It seems like everyone writes about careers and the job market today. As a job seeker, the amount of online career advice available can be overwhelming. Which advice is the “right” advice? Who should you listen to? How will you distinguish bad advice from good advice?
Consider the following when evaluating online career advice:
1. The writer. Before completely re-doing your resume or switching your job search strategy, evaluate the following:
- Who is the person sharing this advice?
- Do they have expertise on the subject?
- Do they have experience (for example, as a professional resume writer or hiring manager) in the subject?
- Do they have examples or anecdotes within their advice?
2. The audience. What is the main audience for this outlet? Is it a blog aimed at high-level executives, or intern candidates? Depending on where you’re at in your career, the advice may differ slightly, so make sure you’re reading the appropriate outlets.
3. The outlet. Is the blog or website a valuable source of career advice? Is it well respected? How long has it been around? There are some sources of advice online that mean well, but might not give job seekers the proper advice to succeed in their job search. Check out the “About Us” sections of any career advice outlet you stumble upon to see if it’s a valuable source of advice. Also, look for award badges and lists to see how the website ranks with other top career advice outlets.
4. Consistency. Is the advice consistent with what you’ve read on other websites? Or does it sound completely different than anything you’ve read before? Many career experts tend to have similar opinions on certain topics, but there are certainly people who disagree in the career world. However, the “good” advice tends to be similar across experts, for the most part.
5. Relevancy. Look at the date on the article. Is it older than a year or two? Then it’s probably best to look around for a more updated source of information. The job search is constantly evolving, which means advice from a few years ago might not be relevant in today’s job search.
How do you search for online career advice? What helps you decide if it’s a good source of information?
Heather R. Huhman, founder & president of Come Recommended, is passionate about helping students and recent college graduates pursue their dream careers.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
About Heather Huhman
I completed my law degree a year ago and worked in a law firm. But I feel like working for NGOs and making a difference. dont want to do my LLM but want advise as to what to do next.
And always take what you read with a grain of salt (even my own posts ;)
Also be careful when reading sites that frequently use words such as ALWAYS or NEVER. The norm is shades of gray. What always works for someone may never work for you.
Remember, it’s just advice: you are not reading the Bible or Constitutional Law
Heather, I’ve long been troubled by the prospect of conflicting advice on this subject, especially because the process can sometimes be subject to personal preferences. Great treatment and I like your guidelines for evaluating it.
Since there are no 100% right answers, the criteria by which you should judge a career/job hunting blog is whether or not it teaches you something of gives you an idea that you didn’t already have. Reputable blogs that re-hash the same tired old advice over and over aren’t that helpful.
Example: Dress nicely for the interview and make sure there aren’t any typos on your cover letter.
Really? You still need to tell people this kind of thing? When times are tough, sometimes you need to think outside the box a little to get the job.
Excellent points. There is so much online advice out there. One of the challenges of sorting through (and writing) it is separating the quality advice from the rest