In today’s hyper-connected world, it feels like there’s an expert around every digital corner. From social media influencers to self-proclaimed gurus, advice on every imaginable topic—including career and job searching—is just a click away. But how do you know what’s actually worth listening to? This is the question we tackled in our latest podcast episode, featuring an insightful conversation with Chrissy Wilson. Together, we explored the overwhelming presence of so-called “experts” on social media and the harmful misinformation that often comes with it.

Social media has undoubtedly democratized access to information, but it has also blurred the lines between fact and opinion. Anyone with a smartphone and a strong point of view can present themselves as an authority. This is particularly concerning in the job search and career advice space, where the stakes are high, and following the wrong advice can lead to costly mistakes. Chrissy and I see this phenomenon frequently: individuals sharing advice that’s not only unhelpful but also potentially harmful, yet gaining widespread approval.

One of the key challenges we discussed is the difficulty of discerning credible advice from noise. Misinformation often thrives because it’s packaged in a way that’s appealing—whether through catchy phrases, polished visuals, or an authoritative tone. However, just because advice looks good doesn’t mean it’s grounded in reality. Chrissy and I emphasized the importance of adopting a critical mindset to evaluate the credibility of the information you encounter.

Job searching is already a daunting process, requiring resilience, strategy, and persistence. Adding the confusion of conflicting advice only makes it more challenging. In the episode, we shared practical tips to help listeners navigate this minefield. One of our top recommendations? Look for evidence-based strategies and advice from professionals with a proven track record. Credentials, experience, and peer-reviewed insights should weigh more heavily than social media popularity.

Another topic we covered was the danger of confirmation bias—the tendency to gravitate toward advice that aligns with your existing beliefs, even if it’s not the best course of action. Chrissy pointed out that this bias can lead job seekers to make decisions based on comfort rather than logic. Instead, we encouraged listeners to seek out diverse perspectives and challenge their assumptions. Growth often happens when you’re willing to step outside your comfort zone.

We also talked about the power of critical thinking. In an era dominated by clickbait headlines and soundbites, critical thinking is your most valuable tool. Ask yourself: Does this advice apply to my unique situation? Is it backed by data or anecdotal evidence? Is the source credible? By questioning the validity of the information you consume, you can better protect yourself from misleading advice.

One of the most inspiring parts of our conversation was hearing Chrissy’s perspective on staying grounded in your career journey. She emphasized the importance of self-reflection and staying true to your own goals and values. While it’s easy to get caught up in the noise, staying focused on what matters most to you can provide clarity amidst the chaos.

We also discussed how to find and cultivate reliable sources of advice. Building a trusted network of mentors, peers, and industry professionals can provide you with a solid foundation of guidance. These are the people who know your field, understand your goals, and can offer tailored advice rather than one-size-fits-all solutions.

Ultimately, the key takeaway from this episode is that navigating the Era of Experts requires both skepticism and self-awareness. By embracing critical thinking, seeking evidence-based advice, and staying true to your personal career goals, you can cut through the noise and thrive despite the misinformation. Remember, your career journey is unique, and the best advice is the kind that aligns with your individual circumstances.

If you’re ready to take control of your career journey and rise above the noise, this episode is a must-listen. Tune in to learn more about how to spot misleading advice, embrace critical thinking, and stay focused on your goals. Together, let’s navigate this challenging but exciting era and make informed, empowered decisions for our futures.

 

Watch and listen here. Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review!!

Transcript:

Mary (00:01)
Christy Wilson, welcome to Recruiting Insider.

Christine (00:04)
Hey, how are you Mary?

Mary (00:07)
Good, good, thank you. So, yes, I’m excited to have you. Today, we’re diving into the era of experts and exploring the trend of people who believe their opinions are absolute truths in the job searching space. So we’re here to foster non -judgmental discussions about

Christine (00:10)
excited to be here.

Right.

Mary (00:36)
talent acquisition, industry trends, and really the evolving world of work. So I’m excited to have Chrissy join me. With years of experience at top tech companies like Disney, Uber, and Microsoft, Chrissy brings a unique perspective to the conversation. We’ll discuss the importance of critical thinking, the pitfalls of relying solely on personal opinions,

Christine (00:43)
Yes.

Mary (01:05)
and the value of evidence -based approaches in the recruiting industry. So sit back, relax, and get ready to challenge your assumptions today. Let’s explore the era of experts and discuss the importance of open -minded and informed conversations about talent acquisition. So Chrissy, could you start by just telling us a little bit more about you and your background? I mean, who are you?

