Maybe It’s Time

HOT READS FOR THE PRACTIONER

Title: Your Next Job

Competency: self-development

Who benefits: individuals searching for new job opportunities, coaches

Consultant Usage: coaches, internal outplacement consultants

What’s it about? “May you live in interesting times.”  This ancient proverb is meant as a curse.  We may now be living in interesting times.  Just read the business pages…or most days the front page…of your newspaper or Blog equivalent. 

Some of you readers are going to be job seekers in the near future.  Maybe changing jobs wasn’t in your plans, but the economy suggests a large shake out.  Today’s posting is Job Search 101 for the inexperienced job seeker.  If you are already well acquainted with the topic, skip the rest of this posting and come back next week.  

If you are just starting to think about a job change, time to also think about a career change.  The standard in field is What Color Is Your Parachute? 2009: A Practical Manual for Job-hunters and Career-Changers (2008).  The book has been around as long as I have been doing work related to job seeking and career changes.  It is updated each year.  Many career development professionals refer to it as the bible of career development.  Can’t go wrong starting with this book.

Another popular best-seller in this genre is Knock ’em Dead, 2008: The Ultimate Job Search Guide (2007).  The author has been around 20 years offering career advice to help you along.

The author and founder of Monster.com offers up Monster Careers: How to Land the Job of Your Life (2004) . He is particularly resourceful in offering up what he calls the “new basics of the job search”.  He also suggests a model for the serious job searcher that he calls the F.A.M.E. attitude.  I liked the model; but if you want to know what it stands for, you have to look it up!

Speaking of the Internet, while I want to go on record as saying it is easy to get seduced by thinking that the Internet can be your one-stop shopping center, there are certainly opportunities aplenty.  So if the Internet is your thing, keep my caveat in mind, but take a look at Guide to Internet Job Searching 2008-2009  (2008).

I am going to close with three books I know little about, but they win big time points for great titles.  The first of three comes with great reviews by users and professionals and is filled with personal stories, which appeals to me: Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters: 400 Unconventional Tips, Tricks, and Tactics for Landing Your Dream Job (2005).

Then there are my real title winners: Life’s a Bitch and Then You Change Careers: 9 Steps to Get Out of Your Funk and On to Your Future (2006) and Career Coward’s Guide to Changing Careers: Sensible Strategies for Overcoming Job Search Fears (2007).

Well, if you are in need, this should get you started.  I wish you success.

Catch you next week. 

 

[tags]job search, career, career development, resumes, job interviews, bill bradley, william bradley,  bradley[/tags]

Bill Bradley

Bill Bradley (mostly) retired after 35 years in organizational consulting, training and management development. During those years he worked internally with seven organizations and trained and consulted externally with more than 90 large and small businesses, government agencies, hospitals and schools.