MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS
Management consultants who counsel job seekers and run seminars on job-hunting skills abound, and it's sometimes difficult to get a fix on who is a serious consultant and who is merely calling himself a consultant while he looks for a "real" job. One litmus test is how long the person has been in business. Another is how impressive his list of clients is. If a consultant does a lot of consulting work for Fortune 500 companies or major corporations in your industry, that's a good sign. Before you use a consultant's services, ask to see their resume and sit down and talk with them informally about who they know and what they’ve done. If they haven’t been a consultant for at least a year, forget working with them. For your purposes, you want someone with an established, recognized reputation.
The advantage of working with management consultants is that they frequently work both sides of the fence. A consultant may be counseling job candidates on how to interview while at the same time counseling employers on how to hire good employees. Most management consultants limit themselves to helping you brush up on your job-hunting skills and do not offer any direct placement services. They typically conduct seminars or short classes on job-hunting skills, and many do individual counseling. But keep in mind that some consultants may have contacts that can be very helpful to you.
IMAGE CONSULTANTS
Image consultants, like management consultants, usually do not do any direct placement. In fact, an image consultant, unlike a management consultant, may not even have any contacts that will help you get a job. Instead, these specialists work with you to improve your image so you will be clearly and easily identifiable as top executive material.
Image consultants provide a range of services, and they are often fairly specialized. One consultant may advise clients only on how to dress; another may work only on a client's speech; while still another may teach power body language.
The worst way to find out whether you need an image consultant is to ask one. In an image consultant's eyes, everybody can do with a little polishing. The best way to find out whether you can use professional help is to ask a friend, after first explaining your fears and beseeching the friend to give you an honest opinion. Once a friend is convinced that an honest opinion is truly sought, most will oblige with the truth.
To choose a good image consultant, first meet with him or her to be sure you get along personally. Once you begin working with a consultant, don't let him or her undermine you. You are there because you need some build-up, and the most effective way for someone to give you this is to be totally supportive. Unfortunately, many people don't consider using a consultant until they have lost a job. Their morale is low, and their self-esteem needs a boost. So they decide to let an expert "remake" them. Image consultants who undermine their clients-either subtly or not so subtly-do more damage than good in the long run.
Before signing on with an image consultant, ask for references, and then check those references carefully. Find out if past clients felt they were truly helped by the service. Did they get the service they were promised? Did the assistance have a lasting effect? Do they think the work they did with the consultant contributed to their getting a better job? Would they spend the same amount of money again for the advice they got? If the answer is yes to most of these questions, and if you feel the chemistry is right with the image consultant, then go ahead and sign on for the help at your own risk.
Management and image consultants provide the least measurable return on your investment of any of the experts you can turn to. In addition, their fees are often high-running anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars-and, unfortunately, what they charge may have little or no relation to the quality of their service. Before you sign on for a consultant, therefore, you should ask yourself whether this is a service you really need or whether you might seek better assistance elsewhere.
See the following articles for more information:
- How to Start on the Right Foot in Your New Job
- What Are the Sources to Find the Information You Need
- The Background of Application Process
- How to Network and Take an Information Interview