Christine (01:36)
trying to age myself, but.

Wow, wow, who am I? That’s a great question. I’ve been in talent acquisition for a while. I I graduated college. I was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. And I graduated and wanted just to pay off my student loans. And it was that simple. I was like, what can I do? I can’t find a marketing job. Because I went to school for business administration and marketing. And then I rolled into a company called the People Bank, which is an agency. And it started.

Mary (01:58)
Mm -hmm.

Christine (02:07)
from there morphed into this career in TA that I certainly didn’t expect but it’s been really rewarding so I’ve worked as a contractor for most of my career which I love like a consultant contractor and just kind of rolling on projects doing project -driven work with some great companies like Microsoft, Visa, Deloitte, Capgemini like some real heavy hitters and then the last few years I was with uber technology which was amazing absolutely amazing

and then the Walt Disney Company, which was the most recent in terms of Big Box Company. just have a, I have such a spanned of experience from contractor to full time and I’ve seen it all. I’ve seen the evolution of recruiting and TA and it’s amazing and scary at the same time. Yeah.

Mary (02:57)
Yeah, I would imagine.

I mean, I would imagine it’s changed a lot. I mean, it’s changed a lot even over the course of the last year with, you know, all of the crazy things that are happening in the job market.

Christine (03:09)
Yeah, it’s been pretty shocking to see the landscape change from a TA perspective and it’s more gearing towards and seeing more social media being incorporated in, you know, looking for a recruiter and it’s just, it’s like, so for people that have been in the industry for a long time, we’re like, wow, like we’re looking back and saying, look at the change in the landscape and how do we continue to keep upskilling so we are on that mark as well.

Mary (03:32)
Yeah.

Yeah. What are a couple of the biggest changes besides social media that you’ve seen?

Christine (03:44)
Well, AI for one, but AI, the thing is AI has been around. So I understand this trend, but it’s been around. That’s how we are able to bully and search and pull profiles from the back of the internet. We’ve been bullying and searching for a while. I think I learned bullying in 2008 or nine. But the generative AI now, where it’s the chat GBTs and all that, that’s changed. just maybe the approach on branding.

Mary (03:45)
Yeah. Yeah. 100%.

Christine (04:14)
Having the recruiter really brand the company and be out there, that’s a change that I’ve noticed. Where companies are really looking at that, like what is your stance? What is your brand? What do you stand for? What’s your social kind of climate? And it’s a holistic approach now. Versus we want a recruiter, a sourcer, doesn’t matter what your branding is, just fill these roles. You know what I mean? Now it’s, you’re coming to the table with all these bad

guys

the tricks and it’s for some recruiters that are not up for that it’s difficult because they’re trained a certain way.

Mary (04:52)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I would encourage you and our listeners to check out my episode with Shaniqua Brown. It’s all about AI and recruiting and it’s really, really insightful. you know, especially, you know, not only if you’re a recruiter yourself, but, you know, if you’re a job searcher, it’s good to kind of stay up to date with, you know, what does AI and job searching actually mean?

to me, both from a job searching perspective and from an employer’s perspective, it’s really interesting.

Christine (05:29)
Absolutely, absolutely. I’ll check that out if you can ping that over. Yeah, absolutely.

Mary (05:33)
Well yeah, of

course. Well, Chrissy, so could you define what is meant by the era of experts when we say that? And why are you so passionate about it?

Christine (05:46)
Because I feel like there’s not necessarily a right and wrong way sometimes to build out your profile, to build out your resume. Yes, there is maybe a common practice. But when I see people getting online, and it’s not guiding, it’s more like judgment. And they’re coming from, I’m an expert in this field. It feels icky. It feels like, you know, and I try not

to judge, but I had a run in with someone where it was with regards to your headlines and what you should put in your headlines. And I don’t really think there’s a right and wrong way to do things per se, like there is a common practice. But everybody is all of a sudden this expert in a field that is…

So open. It’s so open. You can do things different ways and still get the same results. You can have your resume set a certain way and have a hiring manager say, yeah, you’re absolutely the one that I want to talk to. So I feel we have to be careful when we start saying, OK, giving advice.

If it’s our opinion, cool, but when we start labeling I’m the expert, it feels a little icky to me. I think we’re all experts in some degree. Yeah.

Mary (07:05)
Yeah.

