Resources

Finding Your Authentic Vocation

  • Job Search Magic, Susan Britton Whitcomb, JISTWorks, 2006 - This book is chock full of great exercises and sound advice for determining your best vocational fit with respect to preferences, skills, interests, and values.
  • www.jobhuntersbible.com/ - Richard Bolles, one of the foremost leaders in career exploration, has produced this informative guide to help job hunters and career changers make informed career decisions.
  • Cool Careers for Dummies, Marty Nemko, Ph.D., Wiley Publishing, 2007 – Don’t be deceived by the title. This book presents an intelligent, down to earth system for identifying your career preferences and matching them with work in the real world.

Career Exploration

  • www.careerinfonet.org – America’s Career InfoNet, a service that tells you about hundreds of occupations and what skills you need to do each job. The Occupation Information Link shows you wage and trend reports, occupational requirements, and much more.
  • www.bls.gov/oco - Occupational Outlook Handbook - - This web site is published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and provides accurate sketches of hundreds of job titles as well as a wealth of job-related and economic information from around the country. Also included are updated state unemployment rates, salary information, and anticipated job growth rates for industries and career fields.
  • Vault.com and WetFeet.com’s Insider Guides – filled with insider information about popular career fields as well as the inside scoop of what it’s like to work at many of the country’s larger employers.
  • Career Voyages – this government site offers text and video information on more than 100 careers. It’s worth a look. 

Job Boards

  • www.indeed.com - A job aggregator that collects jobs from Monster. CareerBuilder, Hotjobs and Dice as well as newspapers, professional association websites, and employer websites. It's a fabulous opportunity for one-stop job shopping on the Web. You can use handy features like job search agents or RSS feeds to avoid having to search everyday to find the latest postings.

General Job Search Strategy
(including cover letter and resume preparation)

  • www.careerjournal.com - If you use only one site for all your career planning questions, use careerjournal.com. This site, which is offered by the Wall Street Journal, is packed with sound and concise job hunting advice, using the Internet for job hunting, salary information, etc. Check it out!
  • Susanireland.com - A practical and succinct resource explaining the latest resume writing strategies. Includes diverse samples and easy to follow instructions on how to create an effective electronic version of your resume to submit to job board listings.
  • Knock ‘em Dead, Martin Yate, Adams Media, 2008 – Comprehensive, up-beat advice on structuring your resume and cover letter strategically, conducting a telephone interview, and preparing for an interview and negotiating a job offer. Very sound; very practical. This book gets updated every year so the advice is cutting edge.

Salary Negotiation

  • www.salary.com - This site is dedicated to helping you evaluate your total compensation in light of analogous jobs in your field and geography. Keep in mind that it tends to run about 10% high so take the information with a grain of salt.
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