Be honest - where are you getting your hiring advice?

Social media? AI? Or someone who actually knows your market?

We all want quick access to answers—whether you’re a business trying to hire smarter or faster or a job seeker trying to land the right opportunity. But in today’s world, advice is everywhere... and not all of it is worth following.

Between AI-generated job posts, trending career “hacks,” and TikTok tips on everything imaginable, it’s never been easier to find opinions on hiring and getting hired. But how do you know what’s real? More importantly—how do you know what applies to you and to the greater South Bend-Mishawaka and Elkhart areas?

Let’s look at some of the troubling trends that have begun to surface:

  • Payscale recently highlighted how AI tools and viral salary posts are spreading inaccurate or inflated pay expectations. Businesses are being pressured to match numbers that don’t reflect local markets—and job seekers are aiming for targets that may not exist.

  • PR Newswire shared new research showing Gen Z is turning to social media as a career coach. While there’s no shortage of advice out there, much of it skips over the actual skills and expectations needed to succeed in a real workplace.

  • Indeed Hiring Lab pointed out a surprising trend: job postings are up, but hiring is down. Why? It’s never been easier to click and post a job opening—but many postings are placeholders or passive efforts, not serious recruitment.

  • Reputation management fraud is also muddying the waters. This is where a business is targeted with fake negative reviews—only to be approached by someone offering to “fix” the problem for a fee. This erodes trust and damages the experience for job seekers and employers alike, making it harder for both sides to find each other. (Yes, it happened to one of our local clients!)

All of this adds up to a simple truth: you can’t rely on generic advice from anonymous sources and expect it to work in your real-world situation. More data floating around in the world does not always translate to your corner of that world.

But hear this—we believe in social media too. In fact, we’re all over it.

We encourage you to follow us, not for gimmicks or trends, but for real advice from professionals who have the data, the knowledge, and the front-line experience to help you navigate hiring and job searching with confidence.

So—where are you getting your hiring advice? If it’s not from someone who has met you and understands your goals, your market, and your challenges... maybe it’s time for a better source.

Here’s a little sample of real, local information for you: want to know about office and administrative wages locally? The South Bend Chamber has just published its Economic Profile, containing data on our region. Specifically, you can find wage data collected from area businesses (along with lots of other good information) that will tell you office jobs in our area pay in an average range of $17.22 - 25.43, depending on skill set required. At Personnel Partners, we run a report each week analyzing what our clients are paying, and you’ll be pleased to know that the most recent one produced an average wage of $19.46/hour.

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Should You Get on this Hiring Bandwagon?