Careers Books

Exploring Digital Video provides well-organized and reliable information. This book is quite appealing, with distinct photos and graphics, lucid text, and clear-cut chapters.

Notably, a beautiful full-color insert offers a look at Star Wars. And the DVD-ROM that comes free with the book contains surprising and useful free offers and specials and a feature on The Philadelphia Eagles! A must-have.

This book covers so many areas of digital video that I'm sure it will have what you need. It talks about topics such as purchasing video cameras and includes technical specs and quality. It also discusses bluescreen technology, capturing video and audio, scriptwriting, storyboarding and so on. And this is all just the beginning. It goes on to discuss how to edit, render and output film for the internet, television, or for multimedia presentations.

Other than just being a great source of information this book also has a lot of fun extras that will keep you interested. At the end of each chapter there is a quick question formatted review to make sure that you understood and remembered the important aspects of the chapter. There are also various inserts with profiles and interviews of some of the professionals in the field. Although all of the inserts are interesting and informative, the best was the piece about Star Wars. This particular insert is about Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) which is part of Lucas Film LTD. It discusses how one of the scenes from Star Wars was created. It's really cool to hear how they created something and made it look so amazing on film.

As if this weren't enough already, this book comes with a DVD/DVD-ROM with interviews with the Eagles Television Network and a number of tutorials. For those unfamiliar with the ETN, it is the Emmy award winning network of the Philadelphia Eagles. You get to hear about digital video from experts in the field through watching the DVD and reading the book. For such a low price it is one of the best literary investments you can make if you want to learn about digital video.

The book does a great job of offering an overview of digital video, including things like using still photos, what type of equipment would you need, and how to set-up a shoot.

Only complaint is that the author occasionally states opinions as fact example: wide screen is better than standard, when in reality, it is an artistic choice, and it is how you use the space provided that makes something like widescreen better or worse.

Finally! A book that makes a difficult subject easy to understand - creating and working with digital video (DV)! Each chapter is well laid out with great illustrations and nicely sized titles for each section and lesson. It also enhances its content by making good use of sidebars, to add relevant information.. Each chapter ends with an very useful set of questions and exercises, which furthers the reader's comprehension.

Lesson 6 was a highlight for me because I often incorporate photographs into my videos. This sometimes results in a badly distorted photo, forcing me to omit some great photos because of that distortion. Other times, I've been lucky and able to successfully place a photo without any distortion. Until I read this book, the causes were unclear; the author demonstrates the correct way to prepare a photograph for digital video in a way that I could understand and will remember. Though math and computations are a turn-off to many, she successfully covers the meaning of pixel values without confusion. The DVD included with the book contains tutorials which do an excellent job of taking the viewer step-by-step through cropping a photograph vertically and horizontally, so it is properly proportioned for video. The reader therefore has a visual and a written source for future reference at any time.

As a bonus, the author interviews Fred Meyers and Ben Snow, the makers of the Star Wars movies from George Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). Meyers and Snow re pioneers in the DV field. She interviews several other DV professionals as well, adding their vast experience to the subject.

The DVD also includes discounts from major retailers, saving readers money on computer and electronics products.

This book is a keeper-excellent for the both the beginner and the experienced hobbyist.

The book is great. All you have to do is open it up and glance through it to see that it will be helpful.

The Companion DVD is even better with step by step tutorials. The DVD also offers discounts with retailers on equipment, stock video and a great DVD duplication offer from Action Duplication in West Conshohocken, PA (800-847-3827).

Warrell has lived around the world and experienced many highs and lows. As a result, her advice for facing problems head-on is universal and well written. She provides an approach that really makes sense for anyone. Great read!

There comes a time in every person's life that we take a good look in the mirror. This image may reflect accomplishments and the joys that that life had brought us or it might just expose regrets and dreams that fell by the wayside. I believe that it is what we do with that moment that really counts. Do we give up on life and let our light fade away forever or do we decide to make some changes in our life?

