Job searching can be daunting and full of uncertainty. This blog and its accompanying IGTV video at instagram.com/p/CQ1dlfeHW4-/ shares eight books that might help you on your journey. Books highlighted here cover a range of job-hunting topics, such as returning to the workplace after a break, switching careers, getting your first professional job after completing school, deciding what you want to be "when you grow up," and more.
Find these titles in the Business Room (walk past the Reference Desk and enter the door on the right) at call number 650.14. Handbook-style titles (such as the "Knock ‘em Dead" or "For Dummies" series), which cover a specific topic such as cover letters or interviewing, are not included in this blog but can be found at call number 650.14. Books at this call number are then organized alphabetically by the first three letters of an author's last name.
Finding Work You Love by Kirk Snyder covers Snyder's "working you" system is a top-rated course he teaches college students. Step 1: Take you professional inventory. Step 2: Evaluate roles, companies, and fields that fit with this inventory. Step 3: Create a "job bank" of top potential postings. This book includes stories from students and recent graduates who have navigated this life transition period.
What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard Bolles is a classic title updated yearly with new editions that keep up to date with the times. Learn to evaluate your skills, passions, and traits. Tune up your resume and cover letter writing skills. Discover networking strategies, interview well, and learn tips that can help you negotiate a salary.
Coming Back by Fawn Germer is for anyone who has been away from the workplace for a period of time or who needs to bounce back from being let go. Germer is a professional motivational speaker that interviewed hundreds of leaders and experts in the course of writing this book in order to offer readers the best possible advice.
50 Ways to Get a Job by Dev Aujla is actually not a BuzzFeed list of 50 literal ways to find a job, but instead a job search guidebook with a slight entrepreneurial mindset. Aujla divides the book into sections, starting, finding your purpose, overwhelmed, learning new skills, networking, stuck, applying for jobs, and happy.
Switchers by Dawn Graham helps readers discover how to switch fields or occupations. Tips include keeping up the motivation, creating a road map, how to present yourself to hiring managers, branding, and getting past your comfort zone.
Moving Forward in Mid-Career by John Henry Weiss is a self-help guide for anyone who needs employment after experiencing a job loss. In four parts, Weiss will help readers first navigate their finances, grieve, and protect their reputation. Then, Weiss discusses how to move a career forward, interviewing, choosing your place in the working world, and about working with career coaches. Appendixes include information on convention centers and trade shows.
Taking the Work Out of Networking by Karen Wickre is an unconventional networking book that helps readers master networking by embracing their quiet side. Tips include the "loose-touch habit" for social media, why small talk actually matters, blending personal and professional into networking interactions, and what you can skip and when to show up. For anyone interested in making new connections with others.
Born for This by Chris Guillebeau uses the tag line "how to find the work you were meant to do." Guillebeau says that people working their dream job are not there by chance. Instead, they have made choices that led to their dream job. Tips include making a job at a traditional organization work for you, finding your ideal work and working conditions, creating plans for smarter career risks, considering and starting a profitable entrepreneurship venture, and building a loyal base of potential customers.