A thorough, useful resource for job seekers.
This all-in-one job-search manual provides a candidate’s point of view.
Typically, books offering advice about job searches are written by recruiters or human resources professionals. In contrast, this debut is the work of someone who, over the course of 15 years, “attended more than thirty-five interviews” with little success. Mapleton learned what he did wrong and eventually found a good position. Now he has turned his experience into a handy guide to help other job seekers. The book begins by covering some basic information about types of jobs and the hunt for a position while employed versus unemployed. Next are two perspectives on the job search through the eyes of a recruiter and a hiring manager, each of whom offers valuable advice. One of the strongest sections of the manual, “Body Language Basics,” supplies an instructive overview accompanied by uncredited color photographs of various facial, hand, and body positions. The remainder of the work is divided into three “phases”: “Preparation,” “Moving Forward,” and “Foot in the Door.” Mapleton addresses job descriptions, resumes, cover letters, the oft-overlooked thank-you notes, and “the elevator pitch” in Phase 1; job boards, LinkedIn, recruiters, fairs, and networking in Phase 2; and interviews in Phase 3. The interviewing phase, likely the most crucial, is especially rich in detail. It covers in-person, video, and telephone interviews; delivers worthy suggestions for how to answer numerous queries, and includes typical “trick questions.” In combination, these three phases constitute a comprehensive approach to searching for a job from start to finish. While much of this information could probably be found elsewhere, it is beneficial to have it consolidated in one book. The content is logically organized; examples are liberally sprinkled throughout; and the author’s writing style is clear and conversational. In addition, Mapleton includes some very helpful tips presented from the job seeker’s point of view, such as describing specific “microexpressions” (facial expressions that represent each emotion) and noting a particular “selling method” that can enhance a candidate’s desirability to a hiring manager.
A thorough, useful resource for job seekers.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-5255-7711-6
Page Count: 132
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Jan. 6, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A vigorous and highly readable plan for building the finances of a new business.
A program of cash-management techniques for aspiring entrepreneurs, aimed at a minority readership.
At the beginning of this business book, Mariga reflects on the birth of her daughter, Florence, and on the depressing prospect of returning to her corporate job and missing some of her baby’s early moments. She realized that she “wanted to show Florence…that I could, that she could, that anyone could be anything they wanted to be in this world.” To that end, she wanted to start her own business, and she “wanted to help entrepreneurs build successful businesses that provide opportunities for others.” In a sentiment reflected by others she’s interviewed, she says that she wanted to strengthen her family legacy, so she founded her own accounting firm. She paints a vivid picture of the hardscrabble early days of other minority business owners like herself, the child of an African American mother and a Chinese father who also had a family accounting business. She and others were “all hustling to acquire clients and build our businesses…and most of us had absolutely nothing to show for it.” She was inspired by Mike Michalowicz’s Profit First money management system, and the bulk of her book is devoted to an explanation of how to make this system work for minority business enterprises. (Michalowicz provides a foreword to the book.) One of the primary goals of Profit First is to build “a self-sustaining, debt-free company,” so a large part of Mariga’s work deals with the details of managing finances, building and abiding by budgets, and handling the swings of emotion that occur every step of the way. As sharply focused as these insights are, the author’s recollections of her own experiences are more rewarding, as when she tells readers of her brief time as a cut-rate accountant and learning that it was a mistake to try to compete on price. These stories, as well as financing specifics and clear encouragements (“Small changes and adjustments accumulate. Over time, they will lead you to your goal”), will make this book invaluable to entrepreneurs of all kinds.
A vigorous and highly readable plan for building the finances of a new business.Pub Date: May 25, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7357759-0-6
Page Count: 230
Publisher: The Avant-Garde Project, LLC
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A cleareyed call to reshape emotional responses to stress and disappointment.
A game plan to stop being your own worst enemy.
At the beginning of her nonfiction debut, Hardis draws on her personal story as the divorced mother of three to illustrate how people create their own obstacles to well-being. “The belief that you can do hard things is called self-efficacy,” she writes, “and mine, post-divorce, was less than zero.” In these pages, she details strategies for readers to treat themselves more compassionately. She urges them to rethink an all-or-nothing approach to success, hone compassion skills, stop focusing so single-mindedly on outcomes over processes, and so on. Hardis’ guide stresses the value of letting ideas or situations breathe and taking the time to observe how they develop. Practicing patience sometimes yields an answer, even if that answer is to ignore something unpleasant rather than change it. “When we encounter distress or discomfort, it’s intuitive to try to do something to either avoid it or eradicate it in some way,” she writes. “As you’ll learn, however, that only makes it stronger and more persistent.” Writing with clarity and empathy, she argues for the importance of being not so much emotionally available as emotionally “allowable,” better skilled at recognizing and handling “big feelings,” even when they’re negative. In encouraging but forceful prose, Hardis invites the reader to analyze their own reactions and behaviors, for example: When she’s worried about her kids, her behavior is to clean the house—and its function is to decrease worry. “Don’t overthink it, and don’t judge it; simply observe it.” There’s plenty of similarly sound advice in these pages for readers to ponder.
A cleareyed call to reshape emotional responses to stress and disappointment.Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9798987361252
Page Count: 232
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Sept. 8, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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