Career Advice Podcasts & Job Seeker Network
The Human Side of the Job Search Process
Spend about 30 seconds (or less) perusing the latest job search advice, and you will no doubt come across statements like the following:
“A job search is nothing more than a marketing campaign with you being the product.”
“An effective job seeker in today’s market understands the power of personal branding.”
“A job seeker is a sales professional; the more nuanced the pitch, the more effective the result.”
As a career pro who has participated in establishing this line of thinking, I certainly can nod my head in agreement with these sentiments.
Yes, the job search process is definitely a sales process, and yes, you are essentially the “product” that is being sold. So it stands to reason that you are positioning that product when you are out there presenting yourself to potential employers.
So why if I agree with these sentiments, do they make me cringe so much when I hear someone express them?
Maybe it’s because I can’t stop thinking about cattle whenever I hear the word “branding” or about human trafficking whenever I start thinking of job seekers as “products” to be auctioned off to the highest bidder.
I know, call me sentimental. Maybe I’m a bleeding heart, after all. But although I certainly agree with the statements above, in theory, it’s the application that often comes off a little stale to me.
Listen. You can’t play the game without a program, right? And without a doubt, this job search game is played best when the primary aspects of a successful sales lifecycle are recognized and, to some extent, implemented.
Yet to leave it at that and wash your hands of the discussion misses a crucial element: the human element.
Unlike selling cars or the latest pharmaceutical drug, in this case, the seller must play two roles: (1) as the sales rep. who is selling themselves (2) as the product. So if job seekers aren’t careful, either they are too good at either being the product or too good at being the seller (or just plain too good at making themselves sound like the latest and greatest new brand of toothpaste), but either way, they end up trapped in some weird kind of brand awareness campaign that has them exhausted and discouraged and often achieving negligible results. And has hiring managers wondering whether it is a full moon and all the aliens have landed.
Why? Because people aren’t staplers. They’re much more complex than that. And their target market is also made up of people who aren’t just looking at them like objects to fulfill a job function for the betterment of the company. Sure, it may start out that way when they post the position opening, but once they get candidates in front of them, they don’t necessarily want to be “sold” to at every turn; they want to believe they can build a relationship with you, the person.
In other words, they are real people who want to talk to other real people. They’re not interested in personal brands and products.
So what is a job seeker to do? “Sell” yourself? Yes. “Position” yourself? Yes. But along the way, don’t lose sight of the fact that at the end of all this strategizing, it comes down to a small group of human beings who want another human being to fill a need but often just as importantly blend in with them, coexist each day in a very real way. They’re not buying a TV, after all.
So who am I anyway? Why do I think my advice is so valuable?
My name is Stephen Van Vreede. My company is called No Stone Unturned, and I have spent 15 years on both sides of the corporate hiring experience.
The short story is that I have an MBA in Marketing from Villanova University and a dual B.S. degree in Finance & Logistics from the University of Maryland. I am a certified professional résumé writer (CPRW) and a member of the Professional Association of Résumé Writers and Career Coaches (PARW/CC). As I mentioned, I paid my dues in the corporate world eventually running a large-scale call center for a major truck rental company, and I have spent the past 7 years with No Stone Unturned, assisting job seekers in achieving their goals.
In February 2009, I launched a new group job hunting networking site: NoddlePlace.com. It is absolutely FREE to join, and you have access to everything on the site. Come check it out at NoddlePlace. You can also follow me on Twitter.
“A job search is nothing more than a marketing campaign with you being the product.”
“An effective job seeker in today’s market understands the power of personal branding.”
“A job seeker is a sales professional; the more nuanced the pitch, the more effective the result.”
As a career pro who has participated in establishing this line of thinking, I certainly can nod my head in agreement with these sentiments.
Yes, the job search process is definitely a sales process, and yes, you are essentially the “product” that is being sold. So it stands to reason that you are positioning that product when you are out there presenting yourself to potential employers.
So why if I agree with these sentiments, do they make me cringe so much when I hear someone express them?
Maybe it’s because I can’t stop thinking about cattle whenever I hear the word “branding” or about human trafficking whenever I start thinking of job seekers as “products” to be auctioned off to the highest bidder.
I know, call me sentimental. Maybe I’m a bleeding heart, after all. But although I certainly agree with the statements above, in theory, it’s the application that often comes off a little stale to me.
Listen. You can’t play the game without a program, right? And without a doubt, this job search game is played best when the primary aspects of a successful sales lifecycle are recognized and, to some extent, implemented.
Yet to leave it at that and wash your hands of the discussion misses a crucial element: the human element.
Unlike selling cars or the latest pharmaceutical drug, in this case, the seller must play two roles: (1) as the sales rep. who is selling themselves (2) as the product. So if job seekers aren’t careful, either they are too good at either being the product or too good at being the seller (or just plain too good at making themselves sound like the latest and greatest new brand of toothpaste), but either way, they end up trapped in some weird kind of brand awareness campaign that has them exhausted and discouraged and often achieving negligible results. And has hiring managers wondering whether it is a full moon and all the aliens have landed.
Why? Because people aren’t staplers. They’re much more complex than that. And their target market is also made up of people who aren’t just looking at them like objects to fulfill a job function for the betterment of the company. Sure, it may start out that way when they post the position opening, but once they get candidates in front of them, they don’t necessarily want to be “sold” to at every turn; they want to believe they can build a relationship with you, the person.
In other words, they are real people who want to talk to other real people. They’re not interested in personal brands and products.
So what is a job seeker to do? “Sell” yourself? Yes. “Position” yourself? Yes. But along the way, don’t lose sight of the fact that at the end of all this strategizing, it comes down to a small group of human beings who want another human being to fill a need but often just as importantly blend in with them, coexist each day in a very real way. They’re not buying a TV, after all.
So who am I anyway? Why do I think my advice is so valuable?
My name is Stephen Van Vreede. My company is called No Stone Unturned, and I have spent 15 years on both sides of the corporate hiring experience.
The short story is that I have an MBA in Marketing from Villanova University and a dual B.S. degree in Finance & Logistics from the University of Maryland. I am a certified professional résumé writer (CPRW) and a member of the Professional Association of Résumé Writers and Career Coaches (PARW/CC). As I mentioned, I paid my dues in the corporate world eventually running a large-scale call center for a major truck rental company, and I have spent the past 7 years with No Stone Unturned, assisting job seekers in achieving their goals.
In February 2009, I launched a new group job hunting networking site: NoddlePlace.com. It is absolutely FREE to join, and you have access to everything on the site. Come check it out at NoddlePlace. You can also follow me on Twitter.
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© 2012 Created by Chris Russell.
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