Looking for a job is tough at any age. When you’re over 50, it’s even tougher. The books listed below deserve a place on the bookshelf of every job-hunting boomer. Each one guides you through the new employment landscape with its own mix of inspiration, advice and true tales from the trenches.
55, Underemployed, and Faking Normal: Your Guide to a Better Life by Elizabeth White – A practical plan for the millions of people in their fifties and sixties who find themselves out of work, unable to find a job, and financially incapable of retiring, Elizabeth White shows how to get past any blame or shame, overcome denial, and find a path to a new normal.
A Fierce Heart: Finding Strength, Courage and Wisdom in Any Moment by Spring Washam; Foreword by Jack Kornfield – With stories from south central LA to the jungles of Peru, A Fierce Heart offers deep and honest reflections on compassion and suffering by one of the country’s most powerful mindfulness teachers.
Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 3.0: How to Stand Out from the Crowd and Tap Into the Hidden Job Market using Social Media and 999 other Tactics Today by Jay Conrad Levinson and David E. Perry – In this modern world, you often need to take unusual steps to market yourself and stand out in the job market. This book shows what works in today’s competitive marketplace with tips and commentary from top recruiters.
How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie – This book is a must read for everyone. It’s especially crucial when you are looking for a job. It’s sold more than 15 million copies and stayed on best seller lists for ages because it contains rock solid advice about climbing the ladder of success at work and in life.
I Don’t Know What I Want, But I Know It’s Not This: A Step-by-Step Guide to Finding Gratifying Work by Julie Jansen – A huge number of people are unhappy with the jobs they have but don’t know what they want to do. Jansen looks at this epidemic of job dissatisfaction and offers up career assessment quizzes and personality exercises to help you figure out your career situation and future. If you weren’t happy in the job you lost this is a great book to pick up in order to decide what kind of job you should pursue next.
Job Hawk: A Job Searching Blueprint for Any Economic Environment by Matthew J Kelly; Contributing Writer-Susan D Kelly – With so many job searching books on the market to choose from, what differentiates Job Hawk? The answer is simple, the author. Kelly shares with his readers the same methods which have helped him advance his career, and secure numerous employment opportunities over the years. The content within Job Hawk was accumulated over eleven years and six successful searches, two of which Kelly conducted in the midst of the Great Financial Recession. In this three part book, appropriate for any career level, Kelly covers an array of job searching techniques which he breaks down into a series of achievable steps. Readers will learn how to generate job leads, build a network, prepare for interviews and networking calls, optimize job searching efforts, evaluate job offers, negotiate a starting salary, and more. Job Hawk also provides templates for networking engagements as well as post-interview follow-ups. There’s no doubt that a job search requires sacrifice, hard work, and perseverance.
Little Victories: Conquering Unemployment by Tom Brophy – This unemployment industry veteran has helped thousands of professionals negotiate the emotional and financial trauma of unemployment, and shows you how to deal with the rejection and depression that unemployed people must deal with.
Rebound: A Proven Plan for Starting Over After Job Loss by Martha Finney – One of the nation’s leading workplace experts uses personal stories and insights from research to create a sympathetic guide to starting over after losing a job. She deals with the emotions as well as the practical steps to move forward from the trauma.
Second-Act Careers: 50+ Ways to Profit from Your Passions during Semi-Retirement by Nancy Collamer – A career guide that rethinks the golden years, this handbook offers 50+ income models for creating flexible, fulfilling, and profitable work during the encore stage of one’s career.
What Color Is Your Parachute? 2006: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers by Richard Nelson Bolles – Often called the Job Hunting Bible, it’s the best-selling job hunting book in the world and continues to top lists for it’s practical and inspiring plan.
Your Blue Flame: Drop the Guilt and Do What Makes You Come Alive by Jennifer Fulwiler – Break out of that rut and fall in love with your life again by joining stand-up comic, SiriusXM host, and mom of six Jennifer Fulwiler in finding your blue flame.