Career Advice - The Voice of Job Seekers

There’s Career Advice You Should Add Context or Ignore

We see and hear lousy advice daily, but if people want advice for immediate application, they are vulnerable to following anything partially anecdotal. Bad advice is often outdated advice. It worked, and then it stopped working. Like low-fat diets and Jane Fonda workouts, it worked for a few people at the time. Just as sure as mumble rap seemed cute at the time, it has the same effect as the old game telephone. Bit by bit, the main point gets misconstrued as it’s passed on from person to person, and the advice loses its essence and relevance. That’s why job seekers need to filter the advice they hear, vet it carefully, and customize it to their taste.

By the way, mumble rap never made sense to me, either.

Whether in one-on-one career coaching or reading a LinkedIn post, it must target your specific situation. If it doesn’t, but it makes sense, you can apply and modify it to your problem. At one time, copying and pasting the job description to your resume was a thing, and it worked. When I was traveling to Army bases in 2010-11, training and coaching federal workers’ current job skills, the Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V method was taught and encouraged to do it by people who should know better. It worked for many workers.

The copying and pasting methods weren’t working for most workers then or now. Thus, the training I and about two dozen others provided helped them modernize their job search skills. To the dismay of resume writers and career coaches worldwide, this advice is still given and works, but for very few. Maybe a few more people than the number of dinosaur pet owners.

Some advice that seems good at the time expires and becomes bad advice.

My last two articles mentioned how the after-effects of lousy advice could impair good career professionals or reputable advice because of the lack of data or information. One piece of advice could work well in one industry but may be detrimental in others. Years ago, I had a guest on the podcast who wrote resumes for a specific sector and said his clients benefitted from having photos on their resumes worked well. I wasn’t willing to argue with success, nor should anyone else.

The other thing I stressed was how broad sweeping advice to will on others turns bad and sometimes mislabeled because offered to the wrong audience. I’ve heard for years why everyone should learn to code, but it’s rare when someone breaks it down to why it applies to me. For the medical and computer fields, it’s very applicable, even if it’s for two different reasons. For every else, without context, it sounds great, but it doesn’t answer why.

Here are things to consider when you hear and want to implement this career advice:

This advice is worth a try because others in my industry are using it and winning
The guidance has supporting data and evidence showing why it works
This advice plays to my strength and resonates with me
I need to do something out of my comfort zone to get traction
I see how I can modify it for me

What (possibly) is considered bad advice?

“Well, it depends…” is a frequently used response to a vague advice offering.

The list below has something for everyone, but I want to emphasize how some advice needs better context than one size fits everyone.

With context and understanding, it may fit one person but not the next. I know it applies to me as a career professional, too. General advice lands on the ground most of the time.

Let’s say advice givers and advice takers have work to do:

Advice: You’re too young, you’re too old.

Why it’s bad: The advice has irony for everyone. Those older were young once and thought and said these very words. People are breaking age barriers daily. There are the Mark Zuckerburg’s and Colonel Sanders’ waiting and “got next” worldwide. And there’s data to support arguments opposing either side.

The reframe: Always assume age is nothing but a number unless the job may have physical limitations to abilities. The worst thing to do is take age to keep you from building skills. Ageism is a thing, but learning there are no boundaries. You will need to modify how you present and market yourself in most cases and not avoid it because someone says there’s a boogie man in the bushes.

Advice: You should have X amount of jobs on your resume.

Why it’s bad: Content and audience are everything regarding your resume. People find it challenging because it requires thinking, research, and knowing their industry.

The reframe: If you don’t write to target a job, company, or industry, you will miss everything. Many people benefit from writing their resumes for each position, while others benefit from understanding the industry and the problems they solve.

Advice: Follow your dreams, passions, heart, and fantasies.

Why it’s bad: It’s inspiring to get people’s attention, but it’s intellectual insulin. It’s empty calories in the process of being bloated and nothing more. Follow dreams or “follow” anything advice has inspired millions and sounds good at the time, but lacks substance.

The reframe: It works if practical steps follow it, then it works. By itself, it’s a slogan.

Advice: New graduates, don’t negotiate your salary! Just work hard, and you’ll get noticed.

Why it’s bad: Young graduates are normalizing innovative tactics without the burden of asking for more money. Gen Z is making it work for them in the long game by asking for mentorship, more PTO (Personal Time Off), and paid Professional development.

The reframe: There are many parts of a compensation package to create a more attractive competitive offer. Remote or hybrid work days, flexible schedules, gym memberships, and stock options are possibilities to create an equitable and tangible package. Oh yeah, more cash still works, depending on the industry.

