How Much Should You Actually Spend to Land a Job

How much should you really spend to land your next job?

Job searching definitely requires time and strategy. You need to update your résumé, apply to the right roles, and network effectively. 

But will spending money help you get hired faster, or get a better job for yourself?

Should you pay for networking events? What about a résumé writer? Is career coaching worth the money?  

Hi 👋 I’m Cara. I’m a former VP of HR and now President of the International Association of Career Coaches. I’ve helped thousands of people land jobs they’re proud of.

In this post, I’ll walk you through how to think about investing in your job search, including what you can do for free, when it’s worth spending, and whether any of it is tax-deductible.

The Smart Way to Spend (or Not Spend) on Your Job Hunt

Below, I’ve broken down the job search into 5 major components:

1. Getting direction and making a job search strategy
   

2. Résumé and cover letter
   

3. Networking
   

4. Interview prep
   

5. Job offer negotiation
   

For each section, I’ll share three options on how to approach it: one free, one cheap, and one pricey. And I’ll tell you how effective each option is.

And at the end of this post, I’ll give you some rules of thumb on when it makes sense to spend money on your job search.

1. Getting direction and making a job search strategy

In some ways, this is the most important step. 

Like any goal, it’s not so much about the effort you put forth, but the effort you put forth in the right direction. For example, let’s say you want to get to the beach. You could walk for hours with sweat and determination. But if the beach is West and you’re walking East, then your effort is wasted.

If you are clear on your dream job and feel confident in your game plan on how to get there, then your job search will feel a whole lot smoother than if you don’t know what you want or how to get there. 

Here are a few ways to get clarity and build a job search plan.

Action	Effectiveness	Cost	Note
Listen to job search podcasts	⭐️⭐️	$0	Good insight, but not personalized.
Read a career book	⭐️⭐️⭐️	$15	Structured guidance, more depth.
Work with a career coach	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	$150 – $3,000	Best for personalized strategy.

Let’s dive into each.

💸 Listen to job search podcasts

There are some great career advice podcasts out there, like Find Your Dream Job and Career Contessa.

You can get a ton of value and insight. Though podcasts lack a personalized game plan, you might not figure out how to apply the tips to your own situation.

Effectiveness: ⭐️⭐️

Cost: $0

💸💸 Read a career book

Books can go a lot deeper than podcasts, and they can take you through structured guidance to help you find that next career step.

Here are three books you might try out:

• Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans. This guide uses design thinking principles to help you build a fulfilling career.
  

• What Color Is Your Parachute? A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers by Richard Bolles. This is a classic career manual that helps job seekers identify their strengths, clarify their goals, and navigate both the emotional and tactical sides of career change.
  

•  The Art of Finding the Job You Love: An Unconventional Guide to Work with Meaning by Cara Heilmann (me! 🙂) Here’s an unconventional roadmap that’ll help you land meaningful work by telling better career stories and connecting with what hiring managers really want.

Effectiveness: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Cost: $15

💸💸💸 Work with a career coach

This will be by far the most effective option for finding direction and making sure you have the right game plan.

Sitting down with a coach can give you clarifying insights about what you’re looking for, and they can use their expertise to make sure you have the right plan.

Lots of coaches offer a one-time clarity session. That can definitely work, but sometimes it takes more than one session to figure out what you want. And many job seekers find the accountability and continued advice along the way extremely helpful. 

No harm in trying the cheaper steps first. But if you really feel lost, it can be helpful to seek guidance from a trained professional.

Effectiveness: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Cost: $150-$300 for a single session. $1,000-$3,000 for deeper support.

2. Résumé and cover letter

If you’ve applied for a bunch of jobs but have gotten very few interviews, then it may be worth doubling down on your dossier.

Here are three options to consider:

Action	Effectiveness	Cost	Note
Use Canva templates and ChatGPT	⭐️½	$0	Decent DIY option if you use smart prompting.
Hire a freelancer	⭐️⭐️	$30 – $200	Affordable, but quality varies.
Certified résumé writer	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	$150 – $600	Best if you want high quality.

Let’s explore each a bit deeper.

💸 Use Canva templates and ChatGPT

There are some pretty good free résumé templates on Canva. Just make sure you pick one that matches your industry, level, and location.

Once you write your first draft, you can use ChatGPT to get feedback.

When you share your résumé with ChatGPT, I’d consider omitting your address, phone number, or any other personal info you don’t want to release into the ether.