Find Your Courage encourages the reader to look at their life and make a change for the better. Unlike some self help books that promise change without any real effort, this guide looks at the reality of following your bliss. The author realizes that in order to get started most of us have a whole lot of baggage to release: our childhood experiences, the stories we make up about ourselves, and our lack of genuine self knowledge. Beyond these challenges we have the realities and responsibilities of our normal lives. It takes great courage and personal fortitude to look beyond these aspects and be willing to take a step towards change nonetheless. The result may not make you a millionaire or a supermodel but it will bring you the freedom to truly be yourself. In my opinion, that's far more valuable anyway.

Margie's advice and tips on evaluating your life are invaluable tools in helping one truly reach their personal level of courage! I highly recommend this book as a gift for people in all areas of your life and for everyone to keep close by for whatever hurdle you may need courage to overcome! Book's approach provides stories, questions that truly make you think, tips, and humor for helping one be more introspective. I can't recommend this book enough!

This will help anyone find their courage. Each of us has an area where we may need extra help. The book offers the extra help with exercises that can make the leap easy. No matter what your age is or how confident you think you are - there is always a place in your heart that needs the extra push. Keep this book handy and use it often throughout your life and share it with your friends and family. How lucky the person who has a book like this as they approach their adulthood. This is a book that you will read and re-read and then share with others. Buy more than once copy as you'll want to keep yours.

Having read my share of self help books -- as both business writer and eager consumer -- I'm seldom surprised by something new. But with "Find Your Courage," Aussie author Margie Warrell truly does offer a fresh take on moving beyond your limitations and going after the life you want. In addition to being very readable, well-organized and inspiring, Warrell's book (unlike so many in this genre) is also very practical -- drawing on her work as an executive coach and corporate speaker and offering thought-provoking exercises to make your dreams reality. Her twelve daily acts of courage, which build from taking responsibility and challenging your stories (my personal favorite!) to the courage to let go and be a leader are as applicable to a fulfilling personal life as to professional success, making this book useful to anyone looking to "live more boldly," as Warrel puts it. I know this is a book I'll come back to again and again and strongly recommend it.

This book is a must-have for anyone looking to improve their current work experience. Even if you're looking for a new job, succeeding at a current job is the BEST step forward to a new one. VERY HELPFUL!

I loved reading about the different varieties of people in the book- how they react and interact. It really helped me to understand the people around me- and not react to exhibitied characteristics that are consistent with their personality type. Great book!

This is a must read for anyone who has had 'one of those days (weeks, months or years!) at the office.'

Up to now, it had been my belief that human interaction and concise, measurable solutions have little or no common ground. These authors have not only found that common ground, they've created a road map of it for us all!

This book provides measurable, quantitative solutions for human issues with regard to individual and team dynamics and it does so in an entertaining, easy-to-understand way.

Bottom Line: The things I learned while reading this book made my work experience much more enjoyable. Many thanks to the authors for the 'Road Map'!

I loved that the book gave useful suggestions that could be implemented right away. In addition to some great team exercises (www.LikeWorkAgain.com), the book also provides exercises that you can do right away by yourself. I also enjoyed the balance that the book struck between helping your current situation and deciding if you need to start looking elsewhere (it actually lives up to its title).

This book gives valuable ways to handle being unhappy with your job. I've also been able to use some of the suggestions in other relationships. I highly recommend this book to anyone with a job, and also to those who have people reporting directly to them. Great book!

This great book has taught me the value of being yourself and how TO land that perfect job. Matching your "I will" to your competitors "IQ" is a task that is sure to lean future employers into your direction. This book not only gives you step-by-step instructions to follow when getting ready for an interview, but also how to write a resume, and possible interview questions that you will be asked but more importantly, those that you should ask! Also, this book shows you competitive ways to overpower the competition in job interviews, to set yourself apart from the rest of the pack including those with more experience, qualifications, etc. You too can land that perfect job with a little help from James and his book. I used James techniques to help me to be elected to an elite board of directors that normally takes 2-3 generations to be involved with, but I did it in less than 6 years. I have also used these techniques to help me be awarded thousands of dollars in college scholarships, just by following a few simple tasks. This book is awesome, not to mention Jame's motivational speaking events. James is a talented individual and he is putting his talent to work in today's society. He will stop short of nothing to achieve his goal and he will help you to accomplish YOUR goals. This book is a must for anyone looking to land their dream job, not just college students. An enthusiastic TWO-THUMBS UP!!

