Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal
with Change in Your Work and in
Your Life
Spencer Johnson and Kenneth H. Blanchard
Rites of Passage at $100,000 to $1 Million+:
Your Insider's Lifetime Guide to
Executive Job-Changing and Faster Career Progress in
the 21st Century
John Lucht
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
Steven Covey
The Road Less Travelled
M. Scott Peck
How to Find the Work You Love
Lawrence G. Boldt
Zen and the Art of Making a Living
Laurence G. Boldt
Don't Send a Resume: And
Other Contrarian Rules to Help Land a Great Job
Jeffrey J. Fox
In Transition : From the Harvard Business
School Club of New York's Career
Management Seminar
Mary Lindley Burton, Richard A. Wedemeyer (Contributor)
Creating You & Co.
William Bridges
The Art of Possibility: Transforming
Professional and Personal Life
Rosamund Stone Zander, Benjamin Zander
Spare Room Tycoon: The
Seventy Lessons of Sane Self-Employment
James Chan
By far the best job-hunting / career-changing manual I have ever
seen is:
Richard Bolles'
"What Color is Your Parachute?"
If you're out there looking, whether unhappily employed or unemployed, run don't walk to a bookstore or to http://www.amazon.com and get a copy of this book. A new edition comes out every year. It is upbeat, encouraging, even funny -- and believe me you need a little smiling encouragement when you've just lost your job. It has some very helpful information for people who seek to change careers, or to embrace multiple careers. It also has some excellent information about the best use of the Internet for the job hunt.
"Parachute" has a great web site... please check this out even if you decide not to get the book. Even if you visit no other site, give this one a try - just click on the link below. This site has a similar philosophy to the one you are reading right now -- but the difference is the folks who did it have been brilliant career consultants for many years. Curious yet?
( The address is: http://www.jobhuntersbible.com )
The Job Hunter's Bible (What Color is Your Parachute?)
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This one looks like the kind of delightful, philosophical, whimsical look at life that is a blast to read, and the kind of encouragement you need when job hunting. Parables are such great vehicles for wisdom... Here are some thoughts from others -this one looks like a must-read...
Editorial Review
Amazon.com
Change can be a blessing or a curse, depending on your perspective. The
message of Who Moved My Cheese? is that all can come to see it as a blessing,
if they understand the nature of cheese and the role it plays in their lives.
Who Moved My Cheese? is a parable that takes place in a maze. Four beings
live in that maze: Sniff and Scurry are mice--nonanalytical and nonjudgmental,
they just want cheese and are willing to do whatever it takes to get it. Hem
and Haw are "littlepeople," mouse-size humans who have an entirely different
relationship with cheese. It's not just sustenance to them; it's their self-image.
Their lives and belief systems are built around the cheese they've found.
Most of us reading the story will see the cheese as something related to our
livelihoods--our jobs, our career paths, the industries we work in--although
it can stand for anything, from health to relationships. The point of the
story is that we have to be
alert to changes in the cheese, and be prepared to go running off in search
of new sources of cheese when the cheese we have runs out.
Dr. Johnson, coauthor of The One Minute Manager and many other
books, presents this parable to business, church groups, schools, military
organizations--anyplace where you find people who may fear or resist change.
And although more analytical and skeptical
readers may find the tale a little too simplistic, its beauty is that it sums
up all natural history in just 94 pages: Things change. They always have changed
and always will change. And while there's no single way to deal with change,
the consequence of pretending change won't happen is always the same: The
cheese runs out. --Lou Schuler
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Rites of Passage at $100,000
to $1 Million+:
Your Insider's Lifetime Guide to Executive Job-Changing
and Faster Career Progress in the 21st Century
John Lucht
( thanks to John at "40Plus")
A bit high-level for me, but hey - the cat can look at the Queen, right? Also, I would imagine that this might give you a good look inside "execuspeak". We will be dealing with some of these high-priced folks when looking for jobs, so why not get a glimpse into their world?
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
John Lucht, an executive recruiter during the past three decades for some
of America's top corporations, knows what it takes to snag a new six-figure
job. Rites of Passage at $100,000 to $1 Million+ is his newly revised guide
to the ins and outs of a search for a job that ends in success. It promises
a "comprehensive cram course in accelerating your career"--a contemporary
corporate equivalent of the traditional initiation into adulthood from which
it takes its title--updated for the cyber-age. And it delivers, with Lucht
offering inside tips on the basic routes to a new executive-level position:
personal contacts (i.e., "ask for a reference instead of a job"); networking
("never fail to get into the office of anyone whose name is mentioned to you,
never depart with less than three new names"); executive recruiters ("understand
their hidden financial arrangements"); direct mail ("write to the CEO or a
person two levels above your target job"); and the Internet ("insert plenty
of the right 'keywords' so that the computer will find your resume"). Extensive
online references are also included throughout, and the material is presented
in a way that's easy to understand and implement. --Howard Rothman
The Philadelphia Inquirer
"John Lucht's book is about as complete as any book on this far- ranging subject
possibly could be."