Try pasting in this prompt:

“I’m applying for a [job title] role at [company name]. Here’s the job description: [paste below] --------

Here’s my current résumé: [paste below]

--------

Can you roleplay as the hiring manager who is going through hundreds of résumés and looking for reasons to say ‘no.’ How does my résumé stack up, and how can I make my résumé stronger and more tailored to this posting so that it’d be an obvious choice for you to want to interview me?”

Effectiveness: ⭐½

Cost: $0

💸💸 Hire a freelancer

There are tons of résumé writers on Fiverr and Upwork. You might be able to find decent help, but to be honest, I wouldn’t expect top quality. 

If you are on a budget and want to go this route, just make sure you pick someone with good ratings who knows your industry.

Effectiveness: ⭐⭐

Cost: $30–$200

💸💸💸 Work with a certified résumé writer

Résumé writers are trained to help you create a compelling narrative for your career and tailor your résumé to the position. 

This is the most effective route to getting an interview, but also the most costly.

But it might be worth the extra buck if you’re changing industries, shooting for a senior role, or you're just not getting any interviews.

That said, the quality can vary quite a lot, which is why I only give it 4 stars for effectiveness.

From my research, anyone who charges over $1000 is good and totally worth it. Anyone below $500 is below average. You get what you pay for.

If I’m working on a client’s résumé, I’ll spend up to 10 hours reviewing it. 

So if you’re only paying someone $150, that means they’re either only glancing at your résumé, or simply lack the skill to charge more. 

Effectiveness: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cost: $150–$1,000 (more expensive for executive résumés)

3. Networking

Networking is one area that you can do really well for free.

When it comes to networking, there are loads of different tactics. No one networking tactic is necessarily better than another; they all have their place.

The advantage of paying money is that it can unlock more networking tactics to add to your arsenal. 

So it’s not strictly necessary to pay to help your networking efforts, but it can open up new opportunities and expand your reach. 

Here are three primary networking tactics:

Action	Effectiveness	Cost	Note
Reach out to warm contacts	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	$0	Casual, personalized, high hit rate.
Attend a networking event	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	$10 – $100	Easy to meet new contacts.
Attend an industry conference	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	$300 – $1,000+	Best to meet a ton of industry colleagues in a short time span.

💸 Reach out to warm contacts or alumni

It’s always a smart move to reach out to people in your network.

All you need to do is invite them to catch up over coffee or on a Zoom call.

It’s often best not to lead with “I’m looking for a job!” That can feel transactional if you’re not already close.

Instead, let the conversation unfold naturally. And if the conversation veers in the direction of work, mention that you’re exploring your next step and ask if they have any insights or know anyone you should talk to.

If you’d like a few more tips, check out this article on Everything You Need to Know About Networking to Land a Job.

Effectiveness: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cost: $0

💸💸 Attend a paid networking event

I just scanned the Meetup networking events in my area, and found everything from “Healthcare, Pharma, and Business Networking Event” to “The Healer Mixer - A Networking Event for Spiritual Women in Business.”

Point is, there’s a lot out there. And if you look hard enough online, you can definitely find a networking event that’s relevant to you.

Effectiveness: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cost: $10-$100

💸💸💸 Attend an industry conference

Whether it’s a digital marketing conference or a cybersecurity summit, this is probably the best way to meet people in your field, both peers and decision-makers alike.

It’s also super efficient. You can get into dozens, if not hundreds, of conversations over the course of a weekend.

Plus, you get built-in conversation starters (“What’d you think of the last keynote?”).

But the value you get depends on how much you can put in.

Effectiveness: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cost: $300–$1,000

4. Interview prep

If you are landing interviews, but don’t seem to get past the first round, then this is definitely a place to put your focus.

Here are a few approaches:

Action	Effectiveness	Cost	Note
Practice with a friend	⭐️⭐️⭐️	$0	Best when paired with self-study.
Take an interview course	⭐️⭐️⭐️½	$10 – $30	Useful frameworks, limited practice.
1-on-1 mock interview coaching	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	$100 – $300	Personalized prep and feedback.

💸 Practice with a friend

Start with some blog posts, YouTube videos, or ChatGPT conversations to get a sense of what questions to expect.

Then write out answers to each of them.

And then find a friend to practice with. There’s really no better way to practice interviewing than face-to-face.

That said, if you can’t find anyone willing to pretend to interview you, you could try Google’s Interview Warmup, or even ChatGPT’s audio-conversation feature.

