How to spend wisely on your job search
Amy Lindgren owns Prototype Career Service, a career consulting firm in St. Paul, Minn. She can be reached at alindgren@prototypecareerservice.com or at 626 Armstrong Ave., St. Paul, MN 55102.
If you’ve spent more than five minutes browsing a major online job board, with all its pop-up ads and links for related services, then you don’t need me to tell you this: Job search has become an American industry, built on the backs of unemployed people.
As a member of the industry for more than two decades, I am more aware of this phenomenon than most. When I started my business in 1985, there were only a handful of people in my city doing similar work. When I started writing job search books in the early 1990s, I could research my competitors by browsing for less than an hour at the local bookstore. And when I launched my column in 1995, I could find only two other columnists in the nation devoted exclusively to the topic of job search and careers.
What a difference a couple of decades has made. Mine is now an industry with multiple certifications, licenses, designations and associations, all serving tens of thousands of practitioners.
I’m incredulous that so much could have happened in such a short time, even while Joe and Jane Jobless — the fuel for this great engine — can still be so underserved and confused in their efforts to find work.
I have devoted the past two columns to good and bad uses of time by poor Joe and Jane; this week, I’ll round out the conversation with guidelines for the use of finances during job search. Of course you know this, but these tips are based on my own opinions and they definitely reflect a bias.
Bad uses of money during job search:
- Most online search "clubs." Programs for $100k earners come to mind here. The membership fees aren't substantial, but neither are the services they render.
- Organizations that contact employers on your behalf. I spoke with a job seeker recently whose friend spent significant dollars to have her resume emailed to 2,400 employers in one week. Seriously?
- In most cases, the paid levels of LinkedIn. Make sure you're using the free levels fully before you start paying.
- Most online systems that claim to organize your search for you. This might be helpful, but is it necessary?
- For my book, any and all package-based counseling programs. The sales pitch is that you will be more personally invested in your search if you have paid a lot of money upfront. While I find that disputable, my real concern is the service provider's continued investment in your search. Once they have collected all your money, how important will you be to them? A better bet is to pay for each service as you receive it, even if you forgo discounts to do so.
- Packaged software for letters and resume templates. If you insist on modeling your resume after others, there are plenty of free samples online.
- Quite a few of the job search books being peddled these days. As an author myself, you'd think I would be more open. But I receive enough review copies each month to know that a lot of the titles are not worth their asking price.
And here are some good uses of financial resources during job search:
- Fee-per-service job search advice. If you control the pace and the purse strings, you can assure you are getting what you need. But you must do the homework or the investment will have been wasted.
- Professional association dues, particularly if you can negotiate a discount. Membership in a professional association — provided you attend the meetings and read the materials — is one of the best investments you can make during your search.
- Professional haircuts. If you need to barter for services, so be it. But this is no time for a do-it-yourself trim with the nail scissors. You deserve this little treat.
As a last thought, remember that local government and nonprofit agencies provide some very good programs. It would be foolish not to sample their offerings before opening your wallet for other services.