James Malinchak has put together a great source of information for anyone on the search for a career. The inspirational quotes were especially helpful to me every day. Malinchak's use of his own personal experiences makes every page very accessible to readers. I love this book!

This book should be read by all college students preparing to enter the real world. It will give you strategies that will help you land the job of your dreams. The book is easy to read and the author does a great job of relating to students.

WOW! James Malinchak's book, From College to the Real World delivers an insider's step-by-step action plan on how to go out and grab that dream job.

If you are serious about making a future that is meaninguful, exciting and successful, then you must read this book!

As a college professor and education consultant, I've read many career-focused books for the "college student." And most are good, but all of them fall short of Mr. Malinchak's "nuts-and-bolts-think-outside-the-box-here's-how-to-REALLY-do-it" book of strategies and ideas. He not only gives you information you WON'T find in other student-focused books, he speaks from experience. What a concept...an author who has actually DONE was he writes about in his book. This book breathes integrity, and it doesn't hold back on any punches. This book is good food without the fluff and fillers. I've recommended this book to all of my students, and I will continue to do so until someone can show me one that's better. Way to go James, it's about time someone let the SECRET out!

This book is a useful tool for anyone who feels they are held back by their own habits and beliefs. It examines the self-limiting behaviours which we can succumb to - from procrastination to insecurity to alcohol abuse to a host of other habits - and provides real answers as to how we can work on turning these behaviours around to start living up to our true potential. The exercises are great, as rather than just reading the book the reader has a chance to really examine which sabotaging behaviours apply to them and how they can make changes to avoid repeating mistakes they may have made in the past. It makes it a much more relevant and useful book and would be the main reason I give this book five stars. The worksheets give the book a really practical applicable side, which other books of this nature can lack. They encourage and aid you in really examining your own situation and how Sheri's advice can be applied to help you, rather than just reading case studies of others. A real help!

From Sabotage to Success is an appropriate title for this book. It reflects my own personal journey from a place of despair and lack of information to one of empowerment and success. My journey continued as I found that the strategies I used to overcome my own self-defeating behavior were just as successful in helping others overcome theirs. This book was born out of years of personal experience as well as working with others to end self-sabotage.

I have taught workshops on overcoming self-sabotage since 1992. In the beginning, before each workshop I wrote a lesson plan but the participants always added new ideas and insights which further enhanced each proceeding workshop. Eventually, my notes turned into handouts, then book chapters, and finally a full-fledged book. Throughout the book I provide real-life examples of persons dealing with a wide range of self-defeating behavior. I outline step-by-step techniques to overcome self-sabotage and each chapter ends with a task list and action plan including worksheets, journal ideas, charts, and graphs to help readers apply the principles of the book to their daily lives.

I sabotaged my own success for many years. It wasn't until I began to change my old self-talk and stopped associating with negative, unsupportive people that true change occurred. I found that self-sabotage is often due to impatience and unrealistic expectations. I discovered that small, manageable goals followed by feasible rewards were an effective way to gain and maintain success. When you begin to focus on solutions, goals, and successes instead of problems and limitations, you can choose to recreate your life at any time, despite age or background. This book focuses on a holistic view of success. Rather than concentrating solely on material or career accomplishments, I invite the reader to define his or her own concept of success to include contentment, balance, and peace.

My hope is that this book will help you feel more alive; that you will see your own value and cease acting in self-destructive ways. I offer many time-tested techniques for you to do so. The rest is up to you. I would love to hear about the successes you encounter as a result of applying this book to your life.

From Sabotage to Success(or by another name, REACH YOUR FULL POTENTIAL)by Sheri Zampelli is an easy to read and very practical guide to overcoming barriors in our lives.I use the book everyday...one of the best self-help books I've ever used.I really would encourage everyone who is interesting in their personal growth to buy this book.

