Every week, NETSHARE hosts Ask the Coach, a phone-in coaching session with leading career management experts. Here is an excerpt from this week’s session with Barbara Safani, owner of Career Solvers based in New York City.
All of us can use a little professional help organizing our lives. If you are a fan of reality television, you may know of programs such as “What Not to Wear,” where the two show hosts help some fashion-challenged guest to improve their wardrobe. Or maybe you need a professional to help you reorganize your closet and eliminate all the stuff you haven’t worn for 10 years. The same is true of a career coach; they offer their services as experts to help job seekers organize their careers.
In this week’s coach call, career expert Barbara Safani made a compelling comparison between a career coach and a professional closet organizer.
If you are an experienced professional, you may ask yourself “Why do I need a professional resume writer or a career coach? Can’t I do this myself?” Well, at some level, you can do a lot of the work of job search without help. However, as with trying to clean out your closet, you are probably too close to the problem, which means you can’t be objective, or as effective.
Let’s consider our closets. We all have them, and like Fibber McGee’s famous hall closet, our own closets are often out of control. When we open the door we vow to clean things up, but as we go through them we become sidetracked by those items that hold fond memories. We think about that dress we haven’t worn for years, or that tennis racket that reminds you to start taking lessons again. You may have straightened up the closet, but in the end it’s still too cluttered with useless stuff. The same can be said for many resumes; they are cluttered with useless information that has relevance only for the job seeker.
This is where an impartial observer, like a career coach, can be invaluable. A career coach can provide a new perspective, since they have nothing personally invested in the process. Career experts can help us see ourselves from 40,000 feet as well as up close. They help bring into focus what will show us what facts are relevant to the search at hand (and not what was relevant two years ago, like that outdated dress). Career coaches are worth the investment. They can help shorten your job search, increase your pay, and best of all help you understand the best fit for your expertise.
So if it’s time for you to clean your career closet, consider hiring a professional to help you.
