4 New Books To Boost Your Career In A Competitive Market
The job market is tough for everyone. Layoffs are happening in the public and private sector. The unemployment rate is moving higher even for recent graduates. In a competitive market, the right books can give you inspiration, ideas and information to improve your career prospects. Here are four new nonfiction books to check out:
'Cynicism leaves people in a dark sort of complacency….Skepticism tells us something truer: The future materializes second by second; and we have a hand in shaping it.' – in Hope for Cynics by Jamil Zaki
While not a career book specifically, Hope for Cynics is a timely read for today's discouraging job market. The author, Jamil Zaki, is a full professor of psychology at Stanford University and director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab. The book contains the statistics and scientific research one would expect from an academic, but this is not a dry read. Interwoven throughout are anecdotes about Zaki's friendship with a hopeful optimist, which gives the book an accessible, engaging quality. If your career or job search is turning you cynical and bitter, this book makes a strong case for why hope is not just a feel-good choice, but a smart, helpful move.
'Your biggest worry should be you and what you're doing – or not doing.' – in Give To Grow by Mo Bunnell
'It's always your move, and there's always a way to be helpful.' – in Give To Grow by Mo Bunnell
'Disconnect yourself from the outcome and focus on what's in your control.' – in Give To Grow by Mo Bunnell
'Little efforts done consistently are more effective than much larger efforts done inconsistently.' – in Give To Grow by Mo Bunnell
'Top Performers fall in love with their clients' problems, not their own solutions.' – in Give To Grow by Mo Bunnell
Mo Bunnell is CEO and Founder of Bunnell Idea Group, a training, coaching and consulting company specializing in business development – yes, sales. Boosting your career in a tough job market is all about sales – you are selling yourself when you go for a promotion, apply for a job, even ask for a networking meeting. Bunnell gives insightful, comprehensive advice on building genuine relationships that lead to sales. (His first book, The Snowball System, is also excellent – see previous Forbes post.) If you're feeling like you're not making progress on your next career move, you will get lots of ideas from Give To Grow on how to be helpful, stay proactive and become the go-to person for your target employers.
'The wealthy are a tribe, and like most tribes, they are very skeptical of outsiders. Not surprisingly, they want very little to do with the masses.' -- in The Affluent Marketing Blueprint by Mark Satterfield
Just like a sales book is important even if your career isn't in sales, a good marketing book is critical because your career advancement or job search needs good marketing. Mark Satterfield is a marketing strategist, and while his book focuses on marketing to the wealthy, it's a great proxy for marketing to the hiring managers holding the purse strings to your job offer or next promotion. Satterfield shares tips and techniques for building trust and credibility, two things necessary to boosting your career. If you're stymied on how to get decision-makers to notice you, think like a marketer and follow Satterfield's advice.
'In every organization there are individuals who get pulled into the most exciting strategy initiatives. Everyone seems to want their opinion, and everything they touch seems to turn to gold. Who are these people at your organization? How have they earned so much equity? By studying these 'equity players' you can uncover the elements that drive their success. And by building relationships with them, you may build your own equity.' – in Career Forward by Grace Puma and Christiana Smith Shi
Grace Puma is a former COO of PepsiCo, and Christiana Smith Shi is a former President, Consumer-Direct of Nike. This book is full of insightful career tips from executives, not just Puma and Shi, who have reached the highest corporate levels. While the book is subtitled, Strategies from Women Who've Made It, the ideas and recommendations, such as the one above on paying attention to equity players, is useful for all genders, as well as across industries and levels.
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