How to Assess Career Advice

Nowadays, you can find career advice just about anywhere – online, offline, friends, colleagues, parents, mentors, bosses, coaches, and anyone with a public blog ;-).  So how do you know what career advice is appropriate for you?

My answer: only you know what’s good career advice for you.  Career advice is just an opinion.  If you ask anyone for career advice, they’ll attempt to provide it, but this doesn’t mean all career advice is created equal.

Here are a few ways to determine whose career advice is good for you:

1. Background Match: What’s the work or life experience / background of the person providing advice?  Do you think they know what you may be going through or have expertise you respect?  Just this check alone will rule out most career advice from parents or relatives and some friends.
2. Neutral – Not Biased: A colleague may know a lot about what you’re going through but you should consider whether the input he or she gives could be biased.  They may also have a personal agenda when he or she is giving it.   This doesn’t rule out advice from all colleagues or bosses but just be aware of what’s at stake for them and you if you make any career decisions based on it.
3. Coaching Experience: Look at how much experience this person has in helping others with their careers.   A person may have an amazing career  himself but this doesn’t mean the person is equally good at coaching others about their careers.  Just like a dancer can be an amazing performer, but he or she can also be an average dance teacher.
4. Vibe: On the non-tangible side of things, as you listen or read career advice, you can tell whether what’ said or written resonates with you or not.  It’s only natural to listen more carefully to those who are on the same “vibe” as you.

At the end of day, career advice can NEVER in itself give you a better career or a dream job. On the other hand, the wrong career advice can steer you in the wrong direction causing a potential setback in your career.   There’s no magic bullet no matter what people say.   It’s just guidance based on experience.  It’s up to you to determine what is bad, what is irrelevant, and what is applicable to you at this time.

So be selective in what you listen to.  If you start listening to everyone, it will just give you a headache.