There is a lot of job search advice online. Unfortunately, not all of it is created equal. In fact, if you don’t learn how to qualify job search advice you find online you could be shooting yourself in the foot.



Of course, this doesn’t mean that all job search advice online is bad. Chances are whoever wrote it had good intentions. This just means you need to look for a few things to make sure it applies to your specific situation.



Below you’ll find some ways to qualify free job search advice so you’ll know whether or not you should apply it in your own search.





Who wrote it?



The unfortunate thing about the internet is anyone can go online and claim to know something about a topic. That’s why it’s up to you to do a little digging before you apply any of their advice.



Are they credible? Do they have experience in the topic? If so, what is it?



Good indicators include work history, sponsoring institutions and whether or not the author can be easily identified.



Another good indicator as to whether or not a source online is credible is social proof. Are there testimonials from people who they’ve helped (with pictures)? Do they have media mentions? How active is their social media presence?



Anyone who is credible will make sure to have several forms of social proof on the site because they know how important it is to establishing their authority online.





Does the advice apply to you?



There are a bunch of different kinds of job hunting sites online. Many are geared toward first time job hunters, some provide generic advice and a few are written specifically toward executives.



As an executive, the advice that a 22 year old just out of college would benefit from won’t get you the same results.



Before applying any advice make sure that the article or site is written specifically for your stage of the job hunt. You can do this by checking out their About page where they should have a rundown of what kind of readers the site is for.



The same applies for what kinds of career fields the advice may be written for. A healthcare executive for a hospital is going to need different advice than someone who works for a financial company. While a lot of the advice can overlap, you still have to make sure you can apply it in your specific field.





When was the advice written?



Always check the dates on whatever is written online. The job search goes through trends and changes so it’s important to make sure the information is up to date.



For instance, we recently mentioned how the “sink or swim” method of job hunting, which was popular in the late 80s and early 90s, is making a comeback after being absent for many years. Therefore, the job search advice that may have worked in the early 2000s may not work today.



A credible source will have up to date information and update their site regularly to account for all the changes that occur in the job hunt.