Ever wonder why life is not showing up for you the way you think it should? Have you considered that you could be the only obstacle standing in the way of success? And speaking of success: Do you know what your personal success looks like? If you've answered "yes" to the first and "no" to any of the following: Sheri Zampelli can help you.

As you may recall, I recently read and reviewed Zampelli's Donate Your Weight Weight Loss Program. After doing so - I rushed to collect the rest of Zampelli's parchment. Why? For starters, I like the way she leads readers from A to Z helping them overcome the most important obstacles: the intangible ones. After all, these are the challenges that keep us standing in our own way. And she uses this methodology to help readers overcome all of life's greatest challenges - including, but not limited to, weight loss.

She does it in this way.

In From Sabotage To Success, Zampelli first asks you to get to know and be honest with yourself. Through carefully crafted exercises, she asks you to step forward and review your "self" and your life - deciding your "role" as you see it. This information may surprise you as most of us define ourselves through others. Once established, this "coming clean" with regard to the past and present creates a jumping off point for charting a path to a destination of our own choosing. Next, you will create the ideal life you see for yourself. Zampelli asks you to "fast forward" and create this life by building your ideal version of it. You'll then back peddle into reality and prepare steps forward to reach this destination.

Said differently, Zampelli asks the hard questions that we are afraid to ask ourselves. For example: She challenges us to make absolutely sure that our goals for ourselves are truly our goals. Why? She explains: most often roadblocks to success come when we define ourselves by others and the groups or "tribes" to which we belong. Therefore, to identify our authentic selves is the first cut to reaching personal success. Secondly, Zampelli helps you realize the hidden ways you can Sabotage this process - ways that until now you may not have recognized. Mostly this involves letting go of the negative ideas we currently hold about ourselves - those which often stem from our childhood.


Perhaps you are overcompensating for your past by:

Controlling others?
Putting off your life?
Holding back from expressing your feelings?
Waiting for things to "work themselves out"?
Focusing on the negative?


Zampelli tells us, it's time to stop. In the second portion of the book, she leads readers by the hand to help us find our own definition of success, then offers exercises that you can use to work through these and other hurdles that could be standing between you and your vision for yourself. Here, she uses many of my favorite tools like creative journaling, mind mapping and affirmations. These will all help take you from where you are to where you'd like to be. This book then, becomes a personal roadmap to freedom.


From Sabotage To Success will be even more effective for those who:

~Have read every self-help book imaginable and still have found themselves stuck in their same old patterns.

~Are interested in changing the habits associated with self defeating behaviors that can keep them from reaching their full potential.

~Want to identify personal roadblocks, bring them to the surface to heal, then move on to claim the success they know is theirs.


The three best things about From Sabotage To Success in my opinion are:

One: Zampelli uses examples, anecdotes and stories from other real life individuals that exemplify the struggles we all face. This helps me identify with the issue at hand, realize I am not alone and that I am not "different" or "crazy" for having the feelings I do. In turn, this helps me to heal and overcome my highest hurdles.

Two: Zampelli fills the book with exercises, thought provoking ideas and tools. Soon after reading, I found myself excited about my life again. Through identifying and removing ways I stand in my own way through negative thinking - I've learned to identify when I'm "unhealthy." Free from negativity, I'm liberated to be excited about my life and the possibilities it holds for me.

Three: Zampelli, as customary, presents all of her work in a "been there done that" format. It's hard hitting as her story is a deep and painful one. Yet, this accessibility is exactly what makes Zampelli's books worth reading and applying - she speaks from her own passion to overcome obstacles, and her passion to succeed becomes contagious.

A Final Note: Just like her other work - this is not a book you will finish, close, then never look at again. It is a reference book you can consult over and over. As usual, I always choose to take the broad brush stroke first, then walk back through slowly - taking each exercise one at a time. Zampelli has penned another winner here - and she takes you right along with her.