For sure. I mean,

and you see that in all aspects of the job search where, you know, I work with a lot of clients on, on resume writing specifically, and you can ask 10 experts in resume writing about your resume and they’ll give you 10 different opinions. And it doesn’t necessarily mean that one person is right and one person is wrong. There are a lot of different ways that you can approach resume writing that you can approach.

optimizing your LinkedIn profile, creating a headline on LinkedIn. I completely agree with you. There’s no necessarily, you know, right or wrong answer when it comes to those things.

Christine (07:49)
And thank you for bringing that up. Like if you ask 10 people, it’s always going to be 10 different opinions. And you have to do what resonates with you and what makes you shine. And I’m just a big proponent of being open -minded and allowing people to do what they need to do to get to where they need to get without judgment. And that’s really, really important. And you might not know it, but you’re online saying things that are judgmental. And that person may.

Mary (07:55)
Yeah.

Yeah, for sure.

Christine (08:19)
Just be taking that to heart and just kind of give up. We have to just be mindful of even how we say things, you know Especially if you have a big reach and you have a big audience and a big platform I think we just need to be more socially responsible and always just kind of put out there. This is just my opinion but there’s so many different ways to do this. So please explore that versus Well, you shouldn’t have this on your resume and then people that do have that on

resume they start to bash themselves. Just yeah.

Mary (08:51)
Yeah.

You know, and with that being said, I think that, you know, even though, you know, there’s no necessarily right or wrong answer when it comes to those things, I think that there are people online or, you know, people that, you know, write resumes, that optimize profiles, that are experts in recruiting, that do know little…

tricks and tips and different things that are going to help you get results faster than what potentially you could do on your own. It kind of goes back to that concept where it’s like, you just don’t know what you don’t know, right? So if you don’t know that by doing this, you’re going to get a higher score on that applicant tracking system. Well, then maybe you do want to listen to, you know, the somebody that knows a little bit more about resume writing or optimizing your LinkedIn profile.

You know, and it seems like on social media platforms, you know, they’re kind of the primary source of information and for opinions for a lot of people right now. And there are a lot of experts, like you said, with huge followings that just, they talk a lot of shit. They say a lot.

Christine (10:05)
Can we

say shit? Because I was holding back.

Mary (10:08)
Yeah, for sure. Yeah, say it. You know, and I think, you know, I’ve seen people that they say some crazy stuff. you know, whether it’s true or not, or maybe they’re just trying to get more likes, more comments, shares, whatever it is, more followers. How do how can we know what is true and what isn’t? How do we decipher that?

Christine (10:12)
Yeah.

Yeah, it’s really, you’re absolutely right. There are experts in the field of resume writing that would allow you to, their tips and tricks will allow you to optimize job search. So putting in buzzwords, making sure it’s clear, making sure the format’s good. There are just certain things because we’re dealing with AI, we’re literally working with a machine, so we’re trying to optimize. But also, you’re right, in terms of, and I’m excluding those people, Enough respect to anyone that

that studied that and understands that. It’s the people, like you said, that have the platforms and this is for clicks. This is their day to day. This is how they eat. And they’re not being responsible. They’re spreading misinformation. And that doesn’t feel good, especially when someone is new to the market or they haven’t been on the market very long. They’re really relying on these people for guidance and that is scary.

Mary (11:10)
Mm -hmm.

Christine (11:29)
of the stuff that I see I’m like you shouldn’t be saying that. You’re full of shit. Like you’re really you know and being in the industry for this long I’m just like and I don’t want to pipe up online because I’m not going to get into the word of the words because I don’t you know I’m really I realize that companies are watching and I don’t want to put something out there that stays out there but sometimes I just want to be like shut up like

Mary (11:33)
Yeah, yeah

Yeah, so I mean for our listeners that are like, yeah, I see this all the time But I don’t know what’s true and I don’t know what’s not true. How could you help that person decipher? Well, who do I listen to what’s true? What isn’t true?

Christine (12:14)
I think doing your research, going online, getting on LinkedIn, looking at professionals like yourself, and not just doing research and looking to the first page, really do research. We’re in a time where if we don’t do research, we’re absolutely lost. So getting online and Google is a great, obviously, reference. But LinkedIn is also as well. And if you type in career coaches and do some background checks on these

Mary (12:26)
Yeah, deep.

