I have had many phone calls over the last few weeks from my local Yellow Pages, from job seekers looking for work. Now I don't have a big spread in the directory, just a one line entry, so to be getting these calls is unusual. What is even more disturbing to me is why they are calling, and then more importantly what they say when they call.
Bad advice from the Outplacement Companies and Job Centres
The common theme for many of my calls is the source of their advice - outplacement firms or outplacement consultants.
I would like to start by saying, that I have absolutely no problem with the fact that job seekers are calling me looking for work. The fact is they are probably in the minority by actually being proactive, but it is great that they have called in the first place.
Obviously, one of the first things I ask is why are they calling me. All of them have found themselves out of work and they had been 'told' to call every agency in the (local) Yellow Pages and register with them for work!
The answer to who told them to call, has been the same - a couple of outplacement firms and the job centre.
The problem is that both parties - the outplacement firms and the Job Centre, probably believe that they have done their job well in advising these job seekers to do this - the Job Centre can tick another box on their 'helped a job seeker form', while the outplacement firm can invoice for 'another' person they have 'helped'. The trouble is with this form of slippery shoulder advice is that it is totally rubbish, meaningless and a waste of time.
Let me share some of the messages they are being told:
- Use local and national newspapers to check for local vacancies - out of date and ineffective method with some many companies having no budget to advertise in the expensive press
- If you have Sky or Virgin Media go to DirectGov on digital TV - for a start not everyone has these two forms of digital TV, and if they did not all the vacancies are on there anyway!!
- Register with all the local agencies - WRONG - register only with the vacancies that provide work in your industry, a security guard calling a sales agency is wasting everyone' time! Visit websites first to check what they do, then call if applicable.
- Ask your friends and family to help you find a job - good advice, spread the word and don't be afraid to tell people you are looking for a job.
- Go to job fairs and recruitment events - how many job fairs and recruitment events have you seen recently? Exactly - they just don't happen in the 21st century very often at all!!
- Approach companies directly - great advice, but as long as the job seekers are told how to approach companies otherwise they will be wasting their time completely!!
- Be open minded - true, with there less jobs going round, you may not get the job you want, BUT you may get to use your skills - just in a different industry maybe.
- Take a lower paid job and claim the rest in benefits - ggggrrrr - not even going to answer this - you know where this advice came from!!
- Use the internet to help find a job - this is the one that really annoyed me, and actually made me speechless on the telephone with the caller! That is what they were told from a person in a job centre. Personally, I would have suspended them on the spot for being an incompetent idiot!! Telling someone to go away and find a job on the internet is just plain rubbish.
Just to put this into perspective - I explained to this candidate what a job board was, how they work, which ones to go to, how to set up the email alerts etc. I got a call two days later saying thank you, as she got an interview through Fish4Jobs, after I had told her what to do.
Are you missing the one word that is crying out to be asked with all these 'words of advice'?.........HOW? Unfortunately this word has been missing from the advice.....
And what is wrong with job boards, networking and social networking as well? Where is this advice?
I class myself as an ethical experienced recruitment professional, and I go out of my way to help job seekers (to my detriment sometimes) that ask for my help. I don't get paid for it directly, but I know that my advice has helped hundreds of people over the years get work, and that knowledge is (for me) very rewarding. Maybe I am being idealistic in wishing other sectors of our industry would have the same ethics and professionalism!!
My message is simple to staff at the Job Centres AND the 'consultants' at the outplacement firms raking in the money from their clients, too quick to pay to get the staff out of their companies. If you are going to give or pay for someone to give advice on your behalf, make sure it is the right advice, and prepare these entrants to the unemployment world properly. They need support and good advice, not just the usual crap that you are seemingly giving them every day!!
