” charging people for bad advice…

First, Recruiters have no skin in this game. Recruiters aren’t outplacement firms or career coaches. We try to be as helpful as possible to the candidates we work with – but our clients are the companies who engage us to help them connect with VERY specific talent. We don’t charge candidates for any of the helpful stuff we provide – whether it’s resume feedback, interview prep, or market intelligence. That’s just part of how we operate. But our business model doesn’t ever involve charging job seekers.

Career coaching, outplacement services, and resume writing services are a completely different business model. They can be great, and they absolutely have a place in the economy. (Nothing sucks more than trying to create your own resume after ignoring it for years!)

But the best of these services are reputable firms with highly experienced consultants. They support executive level candidates with deep behavioral assessments, comprehensive discovery processes, and thorough presentation deliverables targeted to executive level or career transition roles. They’ve been doing it a long time, have relevant backgrounds and experience. They get most of their business through referrals and corporate contracts for outplacement. Think of these firms as business development and marketing advisory services for your personal career brand.

But there is a whole other segment of these consultants who pop up and prey on the desperation of the unemployed. Keep an eye out for red flags:

– They typically do not have impressive professional backgrounds
– They have no experience in your industry
– They haven’t worked for the kinds of organizations you are targeting
– They weren’t successful in their own careers and pivoted to coaching
– They charge junior and mid-level candidates high hourly rates for advice
– They claim to have access to secret jobs or exclusive arrangements

Would you want this person as a mentor if you ran into them at work? If not, why would you pay them for advice?

These days it’s easy to call yourself a coach and throw up a nice website and social media presence. But who are you really working with? Be careful out there and do some research on who you’re talking to.