Christine (12:44)
people and then you know that way you can know who you’re aligned to and who you’re listening to you’re getting the correct information. So I would suggest really just doing your research and do not blindly just follow someone because they have a lot of followers. That to me that is a red flag when I see someone with a ton of followers and not saying that it’s not possible. I kind of pause and then I listen and I’m like okay is this making sense to me? And then I see a lot of content creators that don’t have a lot of

following followers, but their stuff is absolutely the truth in terms of it’s good information, but they don’t have that platform. So we’re burying people that are here to help move the needle and we are admiring people with followers. That’s crazy. We need to move beyond that. And it’s just this era of

Mary (13:34)
Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Christine (13:41)
Okay, they have a lot of followers, so that means that their opinions are correct. That is not true.

Mary (13:48)
Yeah, and you can actually buy followers and there are some people that I wonder, their content just isn’t very engaging or informative, but they have a ton of followers. How? It definitely raises that red flag for me. And, you know, even on my podcast, I’ve, I probably shouldn’t say this, but I’ve interviewed people that have massive followings.

and they’re the most boring interview. And then I’ll interview somebody that has, you know, a thousand followers and we have the most engaging, insightful conversation that I’ve had, you know, in months. So, I mean, it’s been eye -opening for me on my end.

Christine (14:39)
I agree. feel like the diamonds, for instance, I’m a true introvert, so I’m not out there. But I know a ton of information on how to find candidates, write resumes, bullying, searching, peel backs. I’ve invested in myself. And then I’m looking at these people that have followers and no judgment but judgment. You don’t know what you’re talking about. So you got a small group of real true recruiters that this is…

Mary (15:00)
Yeah.

Christine (15:08)
our life. And then you have ones that are social media for and this is for clicks. And it’s frustrating because I talked to my circle and they’re like, we don’t know how to circumvent this. Like, because we just don’t, I’m not gonna buy, I’m never gonna buy followers. You’re gonna follow me because you, you feel that I’m a value. So it’s, it’s, you’re fighting this fight, right? Yeah.

Mary (15:34)
Mm

-hmm. Yeah. So for you, you know, as somebody that has, you know, years and years of recruiting experience, how can relying too heavily on personal opinions limit somebody’s job search?

Christine (15:51)
I feel like everyone’s personal opinions is based on their experience and they obviously have biases already. So you cannot rely on that. has to be, you have to rely on fact.

I’ve seen too many people put things out there that are not true and then they have their followers follow them in terms of how to search, where to go, this is the best site. And a lot of times these people are promoting different search sites because maybe they’re kind of paid to.

Mary (16:26)
yeah, they’re paid a lot of money too.

Christine (16:28)
That’s me real.

So they’re going to say whatever it takes.

to get people on that platform. So it’s just really important again for job seekers, job searchers to do your research. LinkedIn is great. Indeed is great. ZipRecruiter is great. CareerBuilder is great. Monster is great. All of the heavy hitters. And they typically, even in their platform, they have, like LinkedIn has a great reservoir of education in terms of, you know, industry. And I don’t even know if we can say the top voices,

because that’s another thing. We won’t get into top voices on LinkedIn. It’s good, but how do we know their top voices? Like, how do we know who’s writing their stuff? But LinkedIn has an education pool and so does, you know, Monster. And you can go on and search about anything if you want to know about resumes, job searching, and just do your research. But I think we have to do our due diligence. And I think we’ve come to a place where we rely on people’s opinion way

Mary (17:07)
Mm -hmm.

Christine (17:33)
more than even our intuition. Like, and way more than fact. So I feel like we have to move away from that and really start doing the work and not have someone that doesn’t know how to do the work do the work for us. Does that make sense?

Mary (17:49)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it’s definitely, it’s an era of influencers too. And it’s hard to not fall into that trap because, you know, especially when people have these massive followings, like you said, it gives them kind of the sense of credibility from those people that follow them. And it, you know, it makes, in turn, it makes people kind of think a little bit less

critically about what they’re saying because they just kind of take it as Bible, as fact. you know, beyond the research aspect of it, how could, you know, what are some things that we could do or, you and your inner circle, what are some things that we could do to really encourage that critical thinking and open mindedness and conversations?

Christine (18:42)
critical thinking. Wow. Yeah, that’s a great question, Mary. how can we encourage people to start thinking for themselves? That, that, that’s a tough one. this, because in this era, it’s, they’re encouraged not to.

Mary (18:54)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Christine (19:06)
So you’re really kind of going back and trying to scroll back. So I come from a little bit of a different generation. So I’m thinking maybe.

