The post from Winnie on the "job opening" got on my last nerve yesterday. I have written my own revised versions. The first job description is why the second one is such a nightmare for so many of us. I so do not want to play nice with these corporations. Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA http://healinghumanpotential.blogspot.com/ The first is a more truthful description of the job Winnie was invited to apply for. (the typos and grammatical errors in the original were beyond belief): Good afternoon. My name is ................... and I am a recruiter who specializes in recruiting Medical Professionals like yourself on behalf of pharmaceutical companies. I am currently representing a leading artificial baby milk company who (that) has an opening on their team in your local area. I know as a Lactation Consultant that your priority is always going to be that breastfeeding is best. After recruiting in this field for many years and speaking with Nurses and Dietitians who are pediatric specialists I must say I and the company I work for agree that this non-threatening phrase has been a boon to our industry and one that we can all easily agree on. What I have also learned though is that when it is not possible to breastfeed due to the outragious success of our marketing strategies that successfully undermine and sabotage breastfeeding, Infant formula is a needed substation.(UMM__did this guy really spell/word this phrase like this?). Rep, Clinical Sales (CSR) Infant Nutrition Representative ---If you are a registered Dietitian or a Registered Nurse (wasn't the first sentence approaching LC's?? ) with nutritional experience and people say you have an outgoing, hard working, aggressive, take- no-prisoners attitude in which you can easily rationalize that need for corporate profit outweighs any responsibility to human health, then you should apply to this position. Especially if you Pediatrics! (umm--are in pediatrics??) The CSR is a hospital specialty position very similar to that of a Pharmaceutical Rep.( amazing that this job is viewed with such esteem, rather than akin to a used care salesmen!!) This position will enable the right person with everything they need (meaning the ability to compromise ethics and integrity, or rather just leave them at the door, but remember to bring coffee and donuts) to have a highly successful corporate career. As we make enormous profits on the selling-out of mothers and babies, we can generously offer you compensation that is above par and a bonus that is very, very strong. Company car, lap top, cell phone and all other business needs are provided by the company. This is a fun position with tons of OPPORTUNITY, so long as you have no conscious! Relocation: Available for qualified candidates, especially to communities with high breastfeeding rates, where you are most needed. This position is responsible for securing hospital recommendations for artificial infant feeding products in his/her specific territory. The Representative must have credible knowledge of infant and nutritional products/services, and must exhibit selling capabilities (please remember that credible does not imply accurate--it simply means believable). Primary focus is hospitals and Pediatricians who can help with both the availability and recommendations of Infant formula in hospitals, as our expensive research has taught us that many doctors and hospital personnel are easily influenced by marketing materials spoon-fed as scientific data, especially when presented in the company of food and freebies. Meet assigned performance objectives, which means push as much artificial baby milk as possible. Compile database that includes prioritization of doctors and hospitals, office visits, infant formula sample distribution and key activities. This includes lobbying against any ban-the-bags campaign undertaken by fanatics who misunderstand our good-will gestures. Develop effective selling skills and knowledge about infant artificial feeding products. An understanding of infant nutrition is unecessary and may be a handicap. Provide value-added services and develop relationships with pediatric office/birthing & pediatric hospitals that will lead to formula recommendations. There is no need to feel intimidated, as Lactation Consultants cannot compete with your winning, non-adversarial, benefit-laden approach to "education". Remember, you are to behave as a member of the health care team. With the right attitude, you will be accepted as such. Participate in medical professional national and local convention exhibits. Manage Individual medical marketing expenses, sample and literature budget. Busy health care personnel will appreciate your orchestration of and support for their national events. This is my version of an ad for an LC position that more accurately defines what is so often expected of us: Good afternoon. My name is ................... and I am a recruiter who specializes in recruiting Medical Professionals like yourself on behalf of medical corporate clients . I am currently representing the mothers and babies in your community who have a need for accurate and competent breastfeeding education and intervention, that must be tempered with the paramount need to maintain the status quo of the medical and social cultures. I understand that as a Lactation Consultant you know that there is no substitute for exclusive feeding at the breast, and that any other method is inferior, posing serious medical and developmental/ psychological risks to both mother and baby, however please remember that in your position you will be required to limit yourself to the mantra "breastfeeding is best". After recruiting in this field for many years and speaking with Nurses and Dietitians who are pediatric specialists I must say that I agree that "breastfeeding is indeed best" and I have learned that health care providers are also comfortable with this non-threatening