I found From Sabotage to Success to be a delightfully fresh approach to presenting psychological theories, techniques, concepts, and jargon into an enjoyable, easy-to-read format. Ms. Zampelli offers a fresh new approach to presenting a wide array of comprehensive self-help techniques to just about any person who picks up the book!

Although I have read probably just about every self-help book on the market, I found Sabotage to Success to be among the very best of its kind. Since it is my observation that most of the women who I work with tend to sabotage their own chances for happiness and success, I will be recommending it as a "Must Read" for all of my clients. If you want to improve your life in any way, this book will help you discover what's holding you back...and what you can do to grow.

Cathy Garger
Personal Coach

I had been looking for a book that explained the technical aspects and the sales techniques of commercial real estate. This book combines them both. There is a lot of meat in this book instead of fluff. I highly recommend it!

Whether you're a real estate agent selling commercial and investment property or an investor purchasing and selling commercial real estate, the field of Commercial Real Estate Sales and Investment Property Sales is very complex, with a language all its own.

Challenges in commercial real estate sales include mathematical projections, return calculations, zoning issues, legal issues, contract issues, environmental inspections, tax consequences and the entire minefield lately of commercial mortgages and loans.

In the "Fundamentals of Listing and Selling Commercial Real Estate", Loren Keim, the author, has made the complex understandable with an easy-to-read book. An excellent job, I give it 5 stars!

Commercial real estate is an extremely complex arena loaded with a minefield of legal, financial and emotional pitfalls investors, buyers, and sellers of commercial property must avoid.

Loren Keim cuts through the fluff in his new book "The Fundamentals of Listing and Selling Commercial Real Estate" to highlight and explain the basics of commercial real estate transactions from how a commercial property should be analyzed and compared with other commercial real estate, how the income of the property should be analyzed and what financing methods are available and how to talk like a pro with all the commercial broker and investor lingo that's thrown around in the real estate industry.

This particular book should be mandatory to read for any real estate agent planning to represent a commercial property or an investor. The explanation of marketing commercial real estate in the Internet age, and the samples and dialogues alone are worth the price of admission.

Excellent book for a career in commercial real estate or investment real estate. Well written, lots of great examples, including explanations of 1031 exchanges, income analysis, site and property analysis, and more. Everything you need to be a success in the field of commercial real estate.

In the past, I had been disappointed when reading other books about Commercial Real Estate. I've seen real basic introduction books, books that define investment and commercial terms, but don't really explain them, and books that just paste together checklists about selling investment property or commercial property.

This book was totally different. "The Fundamentals of Listing and Selling Commercial Real Estate" was entertaining. It was understandable. And it helps lay out exactly what to do in order to succeed in commercial and investment real estate.

The Fundamental's part of the book is the best resource for commercial brokers I've ever seen. There are explanations of each subcategory of commercial property, not just the basics, and the terminology associated with each subcategory is in easy to understand language. There are wonderful explanations of all the various ways to calculate return on investment, why each one is preferred by some investors or commercial real estate buyers, and how to look outside the box for commercial financing sources. There's even a section on negotiating leases, the benefits of various types of commercial leases, and what clauses are practical to add.

The Practical part of the book lays out a complete game plan for success in your career, including step by step instructions for some prospecting and marketing methods, sample letters, and dialogues. It even lays out how to write a letter of intent and full contract.

I can't tell you how impressed I was with this book. If you're selling commercial real estate, this SHOULD be part of your library of information.

This is the greatest gift you can ever give to anyone you know who is just starting out in the world of handling their own finances, as well as someone you know who is already 'in the game'. Make sure all of your young loved ones get this BEFORE the college credit card offers start swarming them in their Freshman year! I wish the author, Tama McAleese, would read this to hear my thanks and my plea for another 'Get Rich Slow' that includes what to do with all of these new things that have popped up like 529 plans, Education IRA's, new IRA contribution amounts, new tax laws, etc. Her foundations are timeless, but I would still love to hear what she has to say about the new trends.

this book is a MUST READ. I am a financial planner and still find this book to be the most useful book on the market. It contains timeless concepts not the latest get rich quick schemes. If you buy a financial book buy this one.

