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Rating: 
Summary: Highly recommended
Review: Cohen, a former recruiter and corporate executive has written a clear and concise book that is a must read for job seekers. He outlines steps to take whether you are out of work or currently employed but looking, emphasizing the importance of both internal and external preparation. He believes that your attitude is as important as your skills and addresses the emotional issues related to losing a job with clarity and without getting too "touchy feely". Break the Rules is aptly titled. Each chapter addresses a rule: "Emphasize your Experience", and a rule buster: "Emphasize your Accomplishments". Other chapters such as "How to Shamelessly Advertise and Promote Yourself", and "How
to Organize your Accomplishments for Maximum Impact in Compelling Sales Letters" are among the other gems packed into this very empowering book. Cohen includes a 10-week plan, sample interview getting letters, analysis of employer responses, and numerous examples and illustrations. We recommend it to all our candidates.
Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended
Review: Cohen, a former recruiter and corporate executive has written a clear and concise book that is a must read for job seekers. He outlines steps to take whether you are out of work or currently employed but looking, emphasizing the importance of both internal and external preparation. He believes that your attitude is as important as your skills and addresses the emotional issues related to losing a job with clarity and without getting too "touchy feely". Break the Rules is aptly titled. Each chapter addresses a rule: "Emphasize your Experience", and a rule buster: "Emphasize your Accomplishments". Other chapters such as "How to Shamelessly Advertise and Promote Yourself", and "How
to Organize your Accomplishments for Maximum Impact in Compelling Sales Letters" are among the other gems packed into this very empowering book. Cohen includes a 10-week plan, sample interview getting letters, analysis of employer responses, and numerous examples and illustrations. We recommend it to all our candidates.
Rating: 
Summary: Not worth the Money
Review: I must say I was disappointed in purchasing this book what a waste of money. The main premise of this book is to create a customized sales letter (a fancy word for Cover Letter)and mail it to executives and hiring managers. But this book like many others I have read on job hunting leaves out a glaring ommission. "How on earth do you get the hiring manager's phone number in the first place?" The book starts off with some mental exercises such as using NLP and some other gimmiky positive attitude building exercises and then it talks about sending off sales letters to hiring managers. Cohen also discusses using AIDA, a[bad]marketing tool to build a persuasive sales letter. The book is peppered with highly questionable anecdotes and very little practical job hunting strategy at all. "Break the Rules", is a highly subjective book written from the experiences of the author. He claims to be a PhD but I did'nt see a single footnote or reference in that book. The only thing that even gave this book any stars were some parts of this book: such as prepping for interviews, how to promote yourself while your employed and salary negotation. But me believe that is no reason to run out and buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: The human resource people don't want you to read this book.
Review: The employment market has changed considerably over the past few years. More and more, workers are taking career design into their own hands. No longer will they leave their lives in the hands of impersonal employers who are bound by rules and tradition. Workers want to drive their own careers, but they'll still have to apply for jobs the same way that applicants have for years. There are certain procedures and steps that are necessary to get a job. You submit resumes. You work through the human resources department that manages the hiring process, being careful to give the employment interviewers all the information they request. And don't attempt to interview by telephone. References must be provided. This is the way things are done and, if you want to get a decent job, you have to follow these rules. Wrong! William Cohen, a former headhunter and corporate executive who is now a professor at California State University, Los Angeles. Let's go a little further. He's a professor of marketing and leadership. There's an odd combination. And he's chairman of the marketing department. Interesting combination coming together here. But his bachelor's degree is from West Point, where Rules are honored religiously. MBA from the University of Chicago, plus an MA and PhD from the Peter Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate School. 40 business and professional books published. This is an author to take seriously. But, breaking the rules? In employment that could cause some serious damage! Not so says Cohen as he punches through tradition in chapter after chapter. Sixteen rules are presented, challenged, and ignored as Cohen dumps a huge amount of advice on the reader. Three appendices on sample advertisement and analysis of responses, how to find prospective employers, and sample interview-getting letters add to the value of this book. I got goose bumps as I read some of the tactics Cohen suggests! Why, he tells his readers to violate some of the precepts that are practically holy in the employment world. He emphasizes calling the decision-maker, rather than human resources. He advises readers to bypass human resources, ignore them! Blasphemy! (Giggle, giggle.) It's enough to make you shake your head! HR people: read this book in self-defense. It's the enemy's manual. Or are job seekers really the enemy if they don't follow the rules? Not a problem, if you're a job seeker: whatever it takes! Let's go for it! Job-seekers: read this book to get the lay of the land and a stimulating blueprint of what you can do. Tight on time, no problem! There's a quick main point summary at the end of each chapter. Want proof? Examples and illustrations throughout the book. Break the Rules is a book for the times. GenXers will love it! And older workers will buy it to learn the secrets, then tentatively try a whole different approach that's exciting and scary at the same time. Daring. Think you're ready for this book? Don't wait till you leave your current job to get this book-Cohen advises that there are some things that you should do now to prepare yourself for that magic time when it's time to play musical jobs again. Extra note: if you're self-employed, you'll find some interesting approaches in this book to landing new clients. Much of the marketing strategy (remember who the author is!) is transferable.
Rating:
Summary: Some good ideas but be careful in following advice
Review: There is two useful ideas in the book: not giving out references until there is an actual job offer and how to handle salary negotiations. Other than that, the Personal Sales Letter is just a cover letter (Read "The Overnight Job Change Letter" for a better way to write cover letters) and targeting the decision maker comes straight out of "What Color is Your Parachute?". His chapter on telephoning for a job suggests some sneaky ways to get to the hiring authority that in reality, would turn most bosses off. Basically, there is nothing really new in this book that hasn't been covered in other job hunting books and, in my experience, refusing to send in a resume until after the interview is just not viable in most cases.
Rating:
Summary: Comments from a second level career hunter
Review: You can ask for a job, or you can take something good that comes along, or... you can determine exactly what work you want, use the ten-week (or less) campaign in this book, and go for it. Looking at your work history in terms of accomplishments instead of duties or experience makes all the difference. I can't recommend this book highly enough. Not only is it specific, but the act of putting the campaign together is confidence-building. Get _How to Turn an Interview Into a Job_ and you may easily have all the tools you need to really get a great job in any economy.
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