The Harvard Business School Guide to Finding Your Next Job

Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time with this one.
Review: Hackneyed, trite, and a waste of money.

Rating:
Summary: Trading on the Harvard name
Review: I found The Harvard Business School Guide To Finding Your Next Job to be very readable. This is a wonderful resource for the job search process because it contains up to date, usuable information. It's full of common-sense advice for any level of job-seeking.

This concise guide covers the most current guidelines and standards in successful resume writing, cover letters, and the interview process. Mr. Gardella discusses both the strategies needed and pitfalls inherent in the job search process. He offers tried and true techniques to help navigate through what can sometimes be a most overwhelming experience.

Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time with this one.
Review: I thought this was a great book. It's not that detailed about any one topic, but gives an overview of the whole job search process. It gives you perspective, and that's useful no matter where you are in your search. And for each topic, he provides a bibliography for more detailed study. If you're just starting to look for a job, then this is a book that will give you a framework for organizing how you might go about it, and then you can refine your understanding by finding the books in his bibliography. You might say its purpose is to keep the disparate parts of the job search coherent and unified, and focused toward your goal of getting a job.

Rating:
Summary: Start here
Review: I thought this was a great book. It's not that detailed about any one topic, but gives an overview of the whole job search process. It gives you perspective, and that's useful no matter where you are in your search. And for each topic, he provides a bibliography for more detailed study. If you're just starting to look for a job, then this is a book that will give you a framework for organizing how you might go about it, and then you can refine your understanding by finding the books in his bibliography. You might say its purpose is to keep the disparate parts of the job search coherent and unified, and focused toward your goal of getting a job.

Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: Job seekers that are looking for a comprehensive and thoughtful book on finding a job should buy The Harvard Business School Guide to Finding Your Next Job. What struck me about this particular guide was the author's commitment to the entire process from being out of work to negotiating the final offer. Robert Gardella covers commonsense information such as resumes and interviews, but takes the book one step further by offering crucial tips on negotiating, networking, search firms, and job fairs. After reading this book, I promptly adjusted my list of references to remove the CEO at my old company, because according to Gardella, it can be hard for the reference checker to get a hold of such a senior level person--thus hurting the chance to get the job. Advice like this makes this book worth the price. Small enough to fit in a briefcase or backpack, this career guide does it all!

Rating:
Summary: Clear and Complete
Review: Outstanding book, covers all topics with clarity. No fluff or hype. Excellent for organizing yourself, covering all bases. References other books for further info on specific items.

Rating:
Summary: Why make your search longer than necessary?
Review: Takes you step by step through the job search process. This is the right way to do things for a professional level campaign. In a very readable, easy to skim format, Gardella will take you through a process that many anticipate as being painful, but discover can be an enriching journey. In practical strategies around parallel campaigns, networking, follow up, search firms, etc., you can tell that Gardella has been in the field and knows what works. A must for someone implementing his/her own job search.

Rating:
Summary: Clear and Complete
Review: This book is a good introduction for new job seekers and professinal who are starting a career transition. The book tend to be fairly academic and away from the practical aspect of the job seeking process. It does a good job on the marketing campaign and provides good advices on the writting of resume.