What can we do? I think maybe the recruiters that have the experience may want to mentor, put more like, you know, true content out there to assist in that. Mentorship is really huge, I feel. I don’t know how to answer that question, because I almost feel like…

This is a question back to you. Do you think critical thinking is something that is innately just you have or do you think that it’s built? That pathway is built or is a bit of both?

Mary (19:56)
I think it’s both. I think that any critical skill can be built. So, I wouldn’t personally, you mentioned that you’re an introvert. So, for me, I’m also a hardcore introvert. speaking is something for me that it doesn’t come naturally, right? But it’s something that I practice. And that’s part of the reason why I have my podcast too. It’s a skill that I know is…

a weakness, but it’s something that, you know, if you can practice it and you can learn from others that are really, really good at it, and then you can put that into application, you can get better. And I think critical thinking is similar. And I love the fact, you know, that you said maybe work with mentors to figure out, okay, you know, what are some ways that I could think more critically about my job search?

or about life in general or whatever it might be so that I’m thinking more critically. I’m using the research. I’m tapping into data. I’m trying things for myself to see what works, to see what doesn’t work. I think that there are a lot of different ways that you can really hone those critical thinking skills and specifically in the job search as well.

Christine (21:19)
You’re absolutely right. And as you mentioned, the mentors, I even with my years of experience, I have mentors. Like I have people I get stuck because if I’m doing the same thing every day, I’m not necessarily critically thinking because I’m doing I’m like operating on autopilot. So sometimes to get out of the bubble, I’ll reach out to Steve or David and say, Hey, what do you think of this? And they have the answer, something that should be like, so common for me to think of, but I’m

not because I’m in a bubble. it’s really easy to get stuck in that bubble of what we know. So having some people outside of that to kind of influence and people have different backgrounds as well. So it doesn’t necessarily just have to be TA, you know, you can learn pretty much from anyone. So for us, for introverts, yeah, I’m really truly an introvert. Sometimes it’s I, my downfall is I stick to the circle that I

and I’m trying to like you to branch out and you can learn from everyone even people that are more junior than you and so critical thinking for me is like just being on top of things reading and using data doesn’t lie. Data is the truth. know if we if I go to a hiring manager and there is something stuck on a role that we can’t move past the first thing I do is present data because the data is the truth you can’t deny data.

Mary (22:19)
Yeah. Yeah.

for sure.

Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

Christine (22:48)
This is what we’re finding in this market. This is the salary range. It’s not aligned to what you’re looking for. And data allows us to have a conversation where we are critically thinking, what can we do to solve this problem? So you mentioned data. That’s actually a good one as well. Yeah.

Mary (23:06)
Yeah, yeah,

absolutely. You know, and I think that there are truly a lot of unbiased people out there that have a lot of experience in recruiting and in the job searching space. So how could we go about identifying those people and actually leveraging their expertise effectively?

Christine (23:28)
Networking is key. And I’ll tell you this, Mary, prior to, I would have never found you if I didn’t start networking. You know, I would have never found you. you know, David was like one of my mentors. He’s like, you have to network because this is not like, you know, 10 years ago, you got to get out there. So I would say network, network, network. You will. First of all, I believe in the universe and I believe anything that you want, the universe is going to bring to you. So if you want to learn, if you want to get better,

Mary (23:34)
Mm -hmm.

Christine (23:57)
you put it out there. And in putting it out there, networking is a part of that. So network and you will find what you’re looking for because I believe there’s a lot of people like me online willing to take someone under their wing, willing to do a coffee chat, willing to just open up and kind of teach. So I would say continue to network. Look at who you’re networking with. If they have a huge following, cool. But really look at their followers. Look at…

their comments. When they’re posting stuff, that will say a lot about their, like who’s following them and the quality and the value behind them.

Mary (24:29)
Yeah.

Christine (24:40)
But networking is key to finding those gems because we’re out there. know, even doing like research on the different LinkedIn groups. You know, there’s a ton of groups on job searching, how to, you know, do have a better resume, how to show up on your, there’s a ton of groups on LinkedIn, on meetup .com. You got to invest the time to, you know, to kind of do the research. So I would say network, do the research.

and really believe that you can do it and put it into the universe and the universe is going to bring that back to you for sure.

Mary (25:17)
Yeah, for sure. I want to go a little bit deeper on that because, you know, a lot of people use this term, this concept of networking and they’re like, you got to network. It’s a, you know, in this market, you know, it’s overly saturated. You know, networking is where it’s at. Networking, networking, networking. So in your opinion, I mean, what are some of the best ways that our listeners could start effectively networking on LinkedIn?