Advice: Don’t do your old job.

Why it’s bad: My take is different on this philosophy for two reasons, 1) Your old job skills often help set an example for those you may manage who currently do your old job, and 2) Your old job may be a transition job as separations of all kinds happens.

The reframe: Leverage the good and transferable skills from your old job. My ability to “diffuse bombs before they blow up” was my calling card as a call center manager. In my experience, middle and upper management personnel with excellent people skills fielded complaints mild and hostile with ease.

I barely touched the surface of the broad but unuseful advice we often hear. I would love to hear what advice is terrible to you, why, and how it would work once you reframe it. You should also reframe the advice given out of fear of just avoiding something because there is an unknown factor. Use the same strategy to reframe advice from fear and understand why it wouldn’t apply to you.

Here are others to rework in your mind and reframe:

Loyalty is everything.

I have no respect if they didn’t do better when they resigned.

Don’t be friends with your coworkers!

Don’t be afraid (to take chances?).

Never stay at a job X amount of years.

Include all of your education on your resume even if the position doesn’t require it.

Never work for free.

Job-hopping looks bad.

“Everybody has dues in life to pay…”

Always Do more than required.

Think big.

“Do something you love and never work a day in your life.”

Never quit.

You can do anything you want if you want it bad enough.

Fake it til you make it.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers!" I offer compassionate career and job search advice as I hack and re-imagine the job search process. You need to be "the prescription to an employer's job description." You must be solution-oriented and work in positions in companies where you are the remedy. Your job search must be a lifestyle, and your career must be in front of you constantly. You can no longer shed your aspirations at the change seasons. There are strengths you have that need constant use and development. Be sure you sign up to download my E-Book, "421 Modern Job Search Tips 2021!" You can find my career advice and work in media outlets such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Glassdoor, and many other outlets.

by Mark Anthony Dyson

Bad Career Advice is Given By Good and Bad Career Advisors

Bad Career Advice is Given By Good and Bad Career Advisors by Mark Anthony Dyson

Bad career advice is freely offered these days and pretty reckless at times. People will give advice coming from an experience or life experience. While sharing what happened to them took place, the assumption of “it will happen to you” is projected to their listeners. The real question for you to ask is, “Is this advice for me?”

For reasons unknown, some will wonder if the advice applies to them and will fill in the blanks with context themselves. Others are gullible and will use it and project the same direction (maybe with a bit of variation) to their audience.

It’s time to talk about it. I just read this Havard Business Review article published a few days after my article on bad career advice.

While a career advisor’s intent sometimes is pure, lousy career advisors advise others for selfish reasons. I hear certified career coaches’ cries saying this is why people should pursue advisors with coaching accreditations. I can make a case contrary to suggest more than a few career coaches are greedy and have misplaced motives for bad advice.

But I digress. Well, slightly.

Good and reliable career advice from reliable sources is vital now. It’s time for people to be discerning through their advice-seeking, even if it’s from coaches who have vetted experience. Yes, follow the career professionals with a history of great advice in YOUR eyes. It will be great to have several people you trust consistently show up unselfishly and thoughtfully. Still, people taking advice must work hard to apply it to their situations and beware of shallow and misguided advice.

Watch out for the wolves.

Unfortunately, some people masquerade as good advice-givers will appear as great people. They know the game: give good advice to get your services. Remember, 95% of them will repeatedly offer the same recycled advice, but more often than not, they are looking for low-hanging fruit. Usually, they are folks who are intelligent but at wit’s end. They will borrow some universally sound advice to bait people and claim they have testimonies on their website as proof of quality services but are quick to pounce on people to onboard with them.

Some signs of wolves in sheep’s clothing:

They are (at best) one or two-trick ponies. They often advise without real-life examples or context of how and to whom it applies.
They’re more interested in being right than being suitable for your situation. The same people don’t try to understand before being understood (Shout out to Stephen Covey).
Their advice is aesthetically pleasing or a fine-sounding argument, but it doesn’t work. A good example is when someone is dissatisfied with someone having a one-page resume (and caveats if you’re under 30 years old). It’s outdated since young professionals have had four jobs with substantive training, accomplishments, and professional development. Yes, college students with five or more jobs before graduating college may have career-relevant achievements.
They try to become your friend TOO fast. Cults aren’t the only ones recruiting you and trying to prove their worth. They want you to follow them, maybe give you a discount, and buy one or more of their services. Vet them and take time to see how they are beyond their presentation. Google them, see whom they associate with, and vet who recommends them.
Their best advice is always the next episode (“if you want to know, sign up for my…”). You should sell to get your money, but is everything you offer come with a sales pitch? Offering value is the currency for the long game. Selling is not bad. Just the illusion of good advice through overwhelming sales pitches is terrible.

