October 2014

I’m only saying what many who’ve participated in such programs already know. Most outplacement programs are mostly hype, delivering little substance. Or, as I like to say, they are 90% smoke and only 10% horsepower (or less) and a rip-off for the companies that pay for them. The reason is simple, the purveyors of typical outplacement services over-promise and vastly under-deliver how much they will do for those they are supposed to help. Outplacement services are often utilized when a company downsizes headcount for whatever reason. Another example may be universities or trade schools, which offer outplacement services as a part of their programs. Yet another might be outplacement services offered to military service members who are completing their enlistments or careers. Without going into detail because, after all, this is a blog and not an in-depth article, let’s look at

Never trust anyone’s word or assurances. I suppose I sound pessimistic and paranoid but in business it is simple common sense. You may not consider yourself a business person per se, although when you interview you are conducting a business transaction and, therefore, should think of it in this manner. President Ronald Reagan liked to say, regarding his meetings with the Soviets during the 1980’s, “Trust but Verify”. He may have popularized it Stateside but, giving credit where credit is due, he adopted and translated an Old Russian proverb he liked to use during negotiations with them, which states, “Доверяй, но проверяй” (doveryai, no proveryai). It happens to some people when they interview, hearing what they want to hear, they lower their guard and fail to get written confirmation to validate what they’d been told is real. Relying on trust alone,

When I encounter job descriptions, they usually speak about a minimum or an ideal range of experience required. I don’t recall seeing job postings stating a maximum limit of experience and, with good reason, it would be considered discriminatory. Yet, there are job seekers both interested and very qualified, who are ironically disqualified with the excuse of their being overqualified. I suggest it‘s most often used as a generic excuse to disqualify anyone who doesn’t fit neatly into the little boxes or differ from the majority of cookie-cutter people and personalities. It is also utilized, in my opinion, as a veiled form of discrimination.     There are, of course, some valid reasons why companies worry about considering those with experience exceeding the stated job requirement. For example:  someone might say all the right things and accept a position lower than that for