Christine (25:47)
I think networking is a skill. It’s really important to be genuine and authentic when you’re reaching out. So don’t reach out to someone and give them your resume. Kind of reach out and start a conversation. If it’s someone a little more senior, reach out and say, hey, you have a great background. I would love to learn more.

Be genuine because the last thing someone wants to feel is that you’re just reaching out for an opportunity or you’re just reaching out or they may feel used. Be genuine when you’re reaching out to people and really build that relationship. It’s gonna take time. Like anything, you have to nurture it. Try to be a part of their circle. Ask them, hey, I’m kinda new to this. I wanna get better. Is there anyone that you can refer?

that you can do like I mentioned is just to be authentic and be honest and be transparent in terms of what you’re trying to do. And then it wouldn’t make networking seem like it’s hard. I think that as human beings, it’s natural for us to want to connect. And we just have to continue just to have that connector and just be honest and real about how we’re going about it. I don’t like to say there is a strategy because then it comes off kind of like,

It’s a strategy.

Mary (27:20)
Yeah.

Christine (27:24)
is we are human, we want to connect, let’s connect with others and let’s just be honest, hey, I’m having a rough time on the job market, is there anything you can give me in terms of a tip and trick that I can find? Like if someone sent me a message like that, I light up because I’m like, wow, they actually, they want to know and they’re being honest and genuine about their intent versus someone that sends me their resume or is like, hey, can we jump on a call? I want to pick your brain.

Mary (27:59)
Yup.

Christine (27:59)
So

I feel like there is a strategy but there’s not like I feel if you’re just a good person and you just put it out there and you’re like hey I want to get better can you can you help me can you guide me most people will respond to that I hope I answered your question

Mary (28:20)
Yeah, no, that’s amazing. I’m always curious. Everybody has their opinion on what’s the correct way to network. And everybody has just a little bit of a different strategy. So I love that. And I think that you’re absolutely right too. I get a lot of people that reach out to me and they’re like, find me a job. I’m like, okay, not gonna respond to that. But if somebody reaches out and they’re really, yeah.

Christine (28:46)
I used to do that.

Mary (28:50)
But if they’re really intentional and they’re really genuine and they’re asking about me and, you know, they start a conversation first without just reaching out and saying, find me a job, you know, then we can have a conversation. And then it’s like, well, maybe there is somebody in my network that can, that’s in the industry that you’re in that we can, can tap into and they can help you. So I think that there are really strategic ways that you can go about networking that will.

you know, really help not only you as the job seeker, but the person that you’re tapping into to try to gain that help from.

Christine (29:29)
I I agree. I also post jobs to help people. So I do that probably twice a week and it’s selfless. I’m doing it because I want to help. But that’s also another way of networking. People are seeing, okay, wow, she’s posting, let me connect with her. And I don’t do it just for that, but I do it because I truly want to help. Again, that’s the part of being transparent and genuine. I feel once you put that out there, that comes back to you.

Mary (29:34)
Yeah.

Christine (29:59)
tenfold. when you help others, others want to help you, if that means. Yeah. Yeah.

Mary (30:04)
For sure. Absolutely. Yeah,

and kind of bringing it back to the topic of the era of experts, I’m curious if you can provide us with a couple of examples. And I know that you gave us one example of the headline and an expert on LinkedIn with a huge following saying one thing is true fact about this headline. Do this. You can’t do that. But could you give us just a couple?

more examples of what you’ve seen out there online.

Christine (30:38)
Sure, even just with resume writing, I’ve seen people say, it should be a two -pager, not necessarily disagree with it, not agreeing with that. But if you have a lot of experience, sometimes a three -pager might do. And are you saying that an employer won’t consider you because you have three pages of content that’s meaty? Again, not saying that it’s wrong, but there’s just been things that have been absolute, like with no

wiggle room, you should have core competencies versus not having core competencies on your resume. Or you should have a summary of your professional experience. Like little things like that. And again, I know there is a common way to do things. And there probably is best practices, absolutely. But when you get into absolutes, it seems a little…

Zero tolerance, right? I don’t think an employer is gonna say, your resume was three pages. So no, absolutely not. Like, who does that?

Mary (31:36)
Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah.

