Special Collections
Career Resources
Description: Looking to start your career? Pivot to a new one? Get out of a work funk? Check out these books to jump start your next move in your career. #general
- Table View
- List View
From B. A. to Payday
by Michael Wilder and D. A. HaydenAs college graduates soon find out, the real world is tough. Sure, it was hard getting into the right school. But landing a good job is a lot harder. The number of new college grads now outnumbers available entry-level jobs by at least 25 percent. But that figure—sobering as it is—is deceptive, given that only a fraction of those jobs are career-worthy.
So how do you succeed in a marketplace that’s stacked against you? According to professional career counselors D. A. Hayden and Michael Wilder, you’ve got to approach the hunt for employment as if it were a marketing campaign. In other words, you’ve got to make yourself a brand—by creating a clear “story” for yourself, understanding your target audience, and developing an effective communications plan to deliver your message.
You’ve also got to avoid the pitfalls. Hayden and Wilder identify four personality traits that can doom first-time job seekers to failure. Then, through a trademark method they call Candidate Illumination, the authors prescribe cures for those “pathologies” and present savvy strategies for every step of the job-search process—from finding your focus, to composing a winning resume, to acing the interview.
The Five Patterns of Extraordinary Careers
by James M. Citrin and Richard A. SmithWhat is different about the careers of people like Lou Gerstner, the acclaimed, recently retired chairman and CEO of IBM? Or Senator Elizabeth Dole, Yahoo! COO Dan Rosensweig, and Tom Freston, chairman and CEO of MTV Networks?
Why did they ascend to the top and prosper—why did they have extraordinary careers—while others equally talented never reached their potential or aspirations?
Jim Citrin and Rick Smith of Spencer Stuart, the world’s most influential executive search firm, set out to explore this question. The result—based on in-depth, original research—is sure to be the most important and useful book for anyone seeking to crack the code of how to build a rewarding, personally satisfying career.
Like weather systems and financial markets, careers contain patterns. What Citrin and Smith found from their research and extensive experience is that people with extraordinary careers are guided by five straightforward patterns that can be harnessed and used by everyone. These individuals:
No one manages your career for you. But with Citrin and Smith as your guide, you’ll be able to understand—and act on—the root causes of success. And what better source for strategic career advice than Spencer Stuart, the firm that over the past ten years has conducted more than 60 percent of the searches for Fortune 1000 CEOs?
Exploring Careers for the 21st Century
by Steve Mariotti and Neelam Patel and Suzanne WeixelExploring Careers for the 21st Century is a broad exploration of career opportunities and the rewards of different career pathways. It provides the essential tools that students need to set and achieve career and academic goals and make positive decisions that will affect their futures.
Exactly How to Sell
by Phil M. JonesThe sales guide for non-sales professionals
Exactly How to Sell walks you through a tried and true process that draws on time tested methods that are designed to attract and keep more customers. No matter what you are selling (yourself, your product or your services) this simple read is certain to provide you actionable strategies to deliver you more of the sales results you are looking for.
Inside, Phil M. Jones writes from experience and explains how to get more customers and keep them all happy—while they’re spending more money, more often. Using simple, practical, and easy-to-implement methods in line with the modern business landscape, Phil educates and guides you, giving you the confidence you need to develop the skills you need to win more business.
If you want to up your sales game, Exactly How to Sell shows you how.
The Everything Job Interview Question Book
by Dawn Rosenberg Mckay
What's the surefire way to overcome the stress of a job interview and get the job you want? Be prepared!
It isn't enough to be qualified and have a stellar resume--you need to ace the interview as well. The Everything Job Interview Question Book arms you with the best answers to hundreds of questions, including:
Plus, you'll also find help with handling inappropriate questions, advice on questions to ask employers, and tips on handling remote interviews. This valuable resource provides you with expert advice on what to say--and what not to say--giving you the confidence you need to succeed and land the job of your dreams.
The Everything Career Tests Book
by A. Bronwyn Llewellyn and Robin HoltA career advice book with the tests that make the difference!