Best advice I ever got on Personal Finance. Glad I acted on
her solid financial education-the truth not the hype-of the financial industry.

Found her statement so very true "The right information is even more valuable than money itself..."

I read the 1993 (2nd) edition of this when I was fresh out of college. After Atlas Shrugged, was probably the most profitable book I ever read. I'm now well on my way to being well-off, and I credit much of that to the no-nonsense, straightforward advice this book provides.

Like another reviewer, I too have given copies of this book as wedding gifts, homewarming, graduation -- you name it. Some might take it as rude or presumptious perhaps; but what of it. Good advice isn't always pleasant, yet priceless all the same.

If you're under the age of 25, just starting out your career, for god's sake read this book. If you're under the age of 35, *ouch* you're gonna kick yourself on chapter after chapter, but start reading now before the night grows even longer :-)

I would strongly recommend this book to people of all ages and situations. Ms. McAleese uses clear, easily understood writing with good no-nonsense advice and examples. And her basic aim is quite straightforward - don't make choices about situations involving money without knowing fully how you (and the other guy) stand to benefit. It will show you how to see when a great situation is really only great for the other guy. And thus, you get rich by not giving your money away.

My wife and I have used our copy to guide us through many choices - budgeting, saving, insurance, retirement planning, homebuying - with great success. It has saved us when times were tough and has enabled us to do the things we want without sinking into debt. For a regular middle-class couple, we feel very well off just because we understand our own finances well.

In fact, I regularly give this book as a gift to friends (and their graduation-age kids) as a way to help them avoid some of the mistakes I made before I got this book. I know that sounds cheesy, but it's quite true.

If you are or you know someone that is not 100% happy with their career, this book is the answer. After working as a career counselor for over 10 years, Bill's book helped me achieve a position that I absolutely love. I thought I had all the answers after 10 years of advising others -- not so! After reading Bill's book, I obtained a full time position in the Media field within 6 months! No doubt; it works! Superb book for the unemployed AND employed! PS - I negotiated $3,000 more using Bill's techniques!

Bill Karlson takes you on a great journey to help you find a job that will have even MORE than top $$$$! He stresses the importance of finding a job you enjoy, and make good money doing it! As a career counselor I highly recommend this book.

Bill Karlson has developed a great map for others to plan and track their career journey. His examples stimulate your creativity and suggest ways to develop your own job search process. Bill Karlson's practical tips demonstrate his extensive experience in coaching others during their career transitions. Mile 04 -- shares a great prioritization process. The book is filled with excellent resources, including a great list of internet addresses. I will be recommending this book to many colleagues and friends who are rethinking their career directions. A great planning tool!

Until I prioritized my life goals, I was usually in conflict with myself and others. Putting "things" in order has shown me what my capabilities and limitations are.

In my job search, Bill's Mile Marker system took away the stress of making cold calls. All of a sudden, those "scary" phone calls became job openings, phone interviews, networking contacts and interviews.

It works! It really does.

The two points in Bill Karlson's book, which had the most impact for me, were: 1. The need for me to resist looking for a job that I may be good at, but don't particularly like, in favor of looking for a career doing something that I am passionate about. It is incredible how many people I've contacted who try to shove me into the same pigeonhole I've been in before. My challenge is to try to communicate better about what I'm really about, what I need to be looking for. 2. The other is the concept of the advantage-driven résumé. I liked the concept the first time I heard you, but didn't really know how to execute it. Your example gives me a better tool to use to work out my own advantage-driven résumé. Thanks.

Grindhopping provides a look at living life outside the box. The decision to take the veer off society's typical path is a difficult one, and Vanderkam offers assurance that, provided you're willing to put in unfettered enthusiasm and hard work, this path can be a wildly successful one. She also outlines the practical, nitty-gritty details on how to make this lifestyle choice work.

