Career Space E-zine

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I have been doing a lot of reading lately on career development and career searches and I’ve found a few interesting titles of note. For those that peruse the resume and career development section at your local bookstore you might be overlooking some gems that are hiding in the business section. Here are a few:

• U R a Brand: How Smart People Brand Themselves for Business Success, by Catherine Kaputa (Davies-Black Publishing, 2005) - This piece details how to create a notable brand for yourself and use it as a marketing tool for career development, job search and networking opportunities. It gives the reader some prescribed strategies to realize what is unique about themselves and how to utilize this in their careers. There are some useful ideas here, in particular how to network and get yourself noticed. It does touch on how to use your resume as a strategic marketing tool but I would have preferred to see some more concrete examples of before and after resume revisions as opposed to the brief descriptives offered. I was happy to discover that our local library has this available online as an ebook.
• Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything, by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams (Portfolio, Penguin Books 2006) - While this text aims to be a lively description of how business has changed due to new distruptive technologies (and it does succeed in this goal) it also serves as a good survey of how careers and employment opportunities have changed in reaction to mass collaboration innovations. There have been notable shifts in employment in industries and this is due in part to the adaption of new technologies and the restructuring of companies in reponse of the adaptation thereof. Perceptions of employment have also changed and the number of free agents are on the rise. There are more instances of freelancing and individual doing consulting. One cited example is the website InnoCentive which solicites freelance scientists to create solutions for problems and offers a set fee for a solution used. I mostly appreciated the concrete examples of where collaboration has created cultural changes within businesses. This one is definitely worth a read.
• The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels, by Michael Watkins (Harvard Business School Press, 2003) - This text provides a very readable description about the initial period as one progresses into a new leadership role in business. In particular I liked the first chapter “Promote Yourself” in which it effectively gives advice on breaking your old habits (from your previous role) so that you can succeed in your new position. The most difficult issue in this situation is the adjustment to a new “culture” which more often than not determines if you are a good “fit” for your company. This title is also available as an ebook.

Question: Has anyone else read any other books or articles that are useful for career development?

Last weekend I attended a most excellent writing workshop put on by Geist magazine as part of the festivities to celebrate “When I’m 64″, namely the 64th issue of their magazine. Geist magazine is put out by a non-profit organization whose interests are in promoting Canadian writers and photographers. Stephen Osborne lead the workshop on the “Art of the Sentence” to a group of about 20 writers at the Listel Hotel on Robson Street. His focus was on creating interesting sentences following the formula of the 5 Ws (Who, What, Where, Why & When). After 2 hours of exercises we had all come away with a good sense of how to formulate strong sentences suitable for writing narratives, prose & short stories. As a continuation to their workshops Geist has now added “The Writer’s Toolbox” to their website at geist.com . As part of the toolbox (http://geist.com/toolbox) they have included tip sheets and writing exercises suitable for the individual writer as well as teachers to use with their writing classes. This is the second Geist workshop that I have attended and I must say that they are quite excellent!