Why job search advice differs among Career professionals

On the same day that I wrote my last post: Where do I find an industry list for the companies in my area?, my friend and colleague Barb Poole wrote this one: The 1 often-overlooked person who can help your job search. Both of us were writing about the same topic: strategies to help you move forward in your job search process. And really both of us had the same idea in mind: to motivate our own clients and other job seekers to use creative strategies to find their new gig or role.

But we went in the opposite directions.

Barb told her readers to use the resources of the library to find new opportunities and I told my readers not to use the library but rather use Google.

Who was right?

Actually, both of us. Barb has struggled with clients who will not move from their computers to get out there and find new resources. She sent them to the library where they can access new materials and get connected with the answers to their job search. Barb said:

A reference librarian, media specialist—whatever the title— is someone who went to school and chose to conduct research using  the latest technologies. For a living! How can you lose asking this person for help? How much is your time worth? How valuable is it to have that key information in your hands, so that you can then market and go get what you want?!

One of the issues my latest post was trying to address is the people who are stuck in 1980 job search methods and have not yet become fond of using computers to job search:

When you have a question about almost anything, the first place you should look is … drumroll please… GOOGLE! You don’t have to go hunting for an obscure list or book to find information, Google it.

Why is this the opposite of what Barb suggested?

When a career professional gives advice, they have a particular type of job seeker in mind. Barb was focused on the job seeker who is proficient with the computer but clueless in how to get moving in their job search. I was focused on the job seeker who may use computers every day in their job but when pressed to do even simple things on their own home computer, they run for comforting old ways of doing things. They would rather stay away from the computer. I want my clients confident in using the computer for job search. However, just as Barb suggested, I too advocate getting out there as I did in this last paragraph of my post:

Next you need to become unglued (to your computer!)

Once you figure this out, you shouldn’t stay glued to your computer though. Pick up the phone and make calls to people you know who are connected to the companies you want to know more about and arrange a meeting, either in-person or over the phone. But take action and network.

You need to recognize that career pros who really care about their clients make sure that they are addressing the individual client’s needs and everyone is different. When you hire a career pro to help you with your job search, you are seeking someone who understands your specific needs and can find the right solution for you. It may be totally different advice than your neighbor would get from the same career professional but it will be the right advice for YOU!

Julie Walraven can help you achieve results through using a personalized job search and resume writing  strategy to take the mystery out of the process. To find out how, simply click here!