The Balance Careers Review Process Share PINTEREST Email Print Table of Contents Expand Why You Should Trust Us Advertiser Disclosure Our Team Our Mission Our Process Liveabout Careers Succeeding at Work Finding a Job Career Paths Business Ownership Activities Humor Entertainment By The Balance Careers Editorial Team Published on 08/04/20 At The Balance Careers, we are dedicated to giving you unbiased, comprehensive reviews of products and services that affect your profession. Why You Should Trust Us Our reviews are always impartial. No one can influence which products we review, the way we present them to you, or the ratings they receive. The data we collect and our editorial expertise determine the list of products you see in our round-ups and the reviews you read—that’s it. When we review a product or service—whether that’s a job search website, online classes, resume writers, or real estate schools—you’re the first thing on our minds: Does this product or service make your life better? How much will it cost you? Is it easy to understand? The answers to these questions drive our recommendations. Our opinions are our own. What we say about a particular product or service is not reviewed or approved by any partner we work with. To put it simply, we recommend products we would use ourselves or tell a friend or family member about. The Balance Careers does not provide individual or customized legal, tax, accounting, or investment services. Since each individual's situation is unique, a qualified professional should be consulted before making financial decisions. Advertiser Disclosure We do receive compensation from partner links in our content, but this compensation never affects our recommendations, the products we review, or where products appear in our reviews. Keep in mind we are unable to consider every possible product available to you. While we work hard to review a thorough sampling of products on the market and make recommendations regardless of any advertising relationships, we’re human, and we can’t cover everything. Our Team The Balance’s expert writers all have extensive writing and professional experience in their fields. Here are a few of our writers and editors: DOCK DAVID TREECE Associate Editorial Director Dock is a former licensed investment advisor and member of the FINRA Small Firm Advisory Board. He has been featured by industry-leading outlets such as CNBC, Fox Business, Bloomberg, and MarketWatch. Dock is passionate about educating the public about financial issues and career-related topics so that they can make informed decisions and increase job prospects. JANA LYNCH Editor After more than a decade in social services, Jana has spent the past seven years working in personal finance as a writer and editor. Her work has been featured on sites like Frugal Rules, DollarSprout, the Penny Hoarder, and others. She also served as the director of grants and programs for the Plutus Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to personal finance education, and is an advocate for victims and survivors of financial abuse. BOB MCINTOSH Resume Writing Expert Bob McIntosh, a Certified Professional Résumé Writer (CPRW), is a career strategist who leads more than 20 unique job-search workshops and webinars at MassHire Lowell Career Center in Lowell, Massachusetts. He was selected by management to meet with high-level job seekers on an individual basis. He critiques their résumés and LinkedIn profiles, as well as conducts mock interviews and provides salary negotiating advice. EMILY POLNER Small Business & Careers Expert Formerly a retail and eCommerce expert for Rebecca Minkoff, Emily now uses her expertise in small business marketing, technology, and entrepreneurship to create compelling content for small businesses, freelancers, and consultants. Emily has been featured by leading brands including Fit Small Business, ShopKeep, and Carla Isabel Career Coaching. Her writing has helped thousands of small business owners and job seekers better understand complex topics, like loans and software, and achieve major milestones, like landing a dream job. Our Mission It’s simple: We’re here to help you make smart career decisions. There are so many options to consider when looking for a new job or advancing your career, including signing up for online classes or receiving a certification, and we want you to feel confident when you make those choices. Our Process We’re obsessed with staying on top of the latest developments in the career industry and keeping you up to speed on them, too. When we’re deciding what to review or rounding up the best services out there, we rigorously research the market, what people are looking for, and what makes an outstanding product. We spend days—sometimes months—collecting all this information. Then, using that data and our expertise, we set clear, consistent evaluation criteria for each product we review. Case in point: Check out our resume writing service methodology to see how we reviewed and rated all of them to find out which ones were worth signing up for. And once we publish an article, we don’t forget about it. Our team is relentless when it comes to keeping our recommendations fresh, accurate, and helpful. Even so, we encourage you to carefully read the fine print before buying or applying for any product or service. Yes, making the right career decision often takes hours of diligent research. But we love doing it, which means you don’t have to.