Vanderkam offers practical advice for jumping out of the world of the 9-to-5, bosses, and the low and middle rungs of the corporate ladder. The title of the first chapter illustrates the author's straightforward tone and approach for the rest of the book: "Always Be Your Own Boss: No compromises, no excuses". She offers compelling reasons to take this path and practical advice for getting there (e.g. how to find reasonable health insurance, how to keep expenses down, and how to maintain multiple projects in the "Craig's List Economy" to keep the money coming in). Vanderkam draws on her personal experience as a freelance writer as well as a number of case studies of "Grindhoppers" who have found success or are on their way. She also addresses the downsides and risks of striking out on your own head-on and offers sound and empathetic advice for dealing with these. But she also confronts the downsides and risks of staying in the grind to your long term career success and satisfaction.

As with other career/entrepreneur books, Vanderkam stresses the importance of planning, goal setting, saving money, and, of course, networking. Yet, she delivers her advice and personal experiences in a way that feels somehow more authentic than with other books I've read. For example, in the networking chapter, she talks about her own tendencies towards shyness and how she overcomes and works around these. She opens up her own life and experiences to the reader just enough and in a way that is not self-indulgent. She succeeds in striking the right balance between focusing on her case studies and her own trials, tribulations, and successes in the world outside of the grind. Her writing is honest, and at times refreshingly quirky. (Check out the section on hunting mastodon and you'll see what I'm talking about.) Highly recommended.

Why is it that so many career books--unique among how-to books--advise you to settle for less? Diet books don't tell you to settle for being overweight; relationship books don't tell you to settle for dysfunctional partnerships; cookbooks don't tell you to settle for takeout. Yet career books often tell you that the only way to get ahead is to settle for putting in time that feels more like doing time. If you're not the kind of person who can ignore how much cubicle slavery feels like any other kind of slavery, then these kinds of self-help books are no help to you--and no wonder. As Grindhopping makes clear, the days of slow and steady wins the corporate race are long gone. So even if that is your comfort zone, you'd do well to read this book instead of all the others premised on a corporate model that's all but extinct. Grindhopping actually examines those statistics that are always cited to discourage free-lancers and entrepreneurs and exposes how they're skewed. But this is not some unrealistic fantasy book for impractical dreamers. Grindhopping covers common pitfalls first-time entrepreneurs fall into--often by blindly following that same outdated corporate model. It also addresses the very real concerns that keep so many chained to their cubicles: student loans, credit-card debt, health insurance, risk management. But unlike career books that only acknowledge the risks of putting your dreams into action, Grindhopping lays out the just-as-real risks of putting your dreams permanently on hold. In a rapidly changing world, survival of the fittest means survival of the most flexible, and this book practices what it preaches, providing real-life examples from every field imaginable of how the shortest distance from here to your goals isn't necessarily straight up the corporate ladder. Grindhopping refuses to ignore the question: If sitting at a desk all day, every day, putting in face time isn't the most efficient way to get the experience and contacts you need to achieve your goals, then what are you still doing there? Instead this book offers concrete strategies for networking, project juggling, delivering results, and learning what you need to know outside of school. Nor does it advise an all-or-nothing mentality: if hopping out of the corporate grind for a while enables you to gain more quickly the experience and contacts you'll need to hop back in later at a higher level, then more power to you. Conversely, if you need a steady stream of cash to pay off debt or need to learn about a particular industry, then a temporary stint in the daily grind may be to your advantage. The main thing is not to let temporary steps along the path to your goals turn into permanent dead-ends, but to weigh risks and make decisions based on whether or not each move you make brings you closer in some way to where you ultimately want to go. Instead of telling you to abandon your dreams, Grindhopping tells you how to make them a reality.

I read this book and enjoyed it. Vanderkam has her finger on the pulse of the new work world. Younger people (particularly entrepreneurs) don't like the ball and chain of 'a' desk or 'a' job. I'm finding a lot of people that are experimenting with their careers are doing exactly what Laura describes - they have their paws in a lot of different projects and jobs. I currentlh have 4 myself (but I'm the classic Gemini she describes in her book...easily bored!) If anyone younger has been in the work world a couple of years and is asking themselves the question, "is this all there is?" needs to read this book.

