Conflicting Advice: Who is right?

DISCOVER STAFFING likes to bring our readers not only our latest job postings but also career advice from around the web. As this article reminds us, we are bombarded with advice from every direction and often times it is contradictory. How to do we know which advice to take and which to leave on the table. MSN Careers is one our favorite sites and this is really great advice on advice.

Conflicting Career Advice: Which Is Right?
By Kaitlin Madden, CareerBuilder Writer

Employment is a hot topic these days, and everyone seems to have an opinion on it. From morning news anchors to business bloggers to well-meaning friends and family, job advice is everywhere. While a wealth of information is never a bad thing, with so much advice out there, it can be hard to know what to trust.

For example, when researching how to write a résumé, it's common to come across articles that advocate one- and two-page formats. Similarly, some experts say it's great to make friends at work, while others say it's unwise to combine your work life and your social scene. But if your morning news anchor is telling you one thing and your recruitment firm is telling you another, how do you know whom to listen to?

While there's no universal answer, there are ways you can evaluate the suggestions you receive, to ensure that you're following the most beneficial advice for your situation. Here are three things to consider when confronted with conflicting career counsel:

1. Your industry: A lot of career advice is aimed at the general population. If your daily newspaper has an audience of 50,000 people, chances are its job advice will aim to apply to as many of those people as possible. But because there are many different career paths, there's no such thing as a one-size-fits-all career approach. Make sure you take into account your specific industry when you're offered a new job strategy.

For example: You may have heard a dozen times that a suit is the standard clothing choice for an interview -- but in your industry, people never wear suits, and you don't think one would be appropriate for an interview.

In this case, you'd probably be right to go with more casual dress, if that's the industry standard.

"Common sense is the scale by which you measure advice," says Bud Whitehouse, director of Career Management of Virginia. "If it makes sense -- 'Geography and industry play a role in what you wear to the interview. Do the research,' -- do it. If it doesn't make sense -- 'Wear a suit, white shirt and tie to an interview for a plumber' -- don't do it."

2. Your experiences: Like the people who give job advice, you will have your own ideas about interview attire and résumé length that are based on your experience. Trust these instincts, because you'll often be right.

"Go with your experience," Whitehouse says. "People are much too willing to make what was advice for a particular situation a universal dictum." For example: 10 years ago, when your college career counselor told you to shorten your résumé to one page, it was probably because employers wouldn't care about your high school job at the gas station and student of the month award.

Now, 10 years later, you may have enough relevant experience and awards to fill up more than one page. If you've landed five interviews with a two-page résumé, it's clearly not a hindrance to your job search, even if it goes against advice you were given. If something it working for you, there's no need to change it.

3. Your personality: Take, for example, the oft-debated topic of how to follow up after an interview. Some experts say it's best to follow up with a phone call, others suggest sending an e-mail or handwritten note, some say do all three.

Well, if your written word is typically more profound than your spoken one (or you've been told that you sound like a 12-year-old over the phone) there's no harm in sending a handwritten thank-you note and following up via e-mail if that is what makes you the most comfortable. You know what your strong suits are, so look at all job advice through a lens of how it applies to your personality and strengths.

You have to make the advice work for you, and you know yourself best. It's OK to take what you like a leave the rest, if the rest just doesn't suit you.

Kaitlin Madden is a writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com and its job blog, The Work Buzz. She researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues. Follow @CBForJobSeekers on Twitter.

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