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A bit obvious I guess - possibly the Ultimate Self-Help Book. Covey is so popular that sometimes we can forget how brilliant this guy is. He reviewed self-improvement literature that had been published over many decades before writing this classic. Well worth dusting this one off -- particularly when you need a boost and some inspiration.
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A brilliant work. The book starts with the statement that "life is difficult", and then observes that as soon as you truly realize that life is difficult it is no longer difficult. Curious yet???
Actually this is more about psychology and human relationships than careers, but a very socially conscious entrepreneur who started "Citisoft" provides this for workers who join his organization, along with Covey's "7 Habits". The intention - to stimulate thought about how to work and live. A really fascinating read...
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This book is a favorite of mine, possibly because it is so concise and easy to read. For an attention-deficit challenged webaholic like me, this means a lot. (I'm only partially kidding :) A really encouraging and valuable book - a friend to help you along
Here's a review by "sirch" from Amazon.com
For anyone whose ever tried to read "What Color is Your Parachute?" multiple times and has tossed it aside an equal number because it really didn't help, I recommend
"How to Find the Work You Love."
Instead of focusing on what color tie to wear or whether to send that follow up thank you card to your prospective employer, Laurence G. Boldt instead starts with the big questions and systematically focuses them down into simple, yet effective criteria to pursue the work you love. The first 2 chapters examine the paradigms and obstacles that get in the way of doing the work you love. The third chapter offers a basic formula for finding the work you love:
-Decide what you are looking for
-Decide to keep looking until you find it
-Decide when you have found it
He then defines "it" with 4 simple criteria: Integrity, Service, Enjoyment, Excellence. The following chapters examine each in more detail, mixing in focusing questions here and there. The questions range from 'When you were a child, what did you most love to do?' to 'What is the purpose of your life?' to identifying ways you can earn a living doing what you love and identifying those in your life most/least supportive of your dreams.
The epilogue briefly guides you on where to go, now that you've found work that you love. This is the best "job" book I've ever read. It never does get to what color tie to where, but I refer back to it again and again for that right-brain focus. If you are more of a left-brain type and prefer more concrete structure and less abstract questioning, I recommend "Zen and the Art of Making a Living" by the same author. It still has the abstract bits, but there are a lot more tools that help you develop specific career strategy and planning.
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This is a major work. "Hefty but lighthearted" is a really good description. Yes - it's a career book, with excellent advice about resumes, procedures to do the jobhunt, etc. But this one goes very deep spiritually. Somewhat in the style of the chapter on how to find your mission in life from "Parachute", it guides you through a journey to find yourself and your calling. No autopilot available -- you gotta do the work. But the author provides a wise and compassionate guru to help you. Well worth a serious look, IMHO (In My Humble Opinion).
from Amazon.com
The bad old days of multiple-choice-test career counseling are over. It takes
more than a #2 pencil and a computer to find your life's work, as career consultant
Laurence G. Boldt tells us in Zen and the Art of Making a Living, a hefty
but lighthearted tome that will help you find yourself and your place in the
world. Boldt is quite up-front about it, though: it's a long, hard journey
to get there. But his uplifting prose and liberal doses of inspirational quotes
from wise men and women provide support for the weary traveler. Indeed, in
between learning how to find the kind of work that strikes the right chord
for you, figuring out what skills and talents you'll need to succeed at it,
and righteously persisting until you get your reward, you may find lapses
and stumbling blocks you hadn't expected--but Boldt has seen them all and
finds the right words at the right time to keep you moving. Like a traditional
career book, Zen and the Art of Making a Living includes résumé
advice and worksheets for narrowing down and sticking with your goals; however,
it takes off from there to guide the reader on a quest for spiritual fulfillment
through work, something you won't find elsewhere. This updated edition contains
plenty of Internet-related information and other resources unavailable in
1990 and is invaluable for anyone concerned about his or her future in the
world of work.
--Rob Lightner
Book Description
Completely revised and updated--the most innovative,
unconventional, and profoundly practical career guide since
What Color Is Your Parachute?
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from Amazon.com
You've read the how-to-figure-out-what-you-really-want-to-do books and completed
their soul-searching assignments. You've prepared a resume worthy of the world's
top performer in your field, and you've printed it on discreetly fabulous
paper. And you've sent it to the (select, of course) few hundred employers
you'd like to work for... and still you're looking for that great job.
