Pages of good advice on jobs and careers

Come Christmas, most of us will collapse gratefully into deckchairs armed with books of fantasy, fabrication, frivolity and fun. But for the more disciplined and work-dedicated among us, summer is an ideal time to catch up on new ideas and chart different career directions. Here we round up six great business guidance and career help books.

What Color is Your Parachute? (2005)
Richard N. Bolles
Ten Speed Press
$44.95

Bolles continues the 35-year success of this annual vocational guide, which has sold more than eight million copies worldwide since 1970.

Impressively re-written and researched from scratch each year, it includes lengthy but insightful chapters on the job hunting process, the nature of employers and employment, and the effect of the internet on the job search and selection process.

There are 90 appendix pages of exercises and more than 300 loaded with advice on everything from interview tips to choosing a career coach.

Bolles has a relaxed, friendly style and uses genuinely amusing cartoons to good effect. However, his touchy-feely, sometimes corny commentary may grate with stoic Kiwis, and the pages - packed as they are with diagrams, cartoons and charts - border on information overload.

Still a worthwhile investment, Parachute is not for the speed reader.

Get a Life
Andrea Molloy
Random House
$24.95

Get a Life comes with just one warning: by the last page you will have an overwhelming desire to de-clutter your house, embark on an overseas adventure or roll around on the floor with your children.

HR managers everywhere paid homage to the importance of work/life balance throughout this year and so does this self-help book by local corporate and personal life coach Andrea Molloy (clients include Coca-Cola Amatil, Lion Nathan and Telecom).

Recognising her readers are busy people with probably chaotic lives, Molloy structures short, concise chapters punctuated with quick quizzes and "action tasks" designed to help people make sense of their lives and create order.

In addition to advice on understanding and achieving a work/life balance, Get a Life hones in on specifics such as finding and following a life passion, becoming healthier, and freeing up personal time.

Refreshingly, Molloy acknowledges not everyone knows their purpose in life and for the lost and wandering delivers useful visualisation exercises, check lists, and mini case-studies - all peppered with plenty of encouragement.

The author's voice is clear and authoritative and in keeping with her profession, Molloy doesn't waste time on unnecessary words. The result is an energetic and practical book that is simpler and less cluttered than many that address the work/life balance phenomenon.

Walking the Talk
Carolyn Taylor
Random House
$39.95

Due for publication in February, Walking the Talk provides a practical framework for successfully building company culture and will appeal to CEOs and senior managers.

Drawing on 20 years' experience in trans-Tasman management consulting (clients include Lion Nathan) and as CEO of her own cultural consulting company, Taylor does a particularly good job of defining organisational culture before outlining the frameworks for cultural change and the process of change management.

Included are observations of what makes some leaders build culture that delivers the results they want and why others get no further than building slogans.

Taylor's observations have the potential to enlighten management practices, and chapters on how to handle mergers and acquisitions and grow small and medium-size businesses will suit New Zealand readers.This will be a "must-read" in serious management circles during next year.

Woman2Woman
Amanda Ellis & June McCabe
Random House
$34.95

An excellent book for women in business, and though not new to the market (it was released in February) it is deserving of extended recognition for its careful attention to themes New Zealand businesswomen really care about.

Authors Amanda Ellis (World Bank) and June McCabe (director corporate affairs for Westpac Bank) weave the experiences of 70 New Zealand women into well-structured chapters on career and life advice for women. However, this is a "how to" book, not a collection of personal stories.

Favourable impressions include the clean page design, easy-to-read font, and snappy case studies.

Early chapters address career choice, employer selection, job negotiation and progress, dealing with gender differences in the workplace and surviving redundancy.

A separate sections deals with self-employment and how to start and grow a fledgling business.

The final chapters are dedicated to the buzz concept of the moment: how to achieve a work/life balance. Inspirational, well researched and lively; Woman2Woman features input from Telecom CEO Theresa Gattung, Dame Susan Devoy and a preface by Prime Minister Helen Clark.

The 8th Habit
Stephen Covey
Free Press
$49.99

Covey is in the habit of writing self-help books and has sold 20 million worldwide, including 15 million copies of his first book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

The 8th Habit, (a title which will have movie buffs recalling The Fifth Element) is Covey's ninth book and fifth Habit title. It is also perhaps his best.

Essentially about how to achieve personal "greatness" and inspire leadership, the book considers the power of the individual voice - how to find yours and help others find theirs.

Covey outlines several reasons why you might like to do this. Intriguingly titled chapters like Unopened Birth Gifts, The 8th Habit, The Sweet Spot and The Trim Tab Spirit are dedicated to helping the reader understand themselves and others.

A DVD of 16 "inspirational" film clips is included, which Covey uses to illustrate points throughout the book.

Unashamedly the "overly exuberant American", Covey clearly enjoys expressing his ideas and does so through a variety of literary devices.

There are many quotes from philosophers, spiritual leaders, literary greats and famous politicians - and a plethora of diagrams - not all of them interesting or readable.

Covey's belief in human nature is, as usual, rather compelling - even for those of us who suspect the process of achieving greatness might be a little tiring.

Changing Careers
Paul Goodhead
Random House
$24.95

A small, easily digested book designed to shake people free from the fear of changing career. If you're an electrician thinking of becoming a beautician, a librarian who dreams of dentistry - or if you just want to redefine your current career a little - this book is for you.

Goodhead tackles his task responsibly, working through common obstacles to career change and providing risk analysis exercises for valid obstacles.

For example, the impact of career change on family and the time management challenges of retraining are considered along with the potential benefits.

Written with warmth, humour and without ego, Changing Careers applies advice gleaned from Goodhead's own consulting career as well as international authors, including Covey.

Goodhead dips in and out of research and statistics but resists the urge to bombard the reader with complicated theories, long-winded observations on human nature and abstract equations (the banal entry on page 17 excepted).

The result is a concise, helpful book that will help career changers get thought and actions into order.