If you want the job done right, do it yourself !!

So, now it was time to ponder that elusive question - what to do, what to do ...

My former employer set me up with an ”outplacement consulting and career transition services” company.  Pretty fancy sounding words for a bunch of unemployed hopefuls wouldn’t you say ??  When I read the brochure I was very excited about my initial meeting.  There were promises of my own personal career coach to help me define my goals, build a plan to achieve those goals and execute it successfully.  They offered services of career assessment, professional support and consulting, training sessions and professional development.  The list goes on and on … I was pumped !!  These people were going to help me find my direction in life and provide insight to all my unanswered questions; I could hardly wait :)

When I entered the self serve reception area of their offices, the place was like a ghost town (I swear at one point I saw a tumbleweed rolling down the hallway).  I picked up the phone in the abandoned office and left a voice mail for my consultant, then waited 10 minutes alone wondering if anyone actually worked there.  She finally arrived and took me down the hall to her office.  Our meeting consisted of me filling out a questionnaire to provide my personal details, followed by her setting me up with access to their client web-centre.  She gave me a tour of their office and still not one other person emerged from the dark cavern of offices; I was there one full hour and never saw another person other than my consultant. She then handed me a package filled with gobs of paperwork; contact lists for their offices, print screens from their web-centre, a listing of their webinars and most importantly, a sheet of “quick tips for work search”.

-         be organized

-         listen to your interviewer carefully

-         focus on the positive

-         look at growth industries

-         distinguish yourself

No shit Einstein.

Overall I’d say I was unimpressed with the services they had to offer.  Although admittedly I have used their website now and again and am attending many of their webinars, I’d say the program is highly overrated.  In a nutshell they are saving me some surfing time; providing me with links and small tidbits of information that I could eventually find for free if I dug deep enough.  The one thing they DON’T do is help you find a job; they just help you do the prep work.  And by help I mean they guide you on how to do the work yourself.  We are, after all, in a self serve society aren’t we?

But I will definitely take advantage of the service while I can - never look a gift horse in the mouth right ??

So now that I’m basically on my own, I have to try and sift through all these crazy thoughts that are collecting in this little head of mine.  Okay … anyone who’s ever met me knows that I have an exceptionally large noggin, but I was referring to content rather than size ;-)