Do you have a specialist mentality

Recently I read an interesting post entitled ‘No thanks – I’m just not that nice…’ and it got me to thinking. All too often we devalue ourselves and what we offer – it’s not something that is unique to recruiters, lots of people who are passionate about their job or experts in their fields are naturally drawn to help others in their chosen career specialties.

Think about it – do you have family, friends and maybe friends of friends all asking you for tips and advice when they are looking for a new job or wanting to update their resume? If you’re like us, you are probably happy to have a look and offer some advice! And there is nothing wrong with this – it is a compliment that others look to us for advice and respect our professional advice.

The problems start when either a. your advice isn’t implemented and somehow you’re made responsible for any jobs not secured, or b. they don’t listen or understand and keep coming back to you. This is where is starts to get difficult to draw the line in the sand. But it is important that you know when you are being helpful and when you are actually providing a service that should in fact be a chargeable job.

Think of it this way: if you go to a specialist for advice you expect to pay for it don’t you, so why should you sell yourself short?

How do you decide when enough is enough

This is actually one of the most important aspects of not giving too much away! If you are in the habit of happily helping family and friends, you might never have established how much is too much. As a general rule of thumb, I work on initial advice being comprehensive and encompassing. Any follow up from this point actually invites a repeat transactional relationship, ie: just look at this, ok I’ve done as you said, now look again – ad infinitum! So I am more than happy to have a look and offer you advice, how you implement it, or choose to action it is then up to you. Sounds easy right? It has actually taken me YEARS to get to this point!

Listen for the triggers

Once you are aware of your tendency to give away that which actually is of value, you will start to become aware of when and where you are selling yourself short. It might just start as finding yourself annoyed at being asked the same questions, or feeling put out that the person isn’t listening to your advice. It might be that you out and out realise you are being used, even thought the person doing the ‘using’ is not likely at fault (after all you have allowed and perhaps even encouraged them)! Whenever you start to notice that it seems the relationship has become unbalanced, it’s time to take action!

What strategies can you employ to value yourself?

Firstly, remember that you are not a personal career consultant – you have mastered your craft to assist those who will ultimately provide your income, so don’t cut yourself out of your deserved income! Secondly, there is nothing wrong with owning the fact that you have a specialist knowledge and this is a service you have a right to expect payment for! Finally, remember that YOU set the boundaries – make it clear from the outset that you are able to give initial advice and from there on they have the tools to make it work for themselves!!!