phrase. Remember that it is your responsibility to assure every other person with whom you come into contact should never feel guilty about his/her breastfeeding experiences. The right candidate will never be tempted to discreetly mention the "potential risks" of other feeding methods and will remember that it is always prudent to resort to the even more phrase "breastfeeding is best, but...". What I have also learned though is that in the many and varied circumstances when brestfeeding has been undermined and sabotaged, and therefore just doesn't work then Infant formula is a needed substation (UMM__did this guy really spell/word this phrase like this?). The right candidate will always remember that breastfeeding isn't for everyone and that most mothers will need to use formula during their child's infancy, therefore she will become very adept at "meeting the mother where she is", "not contradicting the health care provider" and rationalizing away the medical model of childbirth as the fault of mothers or something we have to learn to live with. She will make no unnecessary attempts to normalize exclusive breastfeeding as this is simply a pipe dream, nor will she act to cause women to become too aggressive in their own or their child's self-interest, as this could disrupt the carefully established (im) balance of power. The right candidate will be comfortable with the concept that "the formula companies are your friend". Your predecessors in this post could not embrace these precepts and thus found their jobs to be frustrating and unfulfilling. ---If you are a lactation consultant, counselor, educator or have similar letters after your name (the public doesn't know the difference anyway), and people say you have a meek, mild-mannered, don't ruffle any feathers, cow-tow to the establishment attitude you should apply to this position. We have found that strong, competent, advocacy-oriented applicants have not found themselves satisfied in this position. This position will enable the right person with everything they need to have a career in which she is over-worked, underpaid and ignored. Even with your ability to compromise in the interests of the breastfeeding dyad, even with your skills in stroking overgrown, undereducated egos and your amazing ability to alternately walk on eggshells and then on fire, you will find yourself frustrated and exhausted. The interests of corporate compliance will undermine your success. Compensation is well below par, bonus is non-existent. Hours are long and the job never goes away. You will use your own car, purchase your own lap top, cell phone and all other equipment. You will go home at the end of the day and post your complex questions on LN, hoping you can better help the dyad battle her way through the system the next day. Continuing education is primarily at your own expense, but is mandated. For every excellent working relationship you establish with an HCP, there will be ten more waiting to be tackled, all of it your responsibility. Should you happen to have the IBCLC credentials, you will be required to retake your entry level exam every ten years and accept this humiliation with pride. Should the politically-charged organizational structure behind you become burdensome to our organization you may easily be replaced with someone with a less complex code of ethics. This position requires thousands of hours of one-on-one counseling experience covering all manner of complex breastfeeding situations including but not limited to inefficient latch, nipple trauma, insufficient milk supply, breastfeeding after reduction, breastfeeding after breast cancer, adoptive breastfeeding, weaning to treat maternal cancer, breastfeeding premature babies, breastfeeding terminally ill babies, breastfeeding toddlers, tandem nursing, plugged ducts, breast infections, identifying and referring for treatment for birth trauma, tongue-tie, oral-motor function, maternal nutrition, working outside of the home and breastfeeding, maternal or infant illness and breastfeeding and candida. You must be skilled in the use of many gadgets and devices and be prepared to respond to/ research the most recent gadgets, books and mass media "studies" that mothers may ask about. You must be prepared to research fully any situation with which you are not familiar and to do so quickly as breastfeeding cannot wait. You will be asked to assist families of a wide variety of social, economic, ethnic and language backgrounds and to quickly assess the proper approach to take with a given family that validates their personal beliefs and values. The flexibility to adapt qickly to the social situation presented is essential. You must have a broad knowledge base in normal human physiology and development, Your problem-solving and inter-personal relationship skills must be well-honed. You must have spent thousands of dollars and your personal unpaid time to have achieved a high level of excellence in your field. Passion for the well-being of mothers, babies, families, the environment and humanity as a whole would be highly desirable. A level of ethics above and beyond that in many other professions is the standard of practice for you, but do not take it too seriously. If you have the ability to find your way through the political and ethical landmine that your certifying body has created for you, if you are able to come to peace with the reality of living in a bottle- feeding culture, if you are able to happily begin each day with the mantra "breastfeeding is best", then you are the ideal candidate for this position. Other candidates are welcome to apply, but are requested to leave their idealism and breastfeeding fanaticism at the door. "Breastfeeding is best". *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET email list is powered by LISTSERV (R). There is only one LISTSERV. To learn more, visit: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html