An hour-and-a-half of my life lost

[gsabc]

I attended a webinar yesterday on age discrimination and how to get a job when you're over 50. It was by a job search coach who advertises extensively on LinkedIn. About three-quarters of the way through, it dawned on me that little of what was said specifically addressed age discrimination and how to get a job when you're over 50. It also dawned on me that a lot of what was being said was familiar. When I looked back at my notes and slides for a webinar on interviewing skills that I took late last year by the same job search coach, they matched over 90% with the notes and slides from this one.

My learning of the day was that the only real difference between the webinars was the titles, which were aimed at different audiences. Otherwise, they were both the same infomercial for the set of CDs and books sold by this job search coach. After the last one, I had tried to find information on one of her suggestions, which by sheer coincidence was also the subject of a large portion of her talk and of one of the CD/book areas in the set she was selling. There were many sites explaining how to follow the suggestion, all available at no cost over the Internet.

Needless to say, I shall be unsubscribing from the multiple, related e-mail lists run by her. I do not recommend anything by Career Confidential, unless you have an hour-and-a-half to waste and a spare $250 (a bit more than just spare change) to spend on her books full of information obtainable for free elsewhere.

[mellytu74]

That stinks.

I have become extremely leery of anything marketing to the "over 50" job-seeking audience for this very reason.

[Bob Juch]

That stinks.

I have become extremely leery of anything marketing to the "over 50" job-seeking audience for this very reason.

Be very leery of anything marketing to a job-seeking audience of any age.

[silverscreenselect]

That stinks.

I have become extremely leery of anything marketing to the "over 50" job-seeking audience for this very reason.

Be very leery of anything marketing to a job-seeking audience of any age.

The last sentence of the original post was quite valid. There's information available for free (on a lot of the jobhunter sites) that's just as good as books and CDs they want you to pay money for (where do you think the author got the information that's in the books and CDs). You just have to look a bit harder to find it.

[mellytu74]

That stinks.

I have become extremely leery of anything marketing to the "over 50" job-seeking audience for this very reason.

Be very leery of anything marketing to a job-seeking audience of any age.

The last sentence of the original post was quite valid. There's information available for free (on a lot of the jobhunter sites) that's just as good as books and CDs they want you to pay money for (where do you think the author got the information that's in the books and CDs). You just have to look a bit harder to find it.

sss --

I agree completely.

I've found terrific stuff about starting the craft business (based on the collages I made for my godparent, TLAF and friends) on the internet. I combined it with information I got when I started the freelance business.

What I was referring to as "that stinks" was that the lecture by the woman wasn't anything that gs didn't already have from another of her lecture.

That she didn't bother to change much of the content to address what turned out to be merely a change in title is particularly galling. Having gone through the same thing that gs is going through now, I find it at the high end of the "particularly galling" scale.

[jaybee]

A few basic rules about presentations:

1. If they ask you to make the commitment to stay for the entire presentation -Get up and walk out.
2. If you are five minutes in and and with all the words tossed out by the host you still have no clue as to what the basic plan is - Get up and walk out
3. If they open the presentation with a lot of vague claims that are all tied into claims of great success - Get up and walk out.

[Spock]

GSABC-I don't know your situation in life, or where you are etc. But if I woke up and absolutely needed a job -even over 50-I would look at the Bakken. Neighbor, approx. 55, just headed out there and is driving a van hauling workers around and making real good money.

Lots of opportunity, even away from the rigs.

[gsabc]

A few basic rules about presentations:

1. If they ask you to make the commitment to stay for the entire presentation -Get up and walk out.
2. If you are five minutes in and and with all the words tossed out by the host you still have no clue as to what the basic plan is - Get up and walk out
3. If they open the presentation with a lot of vague claims that are all tied into claims of great success - Get up and walk out.

I like it. These pretty much describe the webinars. Needless to say, I'm off her mailing lists and will ignore anything related.

[gsabc]

GSABC-I don't know your situation in life, or where you are etc. But if I woke up and absolutely needed a job -even over 50-I would look at the Bakken. Neighbor, approx. 55, just headed out there and is driving a van hauling workers around and making real good money.

Lots of opportunity, even away from the rigs.

Intriguing idea. Unfortunately I can't relocate at this time. Mom is 95 and really needs one of the kids nearby. Other surviving sibling (oldest sister died sixteen years ago at way too young an age) is in Salt Lake City. The current job hunt is strictly in the Boston area.