3 out of 4 stars
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If I was to describe Finding a Job in Tough Times by Timothy M. Johnson in one or two words, I would say useful, or, better, extremely useful. My first thought while reading it was of my students, whom I taught English for Specific Purposes and one of the purposes was to learn to write a resume and do well in a job interview – improve chances to find a job, for short. The author’s experience in life-long learning (holding, when the book was published, “a technology degree, a liberal arts degree, an engineering degree, and a computer degree -some 220 college credits.”) and in finding an impressive number of jobs qualify his advice as sound and proven.
The book is a course preparing the reader to do what the title says: find a job. It is for tough times as when times are more relaxed, jobs are easier to find. But when are times not tough, I wonder?
It consists of about two score short chapters, grouped in larger sections, each followed by exercises to do. What the job seeker will find while doing the exercise or answering the questions after one chapter will be the foundation on which to build the material of the next one. The author raises the reader’s awareness of the whole process of seeking and getting a job that is meaningful for one's intended career. As opposed to what students who had never worked usually do, i.e. just find a resume model on the internet and fill it out, leaving out many of their abilities, skills and personality traits, the author makes the readers think about the reasons why employers request specific information and he makes sure such requests are answered first in the resume (keywords) and then in the job interview itself: he warns the applicant to expect questions related to the keywords mentioned in the job advertisement so as he prepares good answers to them. There is also a section addressing older job seekers, whose problems differ from those of an inexperienced recent graduate.
I liked the whole book that is written in a friendly and easy to read style, but what I liked best was this reflective method: everything is focused around a specific job seeker and the specific job they are seeking. I also salute the fact that it duly emphasizes the need to keep abreast of technology, and indicates the right (professional) channels for doing so.
The only aspect that could be improved is the editing, as I found more than ten errors and typos throughout this not very long text. This is the reason why I can only award three out of four stars to this book that l recommend anyone about to start their career.
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Finding A Job in Tough Times
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