Employment Books

Lan's work is groundbreaking in capturing for English-language audiences, many of the dynamics in Taiwan, that are reflective and symptomatic of global trends in the feminisation of labour and migration, in the tensions between newly-created pockets of relative wealth and poverty, and in the roles of women as employers and as transient foreign domestic workers. This book is recommended for all who are not domestic workers themselves who seek to understand the phenomenon, that Lan captures of their insights and experiences in this indepth ethnographic tour, of mobile women in segmented, classed and gendered global labour markets. Students in Women's Studies, Sociology, Anthropology, Development, Law, etc. will benefit from her approach to the field and the ethics of such research that underscores the concerns (for development) in areas of welfare, rights, justice, legal systems, civil society, and so forth, especially in a globalised context.

The content of the book was based on a well planned large scale multi-years, multi-phase international sociology field and qualitative research (although the name suggested only limited to Taiwan)result. Not to deep dive at the research methodology details too much for the audiences, the author instead presented many and complex issues facing working women(in particular working abroad as doemstic helper in Taiwan, Hong Kong, singapore, Malaysia), in a well organized manner, to challenge and invoke audience's thoughts and feel about these issues.

Great details and insights on how these respectable women around the world, work, function, social and overcome the challenges. It is academic oriented, yet the author's writing and styl drive people's emotion. I will not be surprised if you found wetness at the edge of your eyes while you read the book You felt true respect for these hard working global cinderellas from Southeast Asia.

Recommended for sociology students, researchers, interest groups, NGOs and government policy makers who like to develop similar research framework, or use it as supporting reference data and arguments.

Remarkable!

A short yet penetrating study of a junior teenager's initiation into the world of people as disposable work units.

Would undoubtedly be required reading in schools, if only it wasn't (subliminally) so fundamentally opposed to "The American Way".

A truly wonderful guide which has enabled me to explain my recent sacking for vandalising company property to my children in terms of a minor act of redemption. First rate.

I would like to say thank you for writing such a useful book. Besides covering jobs in States, Cities and Federal government, it includes so much current information. Using this guidebook and the charts probably saved me half as much time as I'd have otherwise spent in going about this process. I see there are lots of opportunities for me in State, City and Federal government. Since I don't live in the Washington D.C. area, I'll be going for the State and City jobs as well as Federal in my area. This book has lots of good guidance for developing KSA & resume content, including listing tech skills with the tech skills examples. It gives some excellent explanation about different "grade" levels. The salaries, 5-year salary projections and estimated pensions charts are awesome! The explanation about civil service and the pension figures it shows for each title is very exciting. This is all laid out so well that I am mid-way into my applications.

I have enjoyed this book, as well as finding it helpful. It brings a lot to the table. It covers how to get State & City jobs, as well as Federal jobs. This provides a scope. It covers job titles - with salaries, 5-year salary projections and estimated pensions for U.S. Federal, State and City jobs. The Charts are terrific. The charts are helping me look at where to position myself. The book also puts the steps, 1-2-3 right in front of me, to make the application and write the resume or KSA. It shows how to write the KSA. I don't have to sleuth around or spend extended time navigating the websites to figure things out. It explained civil service to me, in a historic and practical sense. The explanation, plus the salary charts, let me see why people talk about government jobs being good jobs, especially in tough economic times. I got a lot of insight from the section on high tech in government and how the technology has changed things affecting government jobs and processes. The book gives a bonus with the Tech Skills Chart, that I'll be using to help me with the tech skills part of my applications.

This guide is the most informative and helpful book on interviewing Ive ever seen! As a new college graduate, I had no experience with interviewing in the real world. I looked at some books in the career center at school, but they were way too basic. My sister bought me this book, and reading through it helped me feel prepared to handle any interview situation. I put the "success stories strategy" to the test and got the job! Also, great sample resumes and cover letters are included, so I was able to overhaul my resume just in time...

I worked in boring, low-paying jobs for two years after graduating from college, and I wanted to jump-start my career. This interview guide definitely helped me during my job search. The book provided detailed information about all types of interviews (so I wasn't thrown for a loop when I had to endure a panel interview), as well as a lot of other useful job information, such as suggestions for improving your resume and advice from professionals in different fields. I found the chapter on creating and using a network of contacts particularly useful -- if not for my network, I might not have gotten my current job. I would highly recommend this book.

As a recent college graduate writing my first real resume, I found this book tremendously helpful. It takes you through the whole process step-by-step and covers everything from writing your resume and cover letter, to having a successful interview, to writing thank you notes. It even includes a chapter on the electronic/e-mail and scannable/keyword resumes (both of which are totally necessary in today's high-tech job market). There are also some great lists of "power words" and keywords that make employers really take notice of you. Plus, the resources section in the back of the book gave me some good ideas of where to begin my job search. Overall, this is the best and most complete resume writing tool a recent college grad could have.

I needed to create a key word and scannable resume--fast. Though I'm not a recent college grad, I found the easy-to-follow advice on creating scannable electronic resumes to be worth the price of the book, and then some!

A must have for those working in labor unions or companies with union contracts.

I became a union representative and had no prior labor relations experience. This book taught me everything I needed to know to process grievances. I don't know what I would have done without it! This is a must for all labor relations professionals, union and management.

Reviewed by Kathleen Dowdell for Reader Views (4/08)

Written by a labor and employment attorney, "Handling Employment for Bosses and Supervisors" presumes to be a guideline for avoiding employee lawsuits. In the author's section, titled "Thirty-One Steps on How to Keep Your Home," he lays out thirty-one ideas of practical information that employers should use to protect themselves from litigation that may cost them their home (employment litigation) or their lives (workplace violence). Hopper spends a good chunk of time explaining employment litigation and its repercussions likening it to going through a divorce. He includes twenty-three factors that cause employment problems and he provides practical, legal suggestions how managers and supervisors can avoid litigation. He points out that "the United States is viewed by many as the most litigious country in the world having more than 20,000 discrimination lawsuits filed in 2000." Staggering figures like that make this book a must have in any employers' library.

