Maybe it's not too late to join the circus: books for midlife career management

Library Trends, Spring, 2002 by Marilyn Kay Harhai

ABSTRACT

MIDCAREER LIBRARIANS LOOKING FOR CAREER MANAGEMENT HELP on the bookshelf face thousands of choices. This article reviews thirteen popular career self-help books. The reviewed books cover various aspects of career management and provide information on which might be best suited for particular goals, including career change, career tune-up, and personal and professional self-evaluation. The comments reflect issues of interest to midcareer professionals.

No one is qualified for any job on the first day (Adams, 1998, p. 10).

**********

IMAGINE THAT A LIBRARIAN is thinking about a midlife career change. What is the best way to move from thinking to action? A good suggestion would be a book about evaluating career changes, but which one? A search of a public library catalog yielded 1,205 vocational guides (http:// www.ocls.lib.fl.us/) and Amazon.com listed 8,295! Even among the books aimed at midlife career changers, the offerings are extensive. This article will examine books on various aspects of career management and provide information on which might be best suited for a particular goal, such as changing careers, career tune-up, and personal and professional self-evaluation.

Career management can be defined as the process of developing the skills needed to choose and direct one's path in life (Cosgrove, 2000). Career management skills include the following:

* Self-evaluation--Identifying personal values, skills, interests, aptitudes, and abilities that may change throughout life.

* Planning process--Setting short- and long-term goals, decision-making with goals in mind, and adaptability to change.

* Integration--Integration of work and other life activities through lifestyle choices, balancing roles, selecting leisure activities, and personal growth.

* Exploration--Awareness of job markets and opportunities and pursuing self-development in relation to them.

* Marketing--Putting the other career management skills to use to improve a current career situation or career transition (Cosgrove, 2000).

The books in this article are evaluated for how well they help explore or develop these career management skills. Titles on the specific aspects of job-searching (i.e., resumes, cover letters, interviewing, job Web sites) are not included.

The selection process for the books included was not scientific. For the most part, the titles have stood the test of time. Discover What You Are Best At was first published in 1982 (Gale & Gale, 1998). What Color Is Your Parachute is in its 29th edition (Bolles, 2000). A few items are necessarily of newer vintage, such as, Career Xroads, which is a directory to job, resume, and career management sites on the Web, and even this title is in its fifth edition (Crispin & Mehler, 2000). Some titles, like In My Wildest Dreams and I Could Do Anything lf I Only Knew What It Was, have made the New York Times bestseller list (Best Sellers, 1998). Overall, the books are popular titles that should be readily available. But while they may be popular best-sellers, not all are worthwhile.

Banning, K. B., & Friday, A. F. (1995). Time for a change: How to change your career: The re-entry & re-career workbook. Lincolnwood, IL: VGM Career Horizons. (171 pages) Retail: $9.95

Time for a Change is specifically about changing careers. The topics covered run from taking stock of employment skills to preparing a resume, but the book does not cover any of the topics in depth. Each topic is covered in about ten pages and sections often include preprinted worksheets to be filled in. Unfortunately, there are no explanations provided to help explain or use the information gleaned from doing the exercises. For instance, one worksheet has readers list five areas where they lack self-confidence and then write down what they can do to raise their level of self-confidence in those areas (p. 41). Likely readers who can do that exercise without any guidance do not need a self-help book. The advice is also often very basic for a book aimed at career changers. In the chapter, "The Final Test: The Interview," the advice includes to be clean and not to wear low neck lines or high hem lines (p. 157).

This book is rife with gender stereotypes and the tone is patronizing. The authors treat career reentry as a woman's issue and career change as a man's issue, even though the advice that follows would not seem to change had they left out the sexism. Women look for Mr. Perfect, stay home with the children, and need to update their makeup. Men need to change jobs due to health problems. Women's worries "include whether their wardrobe, hairstyle, or body image fit those of a working woman" (p. 32). The authors' advice on improving body image suggests that if you cannot lose weight "you are not committed to your decision for change ... No one ever said change would be easy" (p. 55).

Bottom line: Awful. There are books with much better content and writing without the jarring tone.

Blanke, G. (1998). In my wildest dreams: Simple steps to a fabulous life. New York: Simon & Schuster. (254 pages) Retail: $12.00