Finding a career is not as easy as finding a job. Your job may help you get a paycheck but your career means that each of those jobs helps you advance towards your long-term goals.
While figuring out how my career should look like, I had gone through some of the best books for career guidance because I knew that books are the best mentors one can get.
Building a career requires dedication, discipline, and the willingness to work hard. Above all, your career should be such that you enjoy investing your time and energy into building skills and learning things that helps you move up your career ladder.
The books mentioned in this post will guide you through the process of finding an ideal career and pursuing it.
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Best Books For Career Guidance
| Book Name
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My Rating
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View Price on amazon
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|---|---|---|
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What Color Is Your Parachute |
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So Good They Can’t Ignore You |
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| The Third Door | ||
| The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working | ||
| The Unwritten Rules of the Highly Effective Job Search | ||
| Pivot | ||
| How to Win Friends And Influence People | ||
| Do What You Are |
What Color Is Your Parachute?
The job market is constantly changing. It was fairly easier to get a job 20 years back than it is now.
Can the best books for career guidance work even in today’s world. That’s where What Color Is Your Parachute, a book by Richard N Bolles stands out.
This book has been constantly updated every year since its launch in 1975.
It contains some of the best tactics to land a job and negotiate salaries without risking the job.
The briefcase technique is one such tactic among the zillion others in the book. Although the book is written with the US job market in mind, it is a must-read book for job seekers regardless of their countries.
Believe it or not, there are ways to make sure that you’ll land a job even before attempting the job interview. This book will teach you all you need to do that.
So Good They Can’t Ignore You
You should not follow your passion to find your career. The true path to finding the best career is to become finest at the work you are doing. This is what So Good They Can’t Ignore You teaches you.
Cal reassures that you can choose any job and learn to love what you do rather than wasting hours trying to do what you love.
According to self-determination theory, as long as you practice and develop your skills in the work you do, you will eventually become passionate about the job.
The best way to get yourself a thriving career is to willingly commit to your job knowing that it will eventually become a much enjoyable process. Read the book for more effective practical advices.
The Third Door
There are three doors to success. First one, is the way through which everyone hopes to get in, and the second door is the one where the elite people easily get through.
Most people forget that there’s always a third door to success, one where you can sneak through if you have the guts.
Alex Banayan interviewed hundreds of successful people to find what it really takes to be at the top.
He even interviewed Bill Gates, one of the richest men in the world, and found out that Gates was once a 19-year old boy who was scared to make a phone call.
All successful people in any career had to overcome their comfort zones. You’ll learn more such interesting things when you read the book.
The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working
Technology has made the life of a worker easy, right? Wrong!
People now have to work more than office hours since technology has made it possible to work even when you’re not physically at the office.
People are being overworked and this leads to lower workplace productivity. There are certain physical, emotional, and mental needs of workers that must be met to maximize productivity.
It is equally suited for both workers and employers. This book is a great read if you’re a worker or an employer trying to figure out how your company can make small changes to get huge increase in job satisfaction.
The Unwritten Rules of the Highly Effective Job Search
This book is an intelligent, well-organized plan to help you get your dream job.
Unlike the other career guidance books, this book is more about real-life applications.
It stresses on the research you need to do on yourself, your potential positions, and your market.
It pretty much, says it straightforward how to do an effective job research and use it to build your ‘sales tools’.
This book is a must-read if you’re willing to follow a well-planned and organized approach towards job hunting.
Pivot
Pivot is a book for anyone who is thinking to make a career shift. In this modern world where change is the only thing that’s constant, people are always looking to launch in to new opportunities.
If you’re someone who’s going to shift your career better give this book a read before you do so.
Before making any quick decisions you should evaluate your values and decide if a pivot needs to be made in your career life.
Seek advice to a network of mentors. And finally before the big jump, do some initial experiments to see if you can adapt to a new career. Read this book to get the complete understanding.
How to Win Friends And Influence People
Surviving in the workplace can be a lot more enjoyable if you make good friends out of your co-workers. This book by Dale Carnegie is all about that.
More than 15 million copies of this book has been sold till date since it was published in 1936.
It teaches you how to influence people with none of the instructions being manipulative or deceitful.
A simple thing like a smile can play a huge role in people liking you. This book discusses on such small and big factors based on behavioral science. Another tip I learned from this book is that if you need to convince someone, make them say ‘yes’ to a lot of things. Seems interesting, right?
Do What You Are
Have you tried writing with your less-dominant hand? Doesn’t trying to make it work seem a little bit awkward.
The same applies with your career choices. If you make the wrong choice of a career that doesn’t align with your interests, it simply won’t work.
This book helps you figure out your personality type using Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.
After helping you identify your personality, it also advices you on how to choose an ideal career that’s best suited for you. This is a great read if you’re struggling to find a career that will give you happiness and prosperity.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here some of the most frequently asked questions and their answers regarding this topic:
1. How do I choose a career book?
A career book should be able to align with where you are in your career-life and provide you with the best knowledge in helping you make the right career decisions. Ultimately, pick a career book that you think will best resonate with you.
2. What are the top 10 career choices?
According to wtop, these are the top 10 career choices:
FootNote
This concludes our list of the 8 best books for career guidance. If you’re about to pick your career or is someone thinking to rethink your career options, do read these books.
They will definitely help you out.
So, which of these career guidance books are you going to read first?
Comment below!
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