Cool Careers for Dummies

Rating:
Summary: The only general career guide you'll ever need.
Review: "Cool Careers for Dummies" is the best general career guide I've read. No pie-in-the-sky promises in this book; Marty Nemko delivers step-by-step practical instructions with contagious enthusiasm and a healthy dose of humor.

I found Marty Nemko on his San Francisco radio show (Sundays, 11 AM, KALW-FM 91.7, don't miss it) and made an appointment for career counseling. As preparation, he sent me a copy of his book. While working through his exercises, I found the answers on my own. Although I postponed my appointment, someday I want to meet Marty to thank him.

Rating:
Summary: A fun book, but was expecting more.
Review: After reading through this book several times I found a few problems with it. I noticed that most of the questions found in the "25 most revealing questions" part of the book were not specific enough and did little in helping me find a career that suited my interests and needs. I wasn't able to find a career or two to really research, which disappointed me a little bit.

There were some good parts of the book such as "The Cool Careers Yellow Pages" which gave a list of many careers and its niches. But There were some problems: It did not clearify what kind of degree's to get for some of those careers. It could have gone into more detail.

The book was very fun to read and gave me some good ideas to boot. Unfortunately, I was looking for something a little more serious and concrete.

Rating:
Summary: Misleading
Review: Far too many of the suggested careers in this book are long shots, at best. Nemko makes it sound like if you're willing to get the necessary education or put some effort into getting some expreience, you can move into any of the niche areas he recommends in his book. If only that were true. Too many of his recommendations have long ago been discovered, or are simply areas in which your odds of being selected, even if you are a Harvard grad with impeccable credentials, are about the same as winning a state lottery.

Rating:
Summary: A gift that kept giving
Review: For a little while in college I was queen of career guides and resume books. But that wasn't helping me figure out what I wanted to do. And it certainly wasn't helping me find a post-college job. An arbitrary cousin sent me this book for graduation, and 2 years later I still use it. I threw out all the other books. "Cool Careers" outlines new approaches to finding both careers and jobs, and walks you through interviews and salary negotiations with simulations. The authors also pay special attention to shaping your job to suit your needs once you have it... a section that distinguishes it from other books in this category. Most importantly, the book leads you on a job search that balances the short-term panic with the long-term perspective needed to secure the RIGHT job for you.

Using this book, I found an unadvertised entry-level job without a resume in a field I didn't know existed. A year later I found a managerial position in the same field. The friends who graduated with me work meaningless jobs in cubicles, and they still don't know what they want to do when they "grow up". I have a career, making real decisions, and the confidence that I can find a new one whenever I want.

Rating:
Summary: This book did change my life in more ways than one.
Review: I first looked through the books' 404 pages and found many more options than I had thought. Then I answered the "20 most revealing questions" and learned useful information about whom I am. What makes the book really great is that it goes beyond insight - it helped me develop a step-by-step plan towards achieving my dreams. I did end up with a cool career. Who can ask for anything more?

Rating:
Summary: Great summaries of various career opportunities!
Review: I have been seriously considering changing my career at times and just happened to stumble upon Marty Nemko's website just the other day. I was impressed with many of the articles I read on his website and was eventually led to this book. The next day, I picked up this book at a local bookstore (I wanted it so bad, I couldn't wait to receive it from an online order!) I glanced through a number of books on interviewing, resume writing, cover letters, and so on, and found many excellent books focused specifically on those topics.

However, what really led me to purchase this book was Chapter 2 - "The Cool Careers Yellow Pages". The pages are yellow and obviously stand out purposely from the rest of the book. I have thoroughly read through these "yellow" pages more than half a dozen times (in one night), comparing different career options. I also read through the sections on cover letters and resumes, but they were a little too superficial. However, that's understandable as this is NOT a book about writing effective cover letters and resumes, and I was fine with that. It's not what I expected.

What I did expect from this book was to garner some important and key information about different career options, and that's exactly what I got. Chapter 2 makes this entire book worthwhile. I personally have never seen another book that categorizes and subcategorizes careers like this one. I found it a little difficult to find certain careers because I wasn't exactly sure how they would be categorized, but nevertheless, the categories are helpful. If you're a people person, this type of categorizing is what you need; if you're a numbers person -- the same. If you like a mix of both, the category is there. After reviewing all of the summary job types listed here, I now have a much better idea of "where I want to go" with my career. Many of the career listings point to very useful and helpful websites as well, which can give you more in-depth information.

If you're looking for a book about writing resumes or cover letters, this is NOT the book; again, it's too superficial for that purpose. If you're looking for a career (e.g., new college grad) or a career change or are looking to re-enter the workforce after being absent for some time, this IS the book you need to get started. Once you've narrowed down some career options, you can explore the Internet for much more detailed information. This book really helps narrow things down quite a bit - at least it did for me.

Rating:
Summary: Not Bad....But Not Great
Review: I was somewhat disappointed with this book. Although it was organized very well, had a nice index, which made it easy to find things, and was written in a simple, right-to-the-point, easy to read way, the book was a little innacurate when it came to some job descriptions. For example there are many jobs which 5 years ago may not have required a college degree but due to the ultra-competitive world we live in now, they may now require a college degree. This was overlooked on a few of the careers listed. Take for instance becoming a foreign language/interpreting. This has become a highly competitive sought after job and the minimum requirement is not only being fluent in another language but to also have at least a Bachelor's Degree. Having lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, I know how cut throat the job market is so I was hoping that the author of this book was more aware of things like that. Even careers like becoming a police officer has changed quite a bit. Now many police departments require police recruits to have a college degrees, which was definitely NOT the case 5 or 10 years ago. But overall this book was fairly good. I recommend it just as long as you are aware that there may be a few flaws. I also think it depends on where you live. If you are from a super competitive urbanized part of the United States, like the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, or New York, remember that the standard for getting a decent jobs is completely different than anywhere else in the country. In fact I'm hoping oneday a book called "Cool Careers for People Living in California" will be published! Lol!

Rating:
Summary: A treasure chest of great ideas on how to choose a career.
Review: This book gives you inside information on hundreds of careers, presented in an informative yet fun way. It shows you clever ways to learn more about a career. It shows you an easier way to write a great resume. It shows you how to use the Internet to land a job. It even shows you ways to get motivated to do your job search. I've never written a book review before but this book is very, very good!