No wonder, then, that a book with the title Don't Send a Resume has grabbed your attention.
Jeffrey Fox is the ultimate marketer, consumed with and successful at ensuring his product stands out and is snatched up--and in this case, that product is you. Don't Send a Resume is his tip-laden guide on how to make yourself visible, desirable, and ultimately invaluable to your next employer. Dismissing the well-worn routes of sending unsolicited resumes and contacting personnel departments, Fox concentrates on what will turn job-seekers into super salespeople. While occasionally just spiced-up commonsense, his advice is simple, direct, and often ingenious, supported by details and made colorful by the odd illustration. Understand the jargon of job seeking and translate that jargon into meaningful marketing clues. Determine how the job you want creates value for the company and "dollarize" yourself accordingly. Look for a job in the unorthodox places that other job-seekers overlook. Write "boomerang" letters in response to job ads. Don't expect employers to care about your job objective or what you like to do; they only care about what they need. Don't talk and tell in an interview; answer, ask, listen, and sell. Whatever you do, don't order sauce-splashing food in a lunch interview, however tempting the dish. Oh, and don't forget to ask for the job. --S. Ketchum
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For the past ten years Mary Burton and Kick Wedemeyer have conducted their personal seminar on career management for the Harvard Business School Club of New York, helping more than a thousand Harvard Business School graduates advance their careers and enhance their lives. With In Transition, the expertise of these two seasoned career consultants is finally available to all managers not completely satisfied with their jobs and life situations.
In Transition offers a new perspective and proven guidance to all managers. It will help you to: Locate, evaluate, and obtain the most satisfying job possible. Understand what you really want out of your career - Access all your options, including a new job in the same field, a new career direction, or enhancement of your effectiveness in your current situation. Apply the business skills you already possess to your job search. Integrate your personal and professional life.
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Creating You & Co.
William Bridges
(Thanks Stuart!)
Learn to think like the CEO of your own career...
Publisher: Addison-Wesley
Place of Publication: Reading
Mass Date of Publication: 1997
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This is a great book! (thanks so much Stuart for sending this!!!) I'd go so far as to say this one is another run, don't walk to your nearest bookstore!
The lure of this book's promise starts with the assumption in its title. Possibility--that big, all-encompassing, wide-open-door concept--is an art? Well, who doesn't want to be a skilled artist, whether in the director's chair, the boardroom, on the factory floor, or even just in dealing with life's everyday situations? Becoming an artist, however, requires discipline, and what the authors of The Art of Possibility offer is a set of practices designed to "initiate a new approach to current conditions, based on uncommon assumptions about the nature of the world."
If that sounds a little too airy-fairy for you, don't be put off; this is no mere self-improvement book, with a wimpy mandate to transform its readers into "nicer" people. Instead, it's a collection of illustrations and advice that suggests a way to change your entire outlook on life and, in the process, open up a new realm of possibility. Consider, for example, the practice of "Giving an A," whether to yourself or to others. Not intended as a way to measure someone's performance against standards, this practice instead recognizes that "the player who looks least engaged may be the most committed member of the group," and speaks to their passion rather than their cynicism. It creates possibility in an interaction and does away with power disparities to unite a team in its efforts. Or consider "Being the Board," where instead of defining yourself as a playing piece, or even as the strategist, you see yourself as the framework for the entire game. In this scenario, assigning blame or gaining control becomes futile, while seeking to become an instrument for effective partnerships becomes possible.
Packed with such examples of personal and professional interactions,
the book presents complex ideas on perception and recognition in a readable,
useable style. The authors' combined, eclectic experience in music and painting
(as well as family therapy and executive workshops) infuses their examples with
vibrant color and sound. The relevance to corporate situations and relationships
is well developed, and they don't rely on dry case studies to do it. Indeed,
this book assumes the emotional intelligence and desire to engage of its reader,
promising access to the rewards of that door-opening notion--possibility--in
return.
--S. Ketchum
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Spare Room Tycoon:
The Seventy Lessons of Sane Self-Employment
James Chan
Just got this one recently, and I love it. Now to realize these dreams...
"Spare Room Tycoon" was written by a member of the Mid
Atlantic Consultants
By the way, "tycoon" does not mean what you might think. To find out, read
the book, of visit James Chan's website: Spare
Room Tycoon
Equipping the inner entrepreneur: Eye-opening work...Wise and
witty.
- Publishers Weekly, May 15, 2000
Inspiring
and sometimes humorous stories of about 50 people who have forsaken corporate
employment for the entrepreneurial life.
- Tom Brady, Philadelphia Inquirer, June 4, 2000
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