What is the best career-change book you have read?

November 23, 2008 9:38 PM

What inspirational, motivational career and job-hunting book do you recommend? Did it change the way you went about your job hunt or thought about your career, and if so, how?

I'm having trouble finding something that is not either a) very business-executive-types oriented, with focus on money, sales targets, making partner or whatever; or at the other end of the spectrum, b) "do what you love because money doesn't matter" without much practical advice on how to make this happen.

I'm especially interested in "career changes", such as finding a job unrelated to what you studied, completely changing direction and lifestyle, people who are "late bloomers", people who intially had career regrets, and so on...

What was the best advice or message that you got out of those books?

(NB: I'm not so interested in how to write applications or what to wear to an interview, more on the bigger picture stuff of how to find a career path that's enjoyable, realistic and achievable. I would say "How to find your passion" but I know there are several questions on that already... I'd like specifically to buy a book on this subject that I can refer back to for inspiration.)

Thanks!

posted by Weng to work & money (13 comments total)

What Color is Your Parachute helped me with my career change. The book has a number of exercises that can help you figure out what career path to take.

Mastering the Rockerfeller Habits is also a popular book, and you can adapt some of the concept to help with your career search.

I've found a lot of inspiration in Pour Your Heart Into It, by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. Although the book may resonate more with entrepreneurs, it still a great read.
posted by KokuRyu at 10:04 PM on November 23, 2008

I'll second the motion about what color is your parachute. That book has been around since 1970. I used it when I was job hunting after I got out of the service: and he updates a new one every year. The book is very inspirational. The website is awesome too!, Good Luck!
posted by Upon Further Review at 11:49 PM on November 23, 2008

This book isn't a how-to, but I really enjoyed reading Po Bronson's What Should I Do With My Life?. It's all about people who have made major career shifts, and while much of it does fall into your category b, above, as I recall some of it did describe shifts made for practical reasons or the downsides of making shifts without taking practical considerations into account.
posted by cider at 4:48 AM on November 24, 2008

Second What Should I Do With My Life? As I recall, it did actually have some practical advice, and was very good at describing the common pitfalls people experience when changing careers.
posted by lunasol at 5:17 AM on November 24, 2008

I can't agree enough: What Color Is Your Parachute? is exactly what you are looking for. What's really cool about the is that it helps you think about your experience and talents in terms of strengths that work across any industry, rather than just things that would help you get another job in the same field. For example, after reading the book and doing the exercises, I moved from social work to advertising. Maybe not the best transition for everyone, but perfect for me.

It can be a little cheesy at times, but I love, love, love the work I do now and I truly believe that I wouldn't have ever thought of it if I hadn't put the time into using the book the way you're supposed to.
posted by missjenny at 5:46 AM on November 24, 2008

I would recommend Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career.

It's written by an organizational behavior professor, Herminia Ibarra, and what she did was go around and interview many different people who had made made successful career changes from one field to another, and then recounts the steps and process they went through from start to finish and tries to abstract out the useful lessons that made their changes successful.

What I really like about it is that the book is not sugar-coated in any of the "you'll be successful at anything if you just try hard enough" malarkey that you'll find in many so called "career" books. It instead focuses on down-to-earth practical advice that's been backed by up research, and I found it to be a breath of fresh air.
posted by dyslexictraveler at 5:57 AM on November 24, 2008

The highly-paid career counselor I went to recommends "Never Eat Alone" by Keith Ferrazzi.
posted by crush-onastick at 6:23 AM on November 24, 2008

Personally, I found Do What You Are to be more helpful to me than What Color Is Your Parachute in my own career/passion search, which I'm still in the middle of myself.

I wrote a little about the book in a previous post. The book helps you assess your personality type based on the Myers-Briggs inventory and it talks about careers that tend to be well suited to your type (and why). It includes real life, realistic examples of people in their careers - how and why they got there, what they do and do not like about it, etc.

I can be a bit of a skeptic, so I was pleasantly surprised when I actually recognized myself as I read through one of the personality type descriptions (well, more like two or three) but it was very comforting and motivating for me. It reminded me that that there are some things out there that I will naturally be good at, and that those are the things that I will enjoy the most and excel at, so now I am targeting my job search in those directions.

Good luck!! :)
posted by inatizzy at 6:50 AM on November 24, 2008

nthing What Color Is Your Parachute?
posted by xotis at 7:02 AM on November 24, 2008

"What Colour is Your Parachute?" deserves your attention simply for having survived long enough to sell 6 million copies in 39 separate editions. It has apparently been a recession best-seller for some time. I would recommend you at least have a close look at it. For me its most useful aspect was that it pointed out the method I was contemplating using for finding a new job was unlikely to be efficient or effective.
posted by rongorongo at 7:32 AM on November 24, 2008

I credit this book for helping me identify and get onto the career path I am currently happily employed in: I Could Do Anything I Wanted If Only I Knew What It Was. It is an excellent, useful book that begins with self-examination (you probably already know what you want to do, you just need to say it to yourself) and brings you through very practical steps for getting there step by step, bringing pipe dreams to within the realm of reality.

The parachute book is okay - I read it and found it by turns useful (good information in there) and annoying (good Lord, that layout! Those graphics!). But what was really useful was the What Color is Your Parachute Workbook. As practical and specific as the book is wifty, this contains a series of (rather intense!) exercises that you do to identify your strongest traits, best skills, and areas you are passionately drawn to. It's fun to use and has some decision-making and prioritizing tools in it that I'm glad I learned, because they are useful throughout life.
posted by Miko at 7:50 AM on November 24, 2008

Seconding What Should I Do With My Life.
posted by tcv at 9:14 AM on November 24, 2008

My favorite is The Pathfinder: How to Choose or Change Your Career for a Lifetime of Satisfaction by Nicholas Lore. It's practical, richly inspiring, and laugh-out-loud funny. It's not just about how to change your career - it's about finding meaning, purpose, and passion, and how to overcome self-imposed obstacles to living an extraordinary life. I love the book because it reads like an extended conversation with a supportive friend who calls you on your self-deceptive bullshit, doesn't let you get away with any excuses, and encourages you to be the best you can be.

This isn't a quick-fix book by any means, though. It's best suited to reflective, introspective people who are willing to go through a long and challenging process of questioning their own hidden assumptions and mucking about in their own psychological baggage to find out what's been holding them back. If you fit that profile, then I can't recommend this book highly enough.
posted by velvet winter at 10:24 AM on November 24, 2008