The good ones will assess incessantly.

A good personal trainer will conduct some assessments before training and ask many questions. They must do because the wrong prescriptive exercise can cause injuries and exacerbate additional damage before their assessment.

I remember seeing a personal trainer at a gym (use your imagination) having their client perform weighted step-ups on a chest bench press and favoring her left side than the right. She was not enjoying the experience, grimacing in pain and looking like she would fall at any moment. Had the trainer assessed, he would have chosen another exercise that was safer, doable, and perhaps more enjoyable. Similarly, a good career professional would do the same.

Career professionals have their moments, tho!

I’ve noticed good career advisors, from time to time, have good intentions but occasionally give bad advice. Likely it’s because of the lack of context or experience in the industry. But they’re not hiding behind obscurity or generalities. In my experience, they are generous and are always looking to perfect their crafting. The job market constantly shifts, and they need to understand industry trends. Many of us belong to a professional group or two and are connected to reputable career professionals.

They will also uphold integral practices and transparency and invite insight from other career professionals. They understand that not everyone’s path is the same or one-size-fits-all. Since March 2020, our advice may generally change and sometimes be trumped by engaged industry professionals (like an engineer who just changed jobs to get a promotion in engineering). An established could give the most updated advice for their industry—better than career coaches, advisors, counselors, or anyone like me(ha!). Most of us have gone through job searches at a time in our lives. We empathize with job seekers’ frustration and want to make things easier and provide help.

I can’t emphasize every job seeker needs to vet any career advice, even if it’s sound. The best advice you’ll find is ones aligning with your goals, situation, and energy. Your job search can function without a dozen advisors, but it doesn’t hurt if they all add value. It’s detrimental if you’re looking for shortcuts and fast results. There aren’t any.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

by Mark Anthony Dyson

Most Young Professionals Should Ignore Their Parent’s Career Advice

If your parents haven’t been on the job market in 10-15 years, even if they were jobless during the great recession, you should **mostly** ignore their advice. If they are career practitioners or have intentionally changed jobs two or three times since 2008, then politely thank them for their input. Or maybe it’s their attitude you should ignore, because still, even for someone like me who is a career writer and practitioner at times, it reeks of “old school” stench.

I’m critical of my generation of professionals because we have one bit of advice that stands the test of time—people.

“People make the world go around” to paraphrase the Stylistics. People hire people—all of those clichés.

Many of my generations are giving sprinting advice and not marathon tips. Even worse, they are giving hybrid advice that’s at best outdated that helps only a few.

“Look full-time to get a full-time job.”

It was confirmed at that time when you went door-to-door visiting employers in person, attend cattle calls for jobs, and visit job fairs who actually would have real jobs and hire on site. That would be true if we were looking through the newspaper daily, fax or mail-in resumes, and oh wait, don’t call them because they’re not taking calls.

“You got to sell yourself.”

True. But more often than not, it’s all they got. Ask them how they sell themselves, and they will revert to unemployment training they had from 1999. Have they interviewed in front of a panel of five potential coworkers? How do you handle a panel interview? If they have done so, then they may offer something valuable. Today’s job interviewing is not using your will to get a result. There is a skill requiring research, tact, and respect with a pinch of personality that makes an attractive job candidate and is need more than ever in virtual interviews.

“It’s a numbers game.”

There are too many stories of those who applied to hundreds of jobs without getting an interview and a plethora of reasons why outside of filling out applications. It was true in 2000, but today, not so much.

“All you need is a social presence online.”

Many employers and recruiters use a social profile before initiating contact, and many more vet candidates based on background checks. I cringe at all things, “…all you need is…” It would be best if you were where your industry colleagues find jobs with a robust profile that takes seconds to figure out what you do. People who want to refer your final decisions are based on what you tell them in your profile and compare it to others.

“You need to get out the house.”

Well, we know that’s not true. Yet, some forgot what March 2020 to June 2020 was like.

“Employers will do a credit and background check during references.”

Well, not true. Credit checks are a different story. Credit checks are banned in 10 states and some cities, and the others not so much. It’s good to understand if a state permits credit checks as part of their hiring process, become familiar with what employers are considering.

These are just a few of the many outdated advice parents are giving their young. They probably have gotten it from friends, but if they don’t regularly hire, work as career advisors of some type, or have experience the interview process in the last few years, you should judiciously consider their advice. If you ignore it completely, fine. It’s probably better to hear it all from elsewhere as the resources are plentiful. And you’ll need to vet that too.