Christine (31:48)
You know, so I’ve seen that. I’ve seen content creators say things specific to resumes that, and they’re not necessarily resume writers. Now, coming from a resume writer, okay, I’m gonna pause and be like, yeah, that sounds, but just a content creator, I was like, Wait a minute, are you even in hiring? Have you dealt with that? Right, right.

Mary (32:07)
Yeah.

Right, right. Like

they work at Amazon as an engineer and they’re talking about this like they they’re the expert in the field.

Christine (32:18)
Yeah, I’m just like,

wait a minute, are you in TA? you’re not, okay. okay. It’s like everyone is an expert. I’m just like, or interviewing, like there was some stuff about just how you should, and again, there’s best practices in terms of interviews, absolutely how you should answer questions. There’s the STAR method, all of that, we know that. Just little things like, know.

Mary (32:21)
right.

Christine (32:46)
how long your questions or your answers should be. Just things that, there’s no absolute. Sometimes your answer might be longer because it’s a loaded question. So I do get on the soapbox when I see absolutes. There is a time and place for all of that. And sometimes you’re not gonna get a short answer. So just.

Just little things that I’m like, ew. Are you really gonna say that? You’re not even gonna say, like.

Mary (33:16)
Yeah.

Yeah. And I think today, you know, Chrissy, I think we just wanted to kind of come together to draw attention to the fact or, you know, maybe raise awareness that job searching, there aren’t absolutes, you know, one person may have an opinion and another person may have experienced something completely different and they have a completely different opinion. So I think that it’s really important for our listeners to take away that

You know, just because you read something online, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s absolute fact. Maybe it’s fact for that person, but it may not be fact for you. So, you know, if you’re hearing all these things online and it’s stressing you out because you’re like, well, I don’t do it that way. You know, I do it this way. Everybody is going to interact with the job search.

in a completely different way. And just because you’re doing it in a different way and this influencer is saying, hey, you need to be doing it this way, it doesn’t mean that you’re doing it the wrong way. Like you said, there’s a chance that they’re getting paid a lot of money to say, hey, you need to do it this way because that’s how they’re earning their coins. That’s how they’re getting their paycheck by marketing these different products. And that’s okay. You know, that’s perfectly fine. But I think

We need to figure out how to take a step back and not just look at social media and be like, this person is saying this, this is fact. Be open, start using that critical thinking skill where it’s like, is that fact? Maybe I’ll do a little bit of research and then maybe I’ll dig a little bit deeper than that. Or maybe I’ll ask a couple of other people who have skills or expertise in that area and see what their opinion is.

and then start gathering that data. And once you have that data collected, then start making an informed decision on your own instead of just taking fact. This is what the influencer is saying, it’s fact. Do a little bit of research on your end.

Christine (35:31)
You’re absolutely right. You’re absolutely right. And it’s just we’re in a weird time where, and a scary time because when you have an influencer, they have influence. And there’s some people that have joined the workforce under this. When I joined, we didn’t have.

Mary (35:41)
Yeah. Yep.

Christine (35:50)
like social media like that. think we were on Yahoo groups. I was on Myspace sourcing. Yes, yes, yes. So we were just brought up different. So I do feel compassion for the younger generation that’s coming into this. if this is all you’re fed, this is what you think is truth.

Mary (35:56)
ICQ chat.

Christine (36:15)
So I feel like I’m obligated to pull someone to the side and be like, no, no, no, you’re not going to beat yourself up. There’s different ways to do this. And that’s why I’m like, that non -judgment space, I know I made a lot of kind of, not judgments, but responded in a way that may seem judgmental, but I really like that non -judgment space because we can say something and say it’s our opinion without sounding judgy.

Mary (36:23)
Yeah. Yeah.

Christine (36:44)
You know, like going back to that one person that was like, well, when you have this, this and this on your, in your headlines, it’s silly or stupid. Like, who are you to say that? I know a lot of people that got X this, X that, and they’re employed at huge companies. So I feel we have to be responsible with the platform that we’re given. Like we really do. Be kind. You know, be kind. Yeah.

Mary (37:06)
Yes.

Be kind. Yeah.

Yeah.

Christine (37:14)
Be kind.

And if we’re really here to educate each other, let’s do that. Let’s not beat each other over the head. Let’s educate each other and say, hey, maybe this may work. But to say this is, you’re judging someone for doing that.

I just, I feel that it’s just not necessary and it puts people in a space. It’s already a powder keg right now. Everyone’s kind of like fighting and it’s intense. Let’s bring some kindness to the table and compassion. You know?

