Job Seeker Central: Top 10 Bloggers All Job Seekers Should Follow
Welcome toTop 10, Recruiter.com’s weekly rundown of the best of the best in recruiting ! Every Friday, we release a list of some of our favorite people, things, and ideas dominating the industry. From awesome tech tools and cool companies to great books and powerful trends, no stone in the recruiting space will be left unturned.
This Week: Top 10 Bloggers Every Job Seeker Should Follow
Back in January, we inaugurated our Top 10 series with a post on the Top 10 recruiting bloggers writing today. This week’s Top 10 is a complementary piece to that first installment – a look at 10 bloggers that every job seeker should follow.
These bloggers work in a variety of niches, and each approaches the job hunt and career advice from their own unique angle. But most importantly, each of these bloggers, we feel, delivers powerful, useful insights to their readers.
If you want to advance your career, find a new job, or construct a professional life that makes you happy, then these are the 10 bloggers you should be paying attention to:
Where you can read her: LindseyPollak.com
Why you should read her:Many of our readers nominated Pollak for this list, but we think Jennifer Lee Magas, vice president of Magas Media Consultants, LLC, says it best: “There are plenty of job-seeking websites out there, and everyone has their own advice on what they think is best, but they don’t all have a unique view on all situations. This is where Lindsey Pollack stands out right away. She tends to focus on millennials, which makes sense, as many of them are looking for jobs, but her advice can be used by anyone trying to take the next leap forward in their career.”
Where you can read her: Ask a Manager
Why you should read her: It can be really hard to get inside of your manager’s head: What are they thinking? Why are they doing that? Where do I stand with them? These are questions that plague many employees, and reading Green’s blog is probably your best bet for answering them. Green tackles everything from job search advice to bad management behaviors in ways that are fun, enlightening, and always relevant.
Still not sold? Alyssa Johnson, the blogger behind The Plucky Introvert, told us that Ask a Manager is a “daily read” – and that the site has helped her find work not once, not twice, but three times in total.
“I got all three of my most recent jobs directly by using [Green’s] advice,” she says.
If it worked for Johnson, there’s a good chance it will work for you, too.
Where you can read her: Evil HR Lady
Why you should read her: Full disclosure: Suzanne Lucas’s Evil HR Lady might be my personal favorite blog in the entire HR and recruiting space. In part, that’s because Lucas has a wonderful way of being winkingly self-aware in her writing. See, for example, the title of the blog itself.
But, more importantly, what makes Evil HR Lady a truly valuable blog is that Lucas accomplishes her goal of “demystify[ing] your human resources department and tell[ing] you just why you worked your tail end off all year and still got a 1.7 percent bonus.” If you’ve ever felt utterly baffled by what goes on in HR, this is the blog for you.
Where you can read her: AvidCareerist
Why you should read her: As a retained search consultant and executive resume writer, Svei knows what she’s talking about when it comes to career and employment matters. She’s also committed to backing her thoughts and observations up with hard data from industry surveys, academic research, and similar sources. The result is a blog bursting with practical information.
Svei leaves no stone unturned. Recent posts include step-by-step instructions on making a perfectly sized background image for your LinkedIn profile and an exploration of the repercussions Google’s new logo has on your resume.
Where you can read her: VocationVillage.com
Why you should read her: Civitelli’s blog stands up on its own two feet – but it also comes highly recommended. Donna Svei of AvidCareerist personally nominated Civitelli for our list, writing that VocationVillage.com “features a Q&A format with answers that work in the real world.”
In particular, Svei is referring to Civitelli’s “Ask a Career Coach” column, but that’s not all VocationVillage.com has to offer. Civitelli’s more traditional blog posts are also excellent, as is her book, the aptly titled Help Me Find a Career.
Where you can read him:DanSchawbel.com
Why you should read him: In the age of personal branding, there is no better expert to turn to than Schawbel, whom The New York Times recognizes as a “guru” of the field. And while much is made of Schawbel’s millennial expertise, his blog is required reading for any member of the workforce, no matter their generation. I don’t care how old you are – you definitely need to know why it’s better to write “a book and a case study” instead of a resume.
Where you can read her: Career Sherpa
Why you should read her: When you climb Mt. Everest, you need the help of a Sherpa: a member of an ethnic group in Nepal renowned for their elite mountaineering skills. When you climb the mountain of your career, you need Hannah Morgan, a career coach renowned for her “actionable, no-nonsense” approach to dishing out job search advice.
Where you can read her: Angela’s Career Corner Column is published widely, including on this very site.
Why you should read her: Copeland specializes in brief, punchy meditations on certain aspects of our careers. That’s why her columns are perfect for busy professionals: You can read them quickly, and you’ll still walk away knowing a lot more than you did before.
Copeland also has a knack for zeroing in on important issues that a lot of other writers don’t touch. Some of our favorite columns include “Money Matters,” in which she reminds employers that paychecks are terribly important, and “Are You an Expert at Job Hunting,” in which she reminds us all that hunting for a job opportunity actually requires a specific set of skills – much like any other job would.
Where you can read her: Water Cooler Wisdom
Why you should read her: If you want in-depth analysis of major trends that are changing the way we work, then you want to head over to Levit’s water cooler. Recent posts have explored cutting-edge ideas like “Industry 4.0,” the “rise of the versatilists,” and “life in the swarm.”
Not sure what any of that means? Neither were we – until Levit explained it to us. Now it’s all clear as day.
Where you can read her: PenelopeTrunk.com
Why you should read her: What is there to say about Trunk that hasn’t already been said? If you follow any career blogs at all, you know that she’s a divisive presence on the scene, inspiring loyal fans and heated detractors in equal measure – and that’s exactly why you should be reading her.
Trunk pulls no punches. She says what she thinks. She’s brutally honest. That’s what rubs people the wrong way, and it’s what makes her blog such an invaluable resource for job seekers.
As Oscar Wilde wrote, “Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital. When critics disagree, the artist is in accord with himself.” If anyone has elevated career blogging to the level of art, it’s Trunk.