American workers are upwardly mobile movers and shakers who change careers often, always on the search for their perfect niche. But you can't follow your bliss unless you know what your bliss is.
Enter The Everything Career Tests Book--your key to determining the career path you were destined for! This engaging, accessible guide boasts ten different tests that reveal the work habits, affinities, and interests you may not even realize you have!
Ten tests help you find your way:
Featuring extensive test result analysis and guidance as well as an easy-to-use format, The Everything Career Tests Book is all you need to make your dreams come true--at work!
The Elements of Résumé Style
by Scott BennettIt's amazing the misinformation found in most resume books! Scott Bennett has hired hundreds of people in a variety of industries, and he knows firsthand what kind of resume sparks an employer's interest-and which ones fail. In The Elements of Resume Style, he warns against popular "tricks" that tend to backfire-and instead shows readers how to craft clear, compelling, targeted resumes and cover letters that actually work.
In this new edition, readers see that whether it's on paper or online, the rules are the same: use clear, dynamic language-and keep it short and focused. Now covering social media, the online application process, and more, this indispensable guide provides:
Competition is intense no matter what your field, but this candid book's time-tested tools will make you stand out-and help get you the job you deserve!
The Effective Executive
by Peter DruckerThe measure of the executive, Peter F. Drucker reminds us, is the ability to "get the right things done." This usually involves doing what other people have overlooked as well as avoiding what is unproductive. Intelligence, imagination, and knowledge may all be wasted in an executive job without the acquired habits of mind that mold them into results.
Drucker identifies five practices essential to business effectiveness that can, and must, be learned:
Ranging widely through the annals of business and government, Peter F. Drucker demonstrates the distinctive skill of the executive and offers fresh insights into old and seemingly obvious business situations.
Do What You Are
by Paul D. Tieger and Kelly Tieger and Barbara BarronThe bestselling guide to finding career success and satisfaction through Personality Type is now thoroughly revised, expanded, and updated.
Do What You Are -- the time-honored classic that has already helped more than a million people find truly satisfying work -- is now updated to include jobs in today's hottest markets, including health services, education, and communications technology.
With the global economy's ups and downs, the advent of astonishing new technology, the migration to online work and study, and the ascendancy of mobile communication, so much has changed in the American workplace since this book's fourth edition was published in 2007. What hasn't changed is the power of Personality Type to help people achieve job satisfaction.
This fifth edition is especially useful for millennials and for baby boomers experiencing midlife career switches. The book leads readers step-by-step through the process of determining and verifying Personality Type. Then it identifies occupations that are popular with each Type, provides helpful case studies, and offers a rundown of each Type's work-related strengths and weaknesses. Focusing on each Type's strengths, Do What You Are uses workbook exercises to help readers customize their job search, ensuring the best results in the shortest period of time.
Different, Not Less
by Temple Grandin and Tony AttwoodTemple Grandin offers the world yet another great work, an inspiring and informative book that offers both hope and encouragement.
In these pages, Temple presents the personal success stories of fourteen unique individuals that illustrate the extraordinary potential of those on the autism spectrum.
One of Temple’s primary missions is to help people with autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, and ADHD tap into their hidden abilities. Temple chose these contributors from a wide variety of different skill sets to show how it can be done. Each individual tells their own story in their own words about their lives, relationships, and eventual careers. The contributors also share how they dealt with issues they confronted while growing up, such as bullying, making eye contact, and honing social skills.
Different...Not Less shows how, with work, each of the contributors:
CVs, Resumes, and LinkedIn
by Adrian WallworkAre you a graduate, postgraduate or PhD student? Are you simply looking for a new job in the private or public sector, in research or industry? If your aim is to produce a professional CV or resume, then this book is for you. Based on interviews with recruiters and HR managers, and an analysis of hundreds of CVs from around 40 different countries, the book is structured as a series of FAQs.Topics covered include:how recruiters and HR people analyse a CVwhether using a template is a good ideathe difference between a CV and a resumehow to present your personal details and whether to include a photohow to write an Executive Summarywhat to write in each section (Education, Work Experience, Skills, Personal Interests)how to write dateshow to highlight your language, communication and team skillshow to get and write referencesYou will also learn some hints and strategies for writing a:cover letterLinkedIn profilereference letterbioThe last chapter of the book contains a simple template to help you get the job of your dreams!
