New at the Library

With hybrid work, leaders face unique challenges to ensure employees are engaged, remote and office work is productive, and teams are collaborating; all within legal guidelines. Leadership is to be approached with intentionality.Thrive with a Hybrid Workplace delivers expert guidance to maximize growth and minimize risk in a hybrid workplace.

Reviewed: HBR (ref.; online)

Description: Two professors of management examine bad behavior in the workplace, combining scientific research with stories from a variety of fields, and offer ways to remove the roots of incivility at work and create a culture of respect. (publ.)

Introverts make up one half of the population, and we're hardwired to thrive--especially in the workplace! However, it's not uncommon for introverts to feel out of place in the office, where it seems the only ones succeeding are outgoing personalities ready to toot their own horn. Thea Orozco busts that myth, showing how the workplace is truly a setting for introverts to succeed based on their innate skillset and natural introvert strengths. With topics ranging from overcoming phone phobia to developing an authentic leadership style, The Introvert's Guide to the Workplace, guides introverts through thriving at work without having to shout--whether you are a boss, an employee, or a career person. Learn from actionable tips and practical advice, and surmount office challenges and let your introversion take the lead: Combat interview anxiety, Make meaningful connections at networking events, Be heard and noticed at meetings or on the stage, Overcome imposter syndrome, Become an effective leader with your introvert strengths and more!

Reviewed: HBR (ref; online)

Description: It pays to be civil, in more ways than one. In a recent survey, 95% of respondents believed that we have a civility problem, and 70% believed incivility has reached crisis proportions. Incivility impacts productivity, hijacks focus, and creates stressful environments. It leads to an unpleasant work environment and organizational instability. It even affects customer, client, and stakeholder relations. And, on a greater scale, it can lead to huge costs to the economy. Ultimately, incivility cuts the bottom line. Author and professor Christine Porath shows how you can enhance your influence and effectiveness with simple acts of civility. Based on research that pulls from the experiences of tens of thousands of people across six continents in nearly every industry and type of organization, including startups, Fortune 500 giants, non-profits, and government agencies, she reveals the power that civility has to improve our lives. (publ.)

Description: The coronavirus pandemic revealed what we ought to have already known: that nurses, caregivers, supermarket workers, delivery drivers, cleaners, and so many others are essential. Until recently, this work was largely regarded as menial by the same society that now lauds them as heroes. How did we get here? … Today, the “best and the brightest” trump the “decent and hardworking.” Qualities like character, compassion, craft, and physical labor command far less respect in our workforce. This imbalance has led to the disaffection and alienation of millions of people. David Goodhart reveals the untold history behind this disparity and outlines the challenges we face as a result. (publ.)

Description: Illustrated with scenarios from everyday work situations, the author offers guidance on how to create the right conditions for a meaningful discussion as well as defining the seven key principles (confidence, clarity, compassion, curiosity, compromise, credibility and courage) that enable both parties to gain a deeper understanding of what the other person may be thinking and establish their point of view more clearly. It includes vignettes, advice from those who have been there and thrived, as well as lessons learned from conversation failures. Readers will learn how to prepare, start and manage the potentially challenging exchange of words that typically occur at work, and come away with an understanding that for any conversation to take place, both parties must engage. Scripts are provided to help readers get off to a running start.

Reviewed: PW 24 May 2021 p. 65, 67 (interview); NYT 100 Notable Books of 2021 (NYT/BR 5 Dec. 2021); TLS 26 Nov. 2021 p. 31; NYT 17 Dec. 2021 p. C18 (recommended); LRB 7 July 2022 p. 37; NYT/BR 29 Aug. 2021 p. 10; TLS 25 June 2021 p. 7.
Description: Drone pilots who carry out targeted assassinations. Undocumented immigrants who man the “kill floors” of industrial slaughterhouses. Guards who patrol the wards of the United States’ most violent and abusive prisons. Eyal Press offers a paradigm-shifting view of the moral landscape of contemporary America through the stories of people who perform society’s most ethically troubling jobs. As Press shows, we are increasingly shielded and distanced from an array of morally questionable activities that other, less privileged people perform in our name. The COVID-19 pandemic has drawn unprecedented attention to essential workers, and to the health and safety risks to which workers in prisons and slaughterhouses are exposed. But this book examines a less familiar set of occupational hazards: psychological and emotional hardships such as stigma, shame, PTSD, and moral injury. These burdens fall disproportionately on low-income workers, undocumented immigrants, women, and people of color. Illuminating the moving, sometimes harrowing stories of the people doing society’s dirty work, and incisively examining the structures of power and complicity that shape their lives, Press reveals fundamental truths about the moral dimensions of work and the hidden costs of inequality in America.

