You’re anticipating a career change, and it has been a while since your last job search. How do you know if your resume good enough? A resume critique is a good way to find out. But how do you know if you’re getting the right advice? Can you tell if the suggestions you receive are helpful or, in fact, counterproductive to your job search efforts? Remember the following three criteria to protect yourself and your career from well-meaning, yet harmful, advice.

1. Consider the source.

First, consider the source of the advice you receive. If you ask ten friends what they think of your resume, you will most likely get ten different answers. This approach leads to continually second-guessing your resume. Even worse, your friends may tell you, “It’s great, just fine,” because they don’t want to jeopardize your friendship.

Be sure the person you ask to critique your resume has a broad understanding of the principals of an effective resume. Unless a person is actively involved in routine hiring practices, such as a hiring manager, HR professional, recruiter, professional resume writer, or career coach, the resume advice you get will most likely be based on subjective opinion. You need professional, informed advice to get your resume in shape for your job search.

2. Avoid one-way resume critiques.

It’s important to avoid one-way resume critiques, or critiques that don’t allow you to have discussion and input. If someone offers advice on your resume prior to asking critical questions such as your current career focus and industry preference, their advice could steer you in a completely wrong direction. Offering one-way, “this is the way it’s done” type suggestions is a telltale sign that the person doing the critique doesn’t have the background needed to give solid career advice.

Another danger of the one-way critique is that without some essential background information about you, your career, and your job search, the person doing the critique will not understand your resume strategy. He or she may advise you to comply with a particular resume “standard practice,” when, in your case that could be counterproductive, or even harmful to your efforts.

3. You get what you pay for.

Third, when seeking resume advice it is wise to remember the old saying, “There is no free lunch.” The internet is full of offers for “Free Resume Critique.” But most often it’s like the ads you hear offering “Free Insurance Quotes.” The intent is to sell you something. I am not suggesting that this is a bad practice; it is a common practice among many excellent career advice professionals. Just understand that the person who offers you a free resume critique is in business to make a reasonable profit on valuable career services.

If you are willing to pay a professional for sound resume advice, you’ll receive credible information that will help you understand the weaknesses in your resume that can mean missed interview opportunities. Once you’ve received a trustworthy resume critique, you’ll stop second-guessing your own resume efforts. You’ll know what needs to be done to attract the right employers and to propel you into your next career opportunity. Your career is worth the investment in professional advice.

Deborah Walker, Resume Coach, and former recruiter knows all the resume errors that keep job-seekers’ efforts unproductive and frustrated. Often, harmful mistakes can be fixed with just a little guidance from the right source. CLICK HERE to learn more about receiving a professional-quality resume critique.