At the end of yesterday’s post, I discussed the community a coach or presenter has to draw on. Now if you will indulge me for a minute while I give you an example using my community. Between the four major social networks I am directly connected to just over 5,000 individuals. Of those, roughly 60% are HR professionals, recruiters or individuals certified and educated in the career development industry. You can see a representation of just my Linkedin connections here. If you consider that through them I am essentially connected to their connections, the number just gets larger and larger. This group adds to my body of knowledge. When working with job search clients in an industry I’m not familiar with I often use this group to make sure I am pointing them in the right direction. This is a huge value add for clients. Not only do the get the HR and recruiting knowledge and experience, but they get the combined experience and knowledge of everyone in my community. That is huge!

Passion: I may get some naysayers with this one, but I believe it is an accurate statement. The job search coaching industry has turned into something that is very easy to get into and call yourself an expert. Many people write one good resume and suddenly turn themselves into resume writers. Others create a Linkedin profile that gets a lot of views and suddenly they can show you how to use Linkedin in your job search strategy. They see it as a money maker and do it because they think they can. Then there are those that are passionate about helping job seekers. They want to do what they can to help people who are struggling every single day with not only the job search process, but the hurt of losing a job, the financial worries that come with being unemployed and the instability of a still downtrodden economy. Passion plays a big role in job search coaching. A desire to help is so important in making a real difference.

Understanding where an individual stands in these three areas can tell you a lot about their ability to effectively help you build a job search strategy.

One more point that I think is important here and it is one Dawn Rasmussen shared in her recent article around this same topic is price. Jump over and read her post as it specifically talks about resume writing services but bullet point number three holds true across the board.

“Don’t expect a good quality document to be cheap. The résumé that are going to be the most help in your job search aren’t the $35 “deals” found on Craigslist and other billboard sites. Good quality writers are constantly educating themselves on emerging trends to make sure that the documents they produce are on-target to meet employer needs. And that means that they are investing in themselves (by going to industry conferences as well as gaining certification)s just as you are investing in them. Remember: you get what you pay for!”

Seeking the help of a job search adviser is an investment in you. You can continue to do it on your own for free but if you are not getting results what is the actual cost? Do not get pulled into $35 resume schemes or free info at the public library on how to find a job with Linkedin. While there may be some beneficial information there it is not going to be the detail you need to land a role.

A job search is a serious thing. It and the direction it takes a person impacts every area of their lives. Advice should not be taken lightly. Understanding where that advice is coming from is essential to a successful job search. Bad advice can set a job search back for weeks or even months.

I realize this was a ton of information spread out in two posts. I have included a white paper that reiterates the three characteristics and then tells you how to find that information about the speaker, coach or writer. You can download it here.