Mary (37:49)
Yeah. It really

is scary how the rhetoric on social media can influence so many people in crazy ways. You know, it’s just, I think that this conversation needs to be discussed more and more, you know, where it’s like, you need to have that ability to think for yourself. Don’t just go on social media, hear one thing and

Christine (37:58)
Yeah.

Mary (38:18)
think that it’s fact. You need to, you know, use your own brain. Go outside of social media, find the facts, and then, you know, determine for you what’s the best course of action.

Christine (38:33)
Right, misinformation is scary. Cause you’re repeating something that may not be true and then you’re repeating it out of ignorance and it’s just a vicious cycle. And I’ve stayed off social media for a while cause I’m like, I can’t even believe, I love LinkedIn, but LinkedIn’s turned into almost like a little bit of a Facebook at times. I was like, are we posting toes over here? Did I just see someone’s toe? Like, what are we doing?

Mary (39:04)
Yeah

Christine (39:04)
No judgment but judgment.

Mary (39:09)
The non -judgment judgment type.

Christine (39:09)
Right, right, what is going

on? This is a professional platform. So I’m still getting used to seeing things that I’m like, this should be on Twitter. I’m not knocking, but I feel like LinkedIn has been a safe haven for professionals. And now, you know, we’re sharing the space and that’s fine. But it’s just, I’m just like, this is, this is, this is different. It’s not TikTok. I shouldn’t say TikTok.

Mary (39:35)
Yeah.

Yeah, I think a lot of people on LinkedIn are trying to navigate how to kind of bring in the really personal side and be really genuine and how they’re posting. And maybe, you know, to some people that means posting their toes or posting, you know, really, really, really personal things. But, you know, I think

Christine (39:57)
You

Mary (40:03)
For me, again, this is my opinion, my unbiased, non -judgmental opinion. I think it’s okay to bring in some personal aspects of your life to LinkedIn, but at the end of the day, it’s a professional platform. If you’re gonna do that, I would always try to connect that back to whatever underlying theme or message that you’re trying to bring to your audience that’s more related to…

careers and job searching because at the end of the day, that’s what the platform is.

Christine (40:35)
Exactly. so we get into a space where we have to remember employers, when they do their searches and when we do our background checks, I’m speaking from doing mine, we’re going to your LinkedIn page and we’re looking at what are you posting? What are you saying? And would you represent the company well?

Mary (40:45)
Mm -hmm.

Christine (40:55)
We’ve got to think about stuff, because what’s online stays online. And with open intelligence and how we can now just kind of source and search anyone, we have to be careful, because it does tie back. right. Companies might say, I don’t know if I want this person representing HR.

Mary (40:59)
Mm -hmm

It’s part of your personal brand. What you post online on LinkedIn, that’s you. You’re building your personal brand. So you need to be really careful about what you say, not only from a posting perspective, but also from a commenting perspective because employers can see that too.

Christine (41:37)
Yeah, it’s really important and I feel like we need to keep that in mind because in a market that’s so competitive, they’re just looking for one thing to just say, okay, no.

Mary (41:51)
Yeah. Yep. Well, Chrissy, can you leave us on a positive note? What’s one positive thing that you’ve seen on social media lately?

Christine (42:01)
I’m seeing more connectivity. I am. I’m seeing people being transparent about their struggles and I’m seeing the support of others, of a community coming together and saying, got you. That’s a beautiful thing. It’s bringing back the humanity in this. We’re all in this together. We’re so connected. And that’s why I’m on LinkedIn every day. Cause I’m like, I love to see.

Mary (42:16)
It is.

Christine (42:28)
people encouraging each other and saying, you I don’t have a job, but hey, let me refer you over here or let me refer you here or hang in there, you know, don’t, don’t let this get to you. And there’s just this human element that’s coming back that I love. Yeah. Yeah.

Mary (42:44)
I love it. Where

can we find you on LinkedIn?

Christine (42:48)
I am under exceptional recruiter

Mary (42:56)
Love it anywhere else on social media.

Christine (42:59)
No, I like locked down a lot of that stuff just to keep focused, know, keep focused. But I’m on LinkedIn, I post all the time, I post a lot of billable jobs. I want to help my community. I’m looking for work as well. I’m open to work. But I’m like the best way to get out there is to just help others and it’ll come back.

Mary (43:02)
Yup.

awesome.

Yeah, absolutely. Well, Chrissy, thank you so much for coming on today.

Christine (43:25)
Absolutely. Thank you, Mary.