The evolution of employment law in the United States began about forty to fifty years ago, modeling itself from England's employment law in the beginning of the 1800s. An interesting fact the author points out is how the term "fired" came about. Back in 1871 "fired out" meant to throw out or eject someone from a place or location. Some years later "out" was dropped and the term "fired" came to be synonymous with "dismissal of an employee." When an employer has to fire someone, he has made two mistakes: hiring the person in the first place and failing to train the person to become productive. Investing in your employees pays off in the long run as is pointed out in one of the thirty-one steps he discusses. Employees, as Hopper points out, should always be treated with dignity and respect. If everyone remembered and acted that way, the workplace would be a better place.

This book contains practical, concise information and makes a great reference for managers and supervisors. Every factor of employment is covered in this book including interviewing techniques, policy writing, sexual harassment, unlawful employment practices, termination, and workplace violence. Hopper uses humor to keep the book from becoming too morose. The subtitle of the book "Guidelines to Avoid Employee Lawsuits, With a Touch of Humor" is aptly named. Quotes of famous people interspersed throughout the book make the information more personal and adaptable to the reader.

I would recommend "Handling Employment for Bosses and Supervisors" to owners of small business as well as managers and supervisors. Its content is informative, practical, and humorous. The book is laid out in short, easy to read sections. By adding humor to the content, Hopper's great writing style makes what could be laborious reading interesting and fun.

Successful attorney Geoffrey H. Hopper writes from a rich background gained from his business experience in steel fabrication and through litigation in the area of employment and business law. In his new book "Handling Employment for Bosses and Supervisors" Geoffrey offers guidelines to improve employee moral, for reducing absenteeism, and litigation fees, while increasing productivity.

The book follows a natural progression beginning with a listing of "23 Factors Causing Employment Problems" and a brief history of employment law in the introduction. He follows with a chapter explaining to the reader why they should be reading this book. The chapters that follow are packed with practical recommendations on subjects including: Employee training, evaluations, employee applications, screening, and interviews. In the final chapters Hopper offers important guidelines for handling sexual harassment issues, violence in the workplace, employment practices, and suggestions for selecting qualified legal counsel.

Geoffrey writes with a flare for humor as he clearly articulates the pitfalls of employer practices in handling human resources. Chapter titles include: "Remember the Blue Haired Lady Doctrine." I particularly enjoyed the pithy quotes and sage advice from such diverse persons as Malcolm Forbes, Dolly Parton, Winston Churchill, and Abigail Van Buren.

Employers, and supervisors, as well as indiviual employees will benefit from the important guidelines provided in "Handling Employment for Bosses and Supervisors." This is a "must read book" for every CEO, Human Resource Director, and Department Head.

The content was professionally written in a very pleasant and interesting way. It basically explores the human side of your career and of writing your resume; and, avoids the tedius clinical text that I've seen in the other resume books.

It's not really all about resumes either. It really helped me focus in on my own marketability.

This is definitely not your every day run-of-the-mill resume book. I truly believe it has changed my life and how I look at my profession.

I would highly recommend it to anyone in career transition!

I absolutely LOVED this book. It's perfect for anyone who wants a good resume and help in finding a great job. This book is NOT just a resume book, but rather a great resource book that will inspire and motivate you. It really helped me and I can't wait to read more Heart & Soul career books. I understand they're coming out with more including one on the Internet.

I found the author to be concise in the description of her 20+ years of fighting both her cancers and the attitudes of her peers. The prevalent attitude that people with cancer, coronary, and other chronic ailments are "Damaged Goods" is common even outside the corporate environment. It's a rare strength that can overcome cancer while hiding it from those attitudes.

Whether you are facing a life threatening illness or just facing everyday life, this book helps put things in perspective.

Well written, easy to read and hard to put down.

This work illustrates a particular culture of oppression at a high-tech company. The author shows action by action how management creates an environment where workers will not be likely to organize. Management actions include faulty and frequent time studies, line supervisors who punished everyone when one geller fell asleep, supervisors who started racial rumors to pit one employee against another, telling employees they were laid off due to a business slowdown but bringing in new recruits and not telling the "laid off" employees that they would never be called back, just to name a few things.

My favorite characters were the Assyrian gellers; I can still envision them diligently working, although their grit was never fully tested. I really liked them. The Latino gellers were as close to heroes as any characters in the book.

This book is instructive and revealing in unexpected ways. It is a compelling story and an easy to read book.

High-Tech Betrayal is a book that many different audiences will find attractive. While it is founded on academic premises, it does not read like an academic book. It is easy to read, describing the author's experiences when he attempted to form a union in a high-tech factory. The experiences are richly described, allowing readers to understand specifically the circumstances and issues faced by the author.

The book lays out the scenario up-front, so that the reader has a clear understanding of the situation at the time of the experience. Additionally, the individuals referred to throughout the book are clearly described, so that their comments and actions can be readily understood.

Finally, this book does an exceptional job of portraying the workplace that the average American does not think exists in this country, but in reality is more common that most would admit. Described are the struggles facing a group of individuals, attempting to better the lives of themselves and their families. This book reminds me of the classic The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. The major difference is the era of the book. The similarity is that this book demonstrates that organizations in some cases today still attempt to keep workers down, while the organization itself might be thriving.

Jack L. Howard, Ph.D.