The inspiration and information guidebooks provide can often save you a great deal of time and effort. Though books cannot replace the hard work needed to succeed in graduate school, the academic job market, or non-academic careers, they often represent the starting point on the journey to success.
Enjoy browsing through our bookshelf!
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.