Most career advice out there is too generic to help you get a job—but if you’re reading this then you probably knew that already. You’ve read about all the “resume mistakes to avoid,” “things you should never say in an interview,” and all that stuff. Obviously there’s more to job searching than that, so I’ve ranked some of the best career counselling blogs that I’ve found to be legitimately helpful over the last 5 years.
Fold these into your morning or lunchtime reading to raise your game, one day at a time.
Human Workplace
One of the first influencers I encountered on LinkedIn was Liz Ryan in 2014, founder of the Human Workplace, and I’ve never stopped reading her work since then. She’s been a specialist in the world of HR for years and is on a mission to change it for the better.
Liz has, without a doubt, changed the way I look at the job search and interview process. Her work has been an inspiration for this very website, too. You’ll find all kinds of topics about job searching and workplace culture, what’s wrong with current conventions, and how to get around them, such as:
- Why recruiters don’t call back when they say they will.
- The power dynamics at play in recruiting and interview processes.
- How to spot toxic behavior before taking a job
- How to write cover letters that actually get read (“pain letters”), one of my favorite topics of hers.
The advice is practical and distilled from decades of experience from someone who has hired hundreds (if not thousands) of people. Liz’s content is also highly positive. Long-term job searches eat away at the soul, and her outlook on work and life has always reminded me how to keep job rejections in perspective.
It’s because of Liz Ryan that I believe in myself today, and you’re missing out on a goldmine of wisdom if you don’t add this to your list of career counselling blogs to read.
P.S. Now the site produces a podcast called “The Truth About Work,” which I highly recommend!
Roostervane
Chris Cornthwaite over at Roostervane is on a mission to help graduates find purpose in their careers, and he has some valuable advice to share.
You’re not looking at another collection of “resume tips” articles, but practical advice about how to take control of your career and stories that illustrate how to do it. Chris is also one of the many PhD graduates who left academia after dedicating his life to his field of study, so he has more than a few insights on life transitions.
Expect to find these topics on the Roostervane blog:
- Leaving academia
- Becoming a thought leader
- Building wealth
- Finding purpose and direction
Check it out. I think you’ll find Chris’ perspective refreshing and genuine.
Work it Daily
Work it Daily has been around for a while. I remember reading it when it was still called Career Realism back in 2016. This blog has a pretty wide range of topics, covering the basics of job hunting with granular detail. Here you’ll find things like:
- Career quizzes
- Interview checklists
- Pointers for personal brand building
It’s not a structured path to a job, though you’ll have no trouble finding answers to specific questions or hurdles in the job searching process. The answers are also highly pragmatic and refreshingly frank. It’s one of the first big career counselling blogs that stopped sugar-coating a set of best practices and told things straight, which is a big reason why it’s on this list.
I love the site’s use of media in particular. J.T. O’Donnell has a podcast, quizzes, plus a collection of on-demand webinars that will help you get your professional footing. There’s something here for everybody in their early and mid-stage careers, at least.
Career Sidekick
Career Sidekick has been around since 2013 and made quite a name for itself in that time. It covers a lot of topics for young professionals, like Work it Daily—but unlike most other websites, it focuses on editorial quality for every topic it tackles.
I’ve found that approach to be highly effective because the website covers topics in pretty serious depth. The topics are common to the job search experience, but where other publications gloss over the details, Career Sidekick makes a real effort to deliver useful answers. It’s not just churning out lists about the same “10 resume mistakes to avoid” every month.
Be sure to check out these parts of the site:
- The interview prep section
- The Data and Studies section under “Other Stuff”
- The Resume Examples section
The content is visually vanilla—it’s mostly just text—but I urge you to actually read that text instead of just skimming it. The authors clearly put a lot of thought into the content and it really shows.
These 4 career counselling blogs will give you most (if not all) of the advice you’ll need to get a job and develop a fulfilling career—and a profitable one at that. They all bring something different to the table, from structured road maps to quizzes and podcasts. Folding them into your daily or weekly reading will put you a mile ahead of everyone else.
Happy hunting out there!
