The Life Coach Effect

If you like bad ideas, I got you today.

Learned a new one this week: “The Life Coach Effect”

From Jim Janosik “Candidates entering the process from day one knowing the top end of the range. Get to offer stage and they want 20% more than that because their Life Coach has them addicted to “know your worth”.”

More and more states around the country are requiring jobs to post salary ranges. (Yes, I understand it’s not perfect.) And companies are increasingly providing this info up front.

Yet there’s still people who get top-end offers and ask for significantly more…because that’s what they were told to do.

By their friends, parents, TikTok influencers, and the life coaches (lol) who get paid to regurgitate the same tired advice.

There’s a lot of dumb ideas still floating out there. Here’s my top 5 list:

❌Keep your resume to 1 page.

This made sense when WHEN WE WERE USING PAPER RESUMES.

❌Keyword stuff your resume with keywords of every conceivable skill so you’ll pop up in more searches.

Yes, you’ll pop up in more searches…of jobs you don’t fit. Wonderful. If you enjoy frustration, this is excellent advice.

What’s worse?

You’ll also appear in on searches you DO fit, but look completely unfocused.

❌Obsess over fonts, colors and format.

The amusing part of this one: everyone’s got a different opinion. BECAUSE THERE IS NO RIGHT ANSWER.

In all my time of reviewing resumes, never once did I rule someone out or push them forward because I hated/loved the style. (Not counting design resumes.) 

Readability is important. Well articulated experience is important. Fonts are not.

❌Always make the company say their number first.

“Never give the first number” is ingrained in our negotiation culture. It’s not wrong. But it’s not *always* right.

If there’s one homework assignment I’d recommend, it’s reading “Never Split The Difference” by Chris Voss. Familiarize yourself with the concept of anchoring. 

Tldr: Whoever goes first warps the reality of the negotiation. What was absurd is now reasonable and sets the starting point for counters. But it’s not the end of the world, as long as you’re aware and know how to react.

If you know the range head of time, why not lead by giving a top end ask? Why risk the company giving a starting point on the low end and fighting an uphill battle from there?

But if they do go first with a low floor, there’s other techniques to counter. Success or failure isn’t based on who goes first or second.

In other words: it’s a much more nuanced topic than any hard and fast rules you may see on social media. And it’s worth going deep on and learning more.

❌Keep following up ad nauseam.

Ghosting sucks and shouldn’t happen, but it does. But pestering people non-stop is *not* a solve.

There’s also plenty of situations where hiring companies had a bomb go off and their hiring plans go sidetracked. Sending them a dozen emails in the meantime isn’t going to help.

A better use of your time? Moving onto the next.

What’d I miss?