TikTok, Instagram, and now even, LinkedIn have degraded the quality of so many industries, including mine: the Career Storytelling and job search sector.
Years of experience and the hard yards of building intellectual value and proof are being drowned out by popular pods of entertainers who showcase made-up rules and ‘strategies’ that serve to tickle the ear, and in some instances create the havoc of confusion.
What’s unfortunate for the end-user of these career storytelling services is the result is veneer, an unstable framework that will fold at the first gust of wind.
Tips based on trite listicles of ‘do this/not that’ hacks versus the substantive thought-work, time and patience required to conduct a meaningful career change and job search process flash across the screen gripping you with their authenticism and relatable, contrived stories.
Slick marketers and their roiling waves of reciprocally supportive colleagues claim that their way is the only way. Career and recruiting bloggers whose claims to fame are being truth tellers, love to rile up their readers and be combative to the naysayers — these are the folks being prioritized by the publishers’ algorithms over meaningful and pragmatic content.
It’s a shame that this is happening, and that the platforms where many of these self-proclaimed experts reside encourage this behavior. Instead of girding their reputation with integrity and truth, they are valuing low-value content through algorithms and advertisements.
I’m not sure what to do about this, except to keep speaking honestly and supporting others who do the same.
My friend and colleague, Carolyn Smith, is a breath of fresh air in this regard, and she speaks up regularly. Just yesterday she wrote about the ‘rubbish circulating in relation to creating a job winning resume’ and suggested that people only take advice from credible sources with years of experience.
I think industry experts, whether it be career and job search, fitness, healthcare, maritime/boating (my husband’s industry), technology, et al, need to protect the credibility and integrity through speaking up and out, aligning boldly with other experienced, quality-centric professionals.
I hope we can encourage one another and be confident in asserting facts over falsities, foundational wisdom over illusion and instant gratification, and truth and beauty over the vacuous and insidious fabrications that currently poison the conversation.
I believe even though the current state of social media is a bit sour, that cream rises, and in time, the truth and beauty of wisdom will ultimately prevail.
-by Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter
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