Effectiveness: ⭐⭐⭐

Cost: $0

💸💸 Take an interview course

You could try an online course on Udemy or Coursera to build your interview skillset. 

Plenty of courses are specific to certain industries and roles. And you’ll get a structured framework for how to think about interviews.

This is a great way to learn what makes a good interview response, but without someone to practice your answers with, the value will be limited.

Effectiveness: ⭐⭐⭐½

Cost: $10–$30

💸💸💸 Pay for interview coaching

This is the best of both worlds. The coach can tell you what questions to expect, teach you interview fundamentals, practice with you, and then give you real-time feedback.

If you are going to hire a coach to help you interview, definitely look for someone who specializes in your field so that they’ll know what makes a good response to any technical questions.

Effectiveness: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cost: $100–$300/session

5. Job offer negotiations

You will eventually get a job offer. And once you do—congrats!

This is one of the safest and most sensible places to invest money, because doing so can directly earn you money back.

Action	Effectiveness	Cost	Note
Read blog posts	⭐️⭐️⭐️	$0	Helpful, but not personalized.
Read a negotiation book	⭐️⭐️⭐️½	$15 – $100	Strong foundation with some limits.
Hire a negotiation coach	⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️	$150 – $1,000	Best ROI for because it could set you up for years of increased income

💸 Use blogs and a friend

Start with a little research on how to approach your negotiation. Here’s a primer to start with that’ll teach you the basic arc of negotiation, and some key dos and don’ts.

While it won’t make you a master negotiator, reading a post like the one above is leagues better than going in cold.

Effectiveness: ⭐⭐⭐

Cost: $0

💸💸 Read a negotiation book 

Try Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss, former FBI hostage negotiator.

You’ll learn powerful negotiation psychology like how to stay calm under pressure, ask thoughtful questions, and uncover what the other person really values.

That said, a book can only take you so far because it won’t address the actual offer you got and the salary and benefits you want to ask for.

Effectiveness: ⭐⭐⭐½  

Cost: $15–$100

💸💸💸 Hire a coach to help with negotiation

A career coach can help you review your offer and make proposals for your package. They can help you craft your negotiation emails and help you prepare for any in-person negotiation meetings.

Of all the places to spend money, this one is so worth it because it can pay itself off. 

If you’re negotiating for a $100k role, for example, even a 3–5% increase in salary could cover the coaching cost 10x over. Especially because an increase in salary will pay dividends for the rest of your career!

Effectiveness: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cost: $150–$1,000 

So… How Much Should You Invest In Your Job Search?

If you feel a strong enough drive to succeed in your job search, you’ll find a way, whether you pay money or not.

Though in most cases, spending money will help you get a better job faster.

But of course, most of us don’t have an unlimited budget. So here are a few rules of thumb to keep in mind:

• 💰 If you’re low on cash, you can go far with free resources and persistence.
  

• 🤨 If you’re not getting any interviews, paying for résumé support is probably worth it.
  

• 🎤 If you’re landing interviews but not offers, mock interview coaching can be a game-changer for your communication and confidence.
  

• 🔄 If you’re changing careers, a coaching package could cut months off your search.
  

• 💼 If you're applying for $100k+ roles, investing in interview or negotiation coaching can have a strong ROI.

But you don’t need to spray your money haphazardly. Think deeply about what your budget is and what type of support would move the needle the most.

And remember, you can definitely get the perfect job for yourself without paying for support. It just might take a bit longer.

Are Job Search Expenses Tax-Deductible?

Unfortunately, job search expenses are not tax-deductible in the US and Canada.

So if you pay for a résumé writer, career coach, or interviewing course, you can’t write these off on your tax return.

You used to be able to get a tax deduction for job search expenses in the US. You could label them as “miscellaneous itemized deductions,” as long as the expenses were less than 2% of your adjusted gross income.

But in 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed, which got rid of those deductions until at least the end of 2025.

That said, job search expenses are tax-deductible in some Western European countries. Germany is the most generous where they'll even allow you to deduct the pen you use to write applications. Bravo Germany!

Thinking About Hiring a Career Coach?

If you do decide that hiring a career coach might be worth it for you, you can find a directory here at the International Association of Career Coaches.

A coach can help you:

• Find direction and make a game plan for your job search
  

• Create a compelling résumé
  

• Network effectively
  

• Ace your interview
  

• Negotiate your job offer
  

And whether you go it alone or get expert support, as long as you stay focused and take action, you’ll get a job eventually!