In the 10+ years that I've been part of the online recruiting community, I've never seen a time when it was possible to learn a rudimentary skill and then pawn oneself off as an expert. Shally and G-Man have been internet search wonks for this period and have the experience to bolster their skills teaching with a range of specific examples; El Dave isn't too far behind. When it comes to playing the phone for names sourcing, Maureen is in a class of her own.

Alas during the past year, I've seen several neophytes learn to write a Boolean - or more precisely, to copy one that the true experts freely share - and suddenly they're self-appointed experts selling themselves as Internet search gurus.

No begrudging an entrepreneur but when you select an expert, dig deeper into their experience rather than stopping at the pretty red door. If you miss out on delving into the creative thinking of the true experts, all you'll receive back are average results. Why pay for average?