Career Coaching: Do Men See It Differently Than Women?

You know what I've noticed lately? Most of my career-coaching clients are men. Out of the last 26 career coaching/interview coaching/job search advice sessions I've conducted, 19 clients were male, and 7 were female. I know that doesn't represent the gender ratio within the medical sales field (or any other), so what gives?

Do females invest in their careers less than males? Do females prefer to seek help from male advisors rather than female ones? Do men have less of an issue than most people would believe about accepting career help from a female advisor?

There's a marked lack of females in business management positions, and I think that's partially because women are less likely (for various reasons) to play politics and participate in the networking necessary for climbing the ladder, and that women don't support each other in the workplace all that well-yet. But maybe another reason is that they aren't investing in their careers by seeking mentors, sharpening skill sets, or hiring a career coach in order to put themselves in the best possible position for advancement.

Does the stereotypical image of a female candidate accepting a lower salary or unwilling to ask for a raise extend to the idea that she won't invest in herself as a candidate? Are women simply less competitive than men-which means they don't go after every advantage they can get?

Is it that women rely more on conventional methods of skill-building (classes, certifications, etc.) instead of slightly out-of-the-box ideas like interview coaching? Does it seem riskier to them? Men are notorious for being more willing to take risks in all areas of their lives, so maybe that explains their seemingly increased willingness to try something new.

Here's what I think: If women really are less confident in the workplace, it makes sense that they should seek out someone to interact with to build their candidate skill set and confidence. If women can't find a mentor the "traditional" way, hiring a career coach who climbed the medical sales corporate ladder as a female and can speak from personal experience in the trenches sounds like just the ticket. And if women value their careers, they should be willing to invest in themselves, sharpen their skills, take a few risks, and step on up to success.

How to Find a Job - 3 Powerful Tips

3 Tips to find a job in 2011

As a recruiter and career consultant I am often asked by job seekers what the best ways are to find a job. I can think of dozens of techniques but if I were job hunting right now here are the three main ways that I would go about the job search process.

Create a target list of companies that you want to work for and then send your cover letter and resume directly. Here is an idea, try dropping your resume off in person or using the mail. I know it sounds old fashioned but it still works.

Another way to target your job search is to find out who the recruiter or hiring manager is at your targeted organization and send them a personalized email with your resume attached. LinkedIn is a great source to find out this information. Another site that is useful and free is Spokeo.

Another great job hunting technique and way to effectively utilize LinkedIn is to join groups that are relevant to your career. LinkedIn has a search engine where you can plug in your keywords and they will suggest the groups that match best with the most popular groups listed first. While in the groups you can network through the discussions and also search jobs that are listed by other group members. There are also specific groups that were created for job seekers and recruiters to connect.