CVs in a Week
by David McwhirThe ability to write the perfect CV for a job is crucial to anyone who wants to advance their career.
Written by David McWhir, a leading expert on CVs as both a recruiter and a coach for candidates, this book quickly teaches you the insider secrets you need to know to in order write the CV that will get you the job you want.
The highly motivational 'in a week' structure of the book provides seven straightforward chapters explaining the key points, and at the end there are optional questions to ensure you have taken it all in. There are also cartoons and diagrams throughout, to help make this book a more enjoyable and effective learning experience.
So what are you waiting for? Let this book put you on the fast track to success!
Customize Your Career
by Roz UsheroffTechniques and strategies for professionals to bolster their job security by becoming a more valuable employee
Today's smartest employees know that, to keep themselves from the "firing" line, they must constantly increase their value to their employers, customers, and clients. Customize Your Career presents readers with a twostep process for becoming an indispensable employee, by first defining one's personal mission and then using that mission as a blueprint to develop a professional success strategy.
High-profile career builder Roz Usheroff has made her name by showing business professionals how to discover and develop their own intellectual property, even in uncertain and insecure economic climates. Here, she provides solid, workplace-proven strategies designed to help anyone:
Culinary Careers
by Rick Smilow and Anne E. McbrideTurn a passion for food into the job of a lifetime with the insider advice in Culinary Careers.
Working in food can mean cooking on the line in a restaurant, of course, but there are so many more career paths available. No one knows this better than Rick Smilow—president of the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE), the award-winning culinary school in New York City—who has seen ICE graduates go on to prime jobs both in and out of professional kitchens. Tapping into that vast alumni network and beyond, Culinary Careers is the only career book to offer candid portraits of dozens and dozens of coveted jobs at all levels to help you find your dream job.
Instead of giving glossed-over, general descriptions of various jobs, Culinary Careers features exclusive interviews with both food-world luminaries and those on their way up, to help you discover what a day in the life is really like in your desired field.
With information on educational programs and a bird’s-eye view of the industry, Culinary Careers is a must-have resource for anyone looking to break into the food world, whether you’re a first-time job seeker or a career changer looking for your next step.
Cover Letters In A Week
by Hilton Catt and Patricia ScudamoreSunday: Understand the importance of first impressions and the common mistakes people make
Monday: Ensure your application is taken seriously with a cover letter that is concise, complements your CV and is targeted to the job you have applied for
Tuesday: Discover how to style and structure your cover letter with advice on forms of address, etiquette, fonts, margins and the importance of 'white space'
Wednesday: Design your cover letter to engage your audience and overcome the competition for advertised jobs
Thursday: Design a speculative cover letter to approach the invisible job market
Friday: Learn how to address cover letters to agencies and recruitment consultants
Saturday: Learn from your applications, whether successful or not, and develop your writing style for the future
Cool Careers For Dummies
by Richard N. Bolles and Marty NemkoEvery year, thousands of people change careers. Whether you are arecently graduated student looking to put what you studied to good use or an experienced professional looking for a change in routine,finding a career that really suits you can be a daunting task.
Cool Careers for Dummies helps you discover what you really want out of life, what your passions are, and how well you perform in different environments, and then shows you how to use this information to find a career that suits you. Now revised and up-to-date, this easy-to-use guidebook helps you explore your job options and make clear-minded decisions. This new edition gives you the tools you need to:
Along with these features, Cool Careers for Dummies provides a self-assessment section to help you identify your interests. After answering a few questions about yourself,you’ll apply your answers to the Cool Careers Yellow Pages, which profiles more than 500 great careers. It also lets you in on some unwritten codes of the office, such as having integrity,defusing saboteurs, and maintaining office relationships. So what are you waiting for? Get Cool Careers for Dummies and find the job of your dreams today!
