The Harvard guide to careers /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Leape, Martha P.
Edition:5th ed.
Imprint:Cambridge, Mass. : Office of Career Services, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University, 1995.
Description:223 p. ; 22 cm.
Language:English
Subject:Vocational guidance -- United States.
Job hunting -- United States.
Vocational guidance -- United States -- Bibliography.
Vocational guidance -- Information services -- United States.
Job hunting.
Vocational guidance.
Vocational guidance -- Information services.
United States.
Bibliography.
Format: Print Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/1832815
Hidden Bibliographic Details
Other authors / contributors:Vacca, Susan M., 1954-
ISBN:0943747163 (pbk.)
Notes:Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
Review by Choice Review

The demand for career material remains high, and librarians will do well to keep up with the literature. Timeliness is essential in career materials, and only the most relevant purchases should be made. The titles in this review are weighted toward college students and graduates, although The Whole Career Sourcebook is for all job seekers, and Career Opportunites in Theater and the Performing Arts is for all interested in this industry. All the books either present a broad perspective on career development or introduce a wide variety of career areas, even in the industry-focused book on theater and the performing arts. Of the five titles, Self-Assessment and Career Development is so specialized it stands apart from the rest. It is actually a workbook, complete with perforated tear-out exercise pages, potentially problematic as a library book. The text originated from a careers management course in an MBA program, although the process is broadly applicable and could be used with others. The career development process within the book is rigorous and demanding, but one that could hold great promise for those with the self-discipline and time to work through the exercises. There are two parts: chapters on self-assessment, including surveys of behavioral characteristics and managerial style, and chapters on career development, including getting job leads, decision making, and managing a career over time. Recommended only for comprehensive career development collections. The Whole Career Sourcebook and The Harvard Guide to Careers are similar, though the Harvard guide focuses more on college students and graduates. Both list resources useful in pursuing a career plan or job search; but the Sourcebook expands the resources to include newsletters, computer software programs, and video and audio programs. Both books are readable and well laid out. The Sourcebook seems pitched more toward the average reader, and its motivational approach is similar to Ken Felderstein's Never Buy a Hat if Your Feet are Cold! Taking Charge of Your Career and Your Life (1990). Information in both the Sourcebook and The Harvard Guide is easy to locate, but The Harvard Guide is more useful, with a thorough table of contents and an index of resources by career field. The Sourcebook is highly recommended for libraries of all types collecting career materials, The Harvard Guide for college library career collections. The Encyclopedia of Career Choices for the 1990s and Career Opportunities in Theater and the Performing Arts both provide information on a wide range of careers, although the latter is focused on a single industry. The Encyclopedia provides information on entry-level job opportunities for recent college graduates in 42 broadly defined areas such as the computer industry, entrepreneurial work, and the energy industry. The Career Opportunities volume, one in a series that covers advertising, art, and other performance fields, encompasses 70 careers in the theater and performing arts industry, from performers to those in the business end and other behind-the-scenes workers such as composers, writers, and producers. Most useful are 17 appendixes, including degree and nondegree programs, internships, theaters of all kinds, ballet and opera companies, and arts councils and agencies. The Encyclopedia provides brief informative sections covering everything from who the employers are to how to break into the field. Each career area includes one or two interviews with individual(s) in the field. The Encyclopedia is recommended for college and public library career collections, and Career Opportunities is highly recommended for any theater and performing arts collection, or any career collection requiring this type of information. B. Anderson Northern Illinois University

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review