Janice Worthington

"Perish the thought," you might have said years ago. Except for the boom of the 1990s, a mere but influential blip in the last 60 years, career experts have been invaluable not only in maximizing a job candidate's potential but in getting the candidate hired.

In the present climate where the absence of specific keywords may prevent the scanner from referring your resume to the gatekeeper and where the mere exclusion of a passionate point may cause your final interview to generate a job offer to the other guy, opportunities don't automatically go to those who best qualify, but to those who outperform.

Other than a quick business writing and interviewing class at the local college, there is virtually no training in career development, job hunting or securing job offers. And since these strategies change regularly with economic scenarios, there is certainly no continuing education.

Why? Because candidates are traditionally in denial. Until recently, the career manager/job search coach stood with the funeral director in popularity. But times have changed and candidates have been forced to seek help.

With folks changing jobs every two to five years, candidates should be aware of the following resources for their job hunt.

Career counselor: Just as the goal of the school counselor is to guide students toward career choices, the career counselor, through evaluation and consultation, assists clients in identifying talents, aptitudes and personality traits in determining the best career fit.

Job search coach: While qualified to evaluate credentials regarding the feasibility of getting a different position, the job search coach focuses more on teaching the client to get hired.

Coaching is far more hands-on than counseling and includes everything from resume and portfolio preparation, development of job search strategies and distributing resumes, to ongoing instruction in competitive interviewing and negotiation of compensation packages.

If you are perfect for a company but can't get in the door, or if you never get invited for a second interview, you are either making strategic errors or are being passed over by someone who is outperforming you on the resume or in the interview. You may well out qualify the candidate who gets the job offer, but he may have been better coached.

Executive recruiter: Generally working on behalf of corporate clients who pay them on a retainer or contingency, executive recruiters are seen by job hunters as a free service. They aren't.

If you have contacted an executive recruiter to no avail, remember his job description does not include finding a job for you. You are never the recruiter's priority. If he takes an interest in you following submission of a resume, it is because you happen to meet a client company's specs.

To illustrate the profession's desire to distinguish itself from the old school, applicant-paid employment agency, the National Association of Executive Recruiters will not admit companies that market candidates to prospective employers. There is no reason not to contact search firms. Just remember the distinction.

Certified resume writer: Simply stated the professional resume writer is responsible for significantly increasing your odds of getting in the door. More than good writers or basic secretarial services, the best resume writers are hybrid employment experts and print marketers.

They have a working knowledge of most industry environments and their related professions, enabling them to dissect a client's background only to repackage it with a style, drawing out areas of expertise simultaneously with performance highlights and making a compelling case for an invitation to an interview.

Resume distribution services: A candidate can hire a service to post his resume on numerous electronic job boards, research and target specialized executive recruiters, blast to recruiter generalists, submit his resume to exclusive databases and do mass mailings directly to companies either by e-mail or snail mail. </FO

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