Confident Web Design
by Kenny WoodThis is your ultimate beginner's guide to the skills of web design. Confident Web Design takes you on a practical journey during which you will discover the techniques to allow you to publish a basic website from scratch. Whether you want to develop web design skills to set yourself apart in a competitive job market, power your entrepreneurial pursuits by creating a new website to showcase your product or business idea, or simply boost your professional performance in your current job, Confident Web Design is the perfect beginner's resource.
In Confident Web Design, each chapter is supported by exclusive online exercises to allow you to put your knowledge into practice and perfect the techniques. The book's structure is designed to break down each skill into manageable chunks, aided by helpful examples, technical term glossaries, tables and images to support you as you learn. Written in accessible and engaging language, author Kenny Wood shares his passion and enthusiasm for modern web design through this essential guide.
Online Resources include practical exercises for readers to test out their new skills and consolidate their learning.
Confident Digital Content
by Adam WatersConfident Digital Content gives you the opportunity to become digitally multi-skilled and learn the fundamentals of the most important types of digital creativity. Whatever your career path, being able to produce exciting and creative content online, whether through video, design, digital journalism or social media, can supercharge your professional career and empower your entrepreneurial pursuits.
Confident Digital Contentteaches you valuable hard skills, including how to create and upload great video content, graphic design, photography for social media, community management, digital strategy and metrics, and helps you learn them through practical exercises in every chapter. It also provides insightful guidance on how to boost your career and employability by honing your leadership, creativity and entrepreneurial skills in the world of digital. Case studies from inspiring individuals at organizations including CNN International, Mumsnet, Bunster's Hot Sauce, HuffPost UK, and Crocstar Media show you real world examples of excellent digital content in practice. This book is your ultimate guide to achieving the technical proficiency and confidence to start an inspiring digital career path, whether your ambition is to rise to the top of your chosen industry, be a successful freelancer or become an entrepreneur.
Confident Data Skills
by Kirill EremenkoData science is the most exciting skill you can master. Data has dramatically changed how our world works. From entertainment to politics, from technology to advertising and from science to the business world, data is integral and its only limit is our imagination. If you want to have a vibrant and valuable professional life, being skilled with data is the key to a cutting-edge career. Learning how to work with data may seem intimidating or difficult but with Confident Data Skills you will be able to master the fundamentals and supercharge your professional abilities. This essential book covers data mining, preparing data, analysing data, communicating data, financial modelling, visualizing insights and presenting data through film making and dynamic simulations.
In-depth international case studies from a wide range of organizations, including Netflix, LinkedIn, Goodreads, Deep Blue, Alpha Go and Mike's Hard Lemonade Co. show successful data techniques in practice and inspire you to turn knowledge into innovation. Confident Data Skills also provides insightful guidance on how you can use data skills to enhance your employability and improve how your industry or company works through your data skills. Expert author and instructor, Kirill Eremenko, is committed to making the complex simple and inspiring you to have the confidence to develop an understanding, adeptness and love of data.
Comebacks at Work
by Christopher T. Noblet and Kathleen Kelley ReardonThe workplace guide to putting "I wish I'd said" moments in the past.
Ever wish that you could have a "do over" after a conversation at work? Do you often find yourself regretting what you've said to a coworker-or kicking yourself for not saying something better, stronger, or more precise? If so, you're like most people, and in Comebacks at Work, management professor and consultant Kathleen Kelley Reardon, Ph.D., provides the tips and tools you need to know what to say-and how to say it better-next time.