Grindhopping:

1. Hopping out of the corporate grind and into the work you want.
2. Building a rewarding career without paying your dues.

For the most part, the author is talking about developing skills that will allow you to "hop" into the corporate world at the point YOU want to without putting in all those years of meaningless drudgery and traditional corporate ladder climbing.

The author lays out the characteristics essential to successful Grindhopping, urging her readers to follow their dream and get someone else to pay you to do it. She offers as much 'sage' advice as a 29-year-old can, and gives illustrative examples of her points, shoring them up with statistics. But, I wonder if the 'reader' is hearing what she is saying.

While the external environment and internal motivation may differ between the true Grindhopper and the corporate ladder climber, many of the character traits and advice for success apply to both.

Grindhoppers are people who either by desire to be their own boss or lack of options, have a combined fiscal acumen, the ability to long-range plan and set goals, with a lot of self-control to succeed at controlling their own career destiny, much like the corporate climber.

The advice offered for potential Grindhoppers--know where you're going, work hard, network, get experience, stay ahead of the curve, pay attention to detail--has a vague business school ring to it.

The difference is that the Grindhopper IS the boss - either of her one-woman operation or of others who desire to climb her company's ladder!

While I'm not convinced Grindhopping is as revolutionary as the author wants you to believe, the book is worth a read, especially if you allow it to provoke questions about your own career choices.

Armchair Interviews says: A look at transitions written by a New York City-based freelance writer who is a contributing editor at Reader's Digest and is a member of USA Today's Board of Contributors. She reports and writes on a variety of topics including careers, education, health and pop culture trends.

As it was written near 2000, a chapter or two suffer from obsolescence already, but the excellence of the rest of the content make it very forgivable.

Adamsky has produced a superb guide to the Hiring Process that is of great interest to Executives, Recruiters and Job seekers alike. The book is applicable to a wide range of industries well beyond the IT industry.

The book provides a great deal of actionable ideas that you can put into place now to improve your hiring practices, land the best candidates, and keep them as satisfied productive employees. Similarly, the book helps potential applicants better understand the hiring process and get inside the mind of hiring managers. It also contains a plethora of valuable and interesting ideas and commentary on the HR landscape. Truly an enjoyable and informative read !

As the MIS Director for a large educational institution, I have felt the impacts, first-hand, of recruiting and retaining top IT professionals in a tight job market. Yet there is clearly a methodical approach that can be followed to target the "right" employees and, once hired, ensure that they remain happy and content within your organization.

This book does an excellent job of outlining that process in a simple, easy-to-follow, step-by-step approach. The author not only covers all aspects of the hiring process but also reminds us of best practices that we too often (and too easily) forget to ensure success once we bring top players on board.

This book was pertinent and informative. I intend to pass it around to all of the managers on my staff.

I didn't actually buy this book but won it as a door prize at an industry trade show. I tossed it in my briefcase and didn't give it much thought to it until I was stuck in an airport on my return trip home. Although I don't hire a great number of "information technologists", the book was filled with excellent advice for any manager. His advice applies to the dynamics of locating, interviewing, hiring and retaining exceptional individuals. I like to underline when I read, and when I finished the book I realized I had underlined just about everything! Don't let the title throw you off because this is an excellent resource that truly cuts across all industries. He has his hand on the pulse of human nature, and an incredible insight into those people who understand how (technically) the world works.

I have already given a copy to a friend that owns a small company and has found it a challenge to find and retain good people. If my friend follows the program outlined in the book I am sure he will see the results. One thing I really liked about Adamsky's writing style is that it's light on philosophy and academic drivel and packed solid with the experiences of someone who has obviously been in the trenches.

I feel better prepared to operate in today's challenging job market after reading this book.

As an IT professional I have had occasion to be on both sides of the interview desk. This book clarified and reinforced many of the beliefs that I formed from these experiences. However, I derived an even greater benefit from those sections that challenged my preconceptions. Mr. Adamsky's use of logic, examples, and self-deprecating humor helped me to see things from a different viewpoint. I am confident that a company can only benefit from the encorporation of his strategies.