Pennsylvania lawyer Jacqueline Blackwell was eager to shift career direction after several years in private practice. So she scanned the classifieds in her local newspaper, and saw an ad for a Pittsburgh career-management firm that promised access to "the hidden job market, where 90% of all opportunities are found."

But Ms. Blackwell, after paying $3,000 up front, was less than satisfied with the guidance she received. "At first, they promised to help me at every step and give me access to their private list of corporate contacts," she says. "But after two counseling sessions, I was sent off on my own. And their exclusive list turned out to be from directories available in any public library."

Ms. Blackwell filed a complaint against the firm with the Pennsylvania Bureau of Consumer Protection. In most such cases, the bureau recommends the case be sent to arbitration, which typically favors the firm since it can argue that payment was made for services rendered -- a claim difficult to disprove.

Ms. Blackwell has learned her lesson. "Because I'm an attorney, people said that I should have known better," she says. "But I'm just as susceptible to this as Joe Q. Public. I didn't know how services like this work."

The answer, too often, is that they don't. And the result is that many who seek professional career counseling find themselves trapped in a bewildering maze that they aren't prepared to negotiate. Not only must job seekers be wary of firms that make promises they can't deliver on, but they also must face confusing choices about the type of counseling they need. A wrong step could lead to a dead end or costly detour in the job search.

The confusion comes at a time when demand for career counseling is running high. Corporate downsizings and the information revolution are shoving thousands of unprepared candidates into the job market each month, many for the first time since college. Add to the mix unhappy baby boomers in search of new careers, and the result is long lines at the consultants' offices.

So how do you determine which services offer legitimate counseling that's right for you, and at a fair price?

Career counselors say that selecting among them should be no different from choosing a family physician or lawyer. Seek personal referrals from friends, relatives and colleagues, they advise, and then request free consultations with several counselors to determine which one best fits your style and approach.

The first step in the selection process is to determine how much help you need.

"Whether you're just changing jobs or shifting careers, if you're confident in your skills and direction you'll probably need minimal help," says Joan Strewler, president of Career Dynamics Inc. in Bloomington, Minn., an outplacement firm whose fees are paid solely by corporate clients. "But if you're very introverted or shell-shocked by your job loss, finding [more in-depth] assistance may be wise."

To get your bearings, she advises attending free or low-cost job-hunting workshops, which are widely offered by religious and nonprofit groups nationally. Sharon Schuster, editor of ReCareering, a Lake Bluff, Ill., newsletter, also advocates the do-it-yourself approach. "Do the free stuff first, like reading career-guidance books, answering help-wanted ads and attending a job-club meeting," she says. "Then you'll have a sense of the market before spending money and time with a counselor."

Once you've settled on where you need help most, seek a counselor who shares your priorities. It's critical to understand the available services, as well as who offers them. For example, some advisers specialize in helping to set goals for clients who aren't sure of their career direction. Others focus on teaching job-search techniques -- such as resume writing and networking -- to clients who know what they want to do but need help selling themselves.

The career counseling industry can be divided into four primary services:

• Outplacement firms: These aren't available to individual job hunters with money to spend. They are retained and paid by company clients to provide job-search assistance to fired employees. Their services -- including psychological assessment, resume-writing assistance, interview preparation and counseling -- may be offered in a group setting or include the use of office space for senior-level candidates. Fees typically range from 10% to 15% of the fired employee's salary, although lower fixed-price services are becoming increasingly available.

• Career-marketing firms: They provide job-search services similar to corporate outplacement firms, but are paid for by individual customers, not corporate clients. Fees for services, from $750 to $10,000, are usually paid up front and are not contingent upon job-search success.

• Independent career counselors: They have earned a degree in counseling or a related field and are licensed by a state agency or certified by a national or state organization. Most provide a wide range of job-search services, such as administering and interpreting psychological tests, teaching job-hunting tactics and developing career plans. They typically charge $50 to $100 an hour.

• Resume-writing services: Most operate by long distance, offering help by phone and fax machines. They often provide a range of services that can cross into both career counseling and career marketing. "But be aware that their services vary greatly in quality," says Ms. Strewler. Expect to pay $200 to $400 for 200 typeset copies of your finished resume, says the Professional Association of Resume Writers in St. Petersburg, Fla., which certifies services that pay a membership fee, then pass a test it administers.

Of all the types of services, consumer-protection experts say advance-fee career-marketing firms are most open to abuse.

"There are many qualified consultants who can help with testing, career counseling and campaign management and who charge reasonable hourly fees," says Stuart Rado, a Miami Beach consumer advocate. "Why pay thousands of dollars in advance of getting help when you can pay as you go and change counselors whenever you want?" he says.

Widely publicized investigations in the 1980s prompted the closing of many such firms. The industry has made an effort to clean up its act, mainly by toning down sales pitches and firing unscrupulous employees, but a handful of states have banned advance-fee career-marketing firms from operating within their borders.

No matter what services you need, whether a simple resume update or a complete career overhaul, counselors should be screened carefully, says Ms. Strewler of Career Dynamics. Ask in-depth questions about their offerings and expertise, she suggests.

"Find out their understanding of the local job market and their ability to develop a target list of prospective employers," she says. Do they know the best way into a specific company? Would they recommend contacting the firm through its human-resources department, through a line manager or through an interim-management assignment? "Each company is different, but does the counselor know these differences?"

Ms. Strewler suggests screening about a dozen counselors by phone before narrowing your list to three, then visiting them in person before making a final choice.

Ms. Schuster of ReCareering recommends asking counselors for lists of satisfied clients you can contact. "There's a lot of suspicion about career counselors, since anyone can hang out a shingle," she says.

A safe approach is to stick with nationally certified career counselors (about 900 total in the U.S.), who are required to hold an advanced degree in counseling or a related field, have at least three years' experience and pass several exams, says Thomas Clawson, executive director of the National Board for Certified Counselors in Greensboro, N.C. (For a free list of certified counselors in your area, contact the board at 800-398-5389.)

When approaching career counselors, says Mr. Clawson, "be skeptical of services that make promises of more money, better jobs, resumes that get speedy results or an immediate solution to your career problems."