In this compelling, entertaining book, Reardon argues that we are responsible for 75 percent of the way we're treated at work, and our success-or failure-at the workplace depends largely on how we handle ourselves in conversation with our colleagues. To break free of the stale scripts and expected actions that allow politically astute people to manipulate us, we must increase our conversational awareness and effectively employ what Reardon calls "comebacks." Comebacks at Work provides a game plan for doing so and explains:
Every conversation is different, and while many situations are common, one set of comebacks isn't enough. Offering a personalized repertoire of comebacks and a plan for using them strategically as well as the skills you will need to package them for maximum effect, Comebacks at Work will prepare you for any difficult conversation that comes your way.
Comebacks
by Andrea Redmond and Patricia CrisafulliGold Medal Winner, Success and Motivation, 2011 Axiom Business Book Awards. Insight from leaders who experienced major setbacks and redefined success.
In tough economic times, when careers are derailed and leaders are forced to rewrite their professional plans, this book enlightens and uplifts. Comebacks features an all-star cast of ten leaders who endured setbacks-for some a public fall in the midst of media scrutiny-then reassessed and moved ahead with new purpose. Based on revealing interviews, the book presents a behind-the–headlines glimpse into the lives of leaders; how they drew upon resources, both internal and external, to move on; and the lessons that helped them redefine success. Leaders profiled include:
Redmond, a top executive recruiter, and Crisafulli, author of The House of Dimon, show how all leaders face adversity, but true leaders turn adversity into success.
The Comeback
by Cheryl CasoneKaryn never intended to work full time again after leaving to raise her two children. But seven years later, when a divorce seemed imminent, she went job-hunting -- only to find that getting back was as daunting as climbing Mt. Everest. With no resume, no current contacts, and no transferable skills for the jobs she was applying to, Karyn didn’t even know where to start.
Countless women face situations like this every day, with little or no guidance. They’re told to “lean in” and lobby for more sympathetic workplaces, but none of that solves the immediate practical problem: “I need a job. Now.”
Fortunately, career expert and Fox Business anchor Cheryl Casone has written a comprehensive guide to making the comeback. After interviewing hundreds of women who are willing to share both their successes and their mistakes, Casone offers a one-stop shop for moms at every stage of the process. This is the perfect book if you’re….
The many real-life stories in this book (including Karyn’s) prove that with a smart strategy and some determination, almost any mom can make a successful comeback. In the process she can improve her standard of living, her self-esteem, and probably also the well-being of her kids.
As Casone writes, “No matter who you are, no matter why change comes into your life, I hope this book will help you to do what my mom did: to stare that change in the face and say with confidence, ‘Bring it!’”
CliftonStrengths for Students
by GallupCollege is a chance for you to start fresh. You get to learn and grow in ways that will amaze you. You get to write your own story.
So what do you want your college story to be?
As a student, you have the opportunity every day to search for patterns in your actions, learn from them and use them to make the most of your life experiences, now and in the future. To do that, you need a solid understanding of where and when you’re at your best: your strengths.
CliftonStrengths for Students will give you suggestions for developing and using your strengths in college and in the real world. If you understand and apply your strengths, your college journey — and the rest of your life — will be happier, more fulfilling and more successful. That’s the point of developing your strengths. When you do more of what you do best, you build your life around your areas of greatness.
So let’s get started. Your strengths journey begins here!
Change Your Career
by Laura Gassner OttingHow can you be certain that a new career is right for you? Change Your Career: Transitioning to the Nonprofit Sector contains all the vital information that professionals will need to figure out if a career in the non-profit sector is right for them, and if it is, how to make a seamless transition into this sector. Topics include:
Careers in Law Enforcement
by Coy H. JohnstonCareers in Law Enforcement is a valuable resource for students considering a career in the criminal justice field, specifically in policing. Written in a concise and conversational tone, author Coy H. Johnston includes three main sections: planning a realistic path, selecting an appropriate career path in law enforcement, and preparing for the hiring process. The first chapter offers students a unique opportunity to take a personality/career test to help them discover the types of jobs that might be a good fit. Consequently, students will set sensible goals at the beginning of their degree program and seek appropriate internships and volunteer opportunities. This text is a helpful resource students will be able to peruse repeatedly when they are ready to start the process of applying for jobs within law enforcement.