I have an issue and no doubt my readers/followers know I openly like to talk about them.

And if I do not get things out of my head at an early stage they rattle around my head, get louder and louder. Then I blow up. This time it is a bunch of small things that have set me off.

Today’s issue is this:

Be very, very careful who you listen to.

I am so very frustrated with some of the Bull Shit advice I see some people giving out. Seems that in these “tough” economic times you can’t walk (or Internet surf) without bumping into one.

Current Bull Shit advice:

Job Seekers

• I hear that at a recent job club event here in Minneapolis 2 local search firm “gurus” were critical of the use of LinkedIn. WHAT?!?!?! Wait, it gets better. Combined number of LinkedIn connections between the two “gurus”? 1. Yeah, ONE. I call Bull Shit.
• Start a job seeker blog. No way, it’s a waste of time. Start a personal blog that will be ongoing and that starts with your job search? Absolutely. Spend hours and hours setting one up, writing content, getting links, contacting other bloggers, promoting it on Twitter, Facebook and other places, wait for the SEO on your blog to work, it is a waste of time. Pick up the phone, send email, network your ass off. That’s a good use of your time. Again, if you are going to write an ongoing blog than yes, blog about the job search, after you get your job how cool the company is, about the projects you are working on, things you are doing out side of work. If not, the advice is Bull Shit.
• This one has me nearly speechless ‘Don’t Burn Bridges’ Is Bad Career Advice for obvious reasons. But the comment that really got me is “3) You won’t need a reference.” Since when? I have worked on behalf of a lot of cool companies and they all require references. The small groups tend to be more adamant about it because a bad hire by a small company can do serious damages to the culture. Don’t need a reference. Bull Shit.

Recruiters

• This article on ERE last week got me going Beyond the Hype: Making Social Networking Work which is really no different than the one written by his business partner last year titled Blogging Bob. What I do not understand is how someone who does not use Social Media, blogs, etc can say if they work or not. How do they know? Since they are here in Minnesota maybe they should look around as we have quite a few success stories. My guess is that they hope companies do not use these tools for they fear they will lose some business. Bull Shit.

Friends, here is my point for calling these things out. Many people have an agenda. They are selling something, trying to protect their turf, or trying to be thought of or establish themselves as “experts” and/or “gurus”.

My perspective is not to push Social Media or LinkedIn as the next best thing or the “Silver Bullet” but as an additional tool to what a job seeker or recruiter is doing. It can work for most people depending on the location, industry and skill set.

This is not to take the place of networking, job boards, email, phone calls, etc.

For those who have heard me do a presentation or webinar you always here me say you need multiple tools to get the job done. A roofer needs more than a hammer. When fishing, it makes sense to go where the fish are versus sitting where everyone else is doing the same thing and waiting for them to come by.

You may think my rant is BS. That’s fair. Leave a comment, send me an email or do a post of your own calling me out. But be careful, this is just the tip of the iceberg of my rant...