Four new books see the glass as half full
By RICHARD PACHTER
Next to social networking primers, the biggest pile of bound dead trees in my stash are job-search books. And no wonder.
After larding the banksters with beaucoup bucks, the Administration is belatedly paying attention — or lip service — to the country's staggering unemployment. It's not just statistics (which fail to account for those who have given up in despair), it's people. Yet many continue to look for work or seek to start a career or reinvent themselves despite the awful job market. Pessimism isn't an option for some. There's no alternative except to plow on. That said, here's a selection from the current crop of get-a-job tomes.
By RICHARD PACHTER
Next to social networking primers, the biggest pile of bound dead trees in my stash are job-search books. And no wonder.
After larding the banksters with beaucoup bucks, the Administration is belatedly paying attention — or lip service — to the country's staggering unemployment. It's not just statistics (which fail to account for those who have given up in despair), it's people. Yet many continue to look for work or seek to start a career or reinvent themselves despite the awful job market. Pessimism isn't an option for some. There's no alternative except to plow on. That said, here's a selection from the current crop of get-a-job tomes.
The Smart New Way to Get Hired: Use Emotional Intelligence and Land the Right Job by Lisa Caldas Kappesser. JIST Publishing. 224 pages
.
Kappesser's shtick is "emotional intelligence,'' a term popularized by Daniel Goleman in his book of the same name. So, in addition to requisite hints and anecdotes on résumés, interviewing and the like, the author offers self-assessments up the wazoo. The goal is to determine who you are and what job would be the best match for your personal qualities, mind-set, temperament and skills. It's hardly a bad approach, assuming, of course that the job for which the reader is best suited is open and the firm is able to hire someone to fill the position.
.Kappesser's shtick is "emotional intelligence,'' a term popularized by Daniel Goleman in his book of the same name. So, in addition to requisite hints and anecdotes on résumés, interviewing and the like, the author offers self-assessments up the wazoo. The goal is to determine who you are and what job would be the best match for your personal qualities, mind-set, temperament and skills. It's hardly a bad approach, assuming, of course that the job for which the reader is best suited is open and the firm is able to hire someone to fill the position.
How to Get Any Job: Career Launch and Re-Launch for Everyone Under 30 (or How to Avoid Living in Your Parents' Basement). Donald Asher. Ten Speed Press. 248 pages.
I envy people emerging from universities and colleges, educated in their chosen fields by wise and wizened professors in tweed, with their whole lives in front of them, ready to rock! Or not, again depending upon availability. But hope springs eternal.
Ascher stokes those fires of faith, both for new job seekers and those of us who've been forced into reinvention — often repeatedly. He's also big on self-assessment, anecdotes and gentle coaching, not just for newbies but salarymen and women at all stages of their working lives.
I envy people emerging from universities and colleges, educated in their chosen fields by wise and wizened professors in tweed, with their whole lives in front of them, ready to rock! Or not, again depending upon availability. But hope springs eternal.
Ascher stokes those fires of faith, both for new job seekers and those of us who've been forced into reinvention — often repeatedly. He's also big on self-assessment, anecdotes and gentle coaching, not just for newbies but salarymen and women at all stages of their working lives.
The End of Work as You Know It: 8 Strategies to Redefine Work in Your Own Terms. Milo Sindell, Thuy Sindell. Ten Speed Press. 144 pages.
The Sindells offer eight strategies that they say will allow you to redefine your relationship with your job so that you are working ``on your own terms.'' Good luck with that. Though they make a persuasive case, the ongoing role-play and suspension of disbelief might be difficult to maintain. And most employers have their own agendas, within which you will be fortunate to find common ground. Still, if their cogent advice helps one cope with an otherwise oppressive occupation, this volume is well worthwhile.
The Sindells offer eight strategies that they say will allow you to redefine your relationship with your job so that you are working ``on your own terms.'' Good luck with that. Though they make a persuasive case, the ongoing role-play and suspension of disbelief might be difficult to maintain. And most employers have their own agendas, within which you will be fortunate to find common ground. Still, if their cogent advice helps one cope with an otherwise oppressive occupation, this volume is well worthwhile.
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (Expanded and Updated). Timothy Ferriss. Crown. 416 pages.
Ferris wrote the book on productive indolence and now he's revised it. In addition to offering advice based on his own skewed-but sane view of life, the author provides resources and guidance for working minimally while traveling and having a great time.
He has scant understanding and sympathy for those of us who are preternaturally responsible and unable to chuck it all away to set up revenue streams and live in Tahiti, but the book is fun and a pleasant departure from reality. If you read it and it works for you, please send me a short postcard — and a fat check.
Ferris wrote the book on productive indolence and now he's revised it. In addition to offering advice based on his own skewed-but sane view of life, the author provides resources and guidance for working minimally while traveling and having a great time.
He has scant understanding and sympathy for those of us who are preternaturally responsible and unable to chuck it all away to set up revenue streams and live in Tahiti, but the book is fun and a pleasant departure from reality. If you read it and it works for you, please send me a short postcard — and a fat check.
Originally published in The Miami Herald
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