Bookshelf

Though books cannot replace the hard work and patience needed to succeed in graduate school or on the job market, they can open your eyes to new ideas and opportunities and offer effective strategies for success.

Enjoy browsing through our bookshelf! If you come across any good books on professional development that aren’t on this list, let us know.

Careers (General)

• Arthur, Michael B., Svetlana N. Khapova, and Julia Richardson. An Intelligent Career: Taking Ownership of Your Work and Your Life. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017. A remarkably wide-ranging guide to navigating the world of “knowledge work.” Highly recommended as a starting place for further exploration of literature on career planning and management. Amazon e-book available.
• Arthur, Michael B., and Denise M. Rousseau. The Boundaryless Career: A New Employment Principle for a New Organizational Era. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. Available online through MacOdrum Library.
• Bolles, Richard N. What Color Is Your Parachute?: Your Guide to a Lifetime of Meaningful Work and Career Success. Ten Speed Press, 2022. New editions published regularly since 1970.
• Burkus, David. Friend of a Friend…: Understanding the Hidden Networks that Can Transform Your Life and Your Career. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018.
• Gershon, Ilana. Down and Out in the New Economy: How People Find (or Don’t Find) Work Today. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017.
• Hall, Douglas T. “Protean Careers of the 21st Century.” Academy of Management Executive, vol. 10, no. 4,  1996, pp. 8-16.
• Handy, Charles B. The Empty Raincoat: Making Sense of the Future. London: Hutchinson, 1994.
• Ibarra, Herminia. Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2003.
• Murphy, Wendy, and Kathy E. Kram. Strategic Relationships at Work: Creating Your Circle of Mentors, Sponsors, and Peers for Success in Business and Life. New York: McGraw Hill, 2014. Available to Carleton students through O’Reilly for Higher Education.
• Parsons, Frank. Choosing a Vocation. London: Gay & Hancock, 1909.
• Schein, Edgar H. The Corporate Culture Survival Guide. New and revised edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2009. First published 1999. Available to Carleton students through O’Reilly for Higher Education.
• Tieger, Paul D., Barbara Barron, and Kelly Tieger. Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type. 5th edition. New York: Little, Brown Spark, 2014.

Careers (Graduate Studies and Non-Academic Positions)

• Basalla, Susan, and Maggie Debelius. So What Are You Going to Do with That?: Finding Careers Outside Academia. Third Edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015. First published 2001. Full review.
• Berdahl, Loleen, and Jonathan Malloy. Work Your Career: Get What You Want from Your Social Sciences or Humanities PhD. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2018. Full review.
• Edge, Jessica, and Daniel Munro. Inside and Outside the Academy: Valuing and Preparing PHDs for Careers. Ottawa: The Conference Board of Canada, 2015.
• McAlpine, Lynn, and Nichole Austin. “Humanities PhD Graduates: Desperately Seeking Careers?” Canadian Journal of Higher Education, vol. 48, no. 2, 2018, pp. 1-19.
• Nelson, M. R. Navigating the Path to Industry: A Hiring Manager’s Advice for Academics Looking for a Job in Industry. Annorlunda Books, 2014. Full review.
• Sinche, Melanie V. Next Gen PhD: A Guide to Career Paths in Science. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2016.

Careers (Graduate Studies and Academic Positions)

• Feibelman, Peter J. A PhD is Not Enough!: A Guide to Survival in Science. Revised edition. New York: Basic Books, 2011. First published 1993. Full review.
• Kelsky, Karen. The Professor Is In: The Essential Guide to Turning Your Ph.D Into A Job. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2015. Full review.

Graduate Studies

• Ayres, Zoë J. Managing your Mental Health during your PhD: A Survival Guide. Springer, 2022.
• Calarco, Jessica McCrory. A Field Guide to Grad School: Uncovering the Hidden Curriculum. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2020.
• Haggerty, Kevin D., and Aaron Doyle. 57 Ways to Screw Up in Grad School: Perverse Professional Lessons for Graduate Students. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015. Full review.

Writing

• Belcher, Wendy Laura. Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2019.
• Bottery, Mike, and Nigel Wright. Writing a Watertight Thesis: A Guide to Successful Structure and Defence. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2019. Full review.
• Cayley, Rachael. Thriving as a Graduate Writer: Principles, Strategies, and Habits for Effective Academic Writing. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2023.
• Guccione, Kay, and Jerry Wellington. Taking Control of Writing Your Thesis: A Guide to Get You to the End. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2017. Full review.
• Lai, Betty S. The Grant Writing Guide: A Road Map for Scholars. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2023.
• Mewburn, Inger, Katherine Firth, and Shaun Lehmann. How to Fix Your Academic Writing Trouble: A Practical Guide. London: Open University Press, 2019. Full review.
• Sword, Helen. Stylish Academic Writing. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2012. Full review.

Communications

• Carrigan, Mark. Social Media for Academics. 2nd ed. London: Sage, 2020. 1st ed. 2016.
• Sucharov, Mira. Public Influence: A Guide to Op-Ed Writing and Social Media Engagement. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2019.
• Suldovsky, Brianne. “In science communication, why does the idea of the public deficit always return? Exploring key influences.” Public Understanding of Science, vol. 25, no. 4, 2016, pp. 415-26.