Reviewed: NYT/BR 15 May 2022 p. 10.
Description: It was the Golden Age of Travel, and everyone wanted in. As flying boomed in the 1960s, women from across the United States applied for jobs as stewardesses. They were drawn to the promise of glamorous jet-setting, the chance to see the world, and an alternative to traditional occupations like homemaking, nursing, and teaching. But as the number of “stews” grew, so did their suspicion that the job was not as picture-perfect as the ads would have them believe. “Sky girls” had to adhere to strict weight limits at all times; gain a few extra pounds and they’d be suspended from work. They couldn’t marry or have children; their makeup, hair, and teeth had to be just so. Girdles were mandatory while stewardesses were on the clock. And, most important, stewardesses had to resign at 32. Eventually the stewardesses began to push back and it’s thanks to their trailblazing efforts in part that working women have gotten closer to workplace equality today. (publ.)

Reviewed: PW 20 Dec. 2021 p. 87.
Description: Managers, especially those sandwiched between the C-Suite and their entry-level colleagues, feel that they don’t have the power and influence to affect the level of change we need to see in the world. Award-winning diversity advocate Daisy Auger-Domínguez shows that this is simply not true. By sharing the best practices honed through years of working as a leading executive in diversity at Google, Disney, and Vice, Auger-Domínguez delivers clear-cut strategies on achieving workplace equity. She examines how companies can find diverse talent, how to confront a problematic referral culture, and how to restructure interviews and the hiring process to eliminate bias. Instead of encouraging mentoring, she shows how training sponsors on effectively and sensitively supporting colleagues can go farther in shoring up retention. She exposes how one-day diversity training and even affinity groups can become counterproductive, if structured incorrectly. And she shows how executive-level diversity councils and even external diversity boards can more effectively enact policy changes and hold companies accountable. Through her guidance and through examples from companies that are doing the work well-to dramatic and lasting results-Auger-Domínguez shows readers how to hire, retain, and grow diverse talent and build a truly inclusive workplace. (publ.)

Description: As Jason Resnikoff shows, the term automation expressed the conviction that industrial progress meant the inevitable abolition of manual labor from industry. But the real substance of the term reflected industry’s desire to hide an intensification of human work–and labor's loss of power and protection–behind magnificent machinery and a starry-eyed faith in technological revolution. The rhetorical power of the automation ideology revealed and perpetuated a belief that the idea of freedom was incompatible with the activity of work. From there, political actors ruled out the workplace as a site of politics while some of labor’s staunchest allies dismissed sped-up tasks, expanded workloads, and incipient deindustrialization in the name of technological progress. (publ.)

Reviewed: PW 9 Nov. 2020 p. 66.
Description: You’re told that if you “do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” Whether it’s working for “exposure” and “experience,” or enduring poor treatment in the name of “being part of the family,” all employees are pushed to make sacrifices for the privilege of being able to do what we love. Sarah Jaffe, a preeminent voice on labor, inequality, and social movements, examines this “labor of love” myth–the idea that certain work is not really work, and therefore should be done out of passion instead of pay. Told through the lives and experiences of workers in various industries–from the unpaid intern, to the overworked nurse, to the nonprofit worker and even the professional athlete–Jaffe reveals how people have been tricked into buying into a new tyranny of work. As she argues, understanding the trap of the labor of love will empower people to work less and demand what work is worth. Then it is possible to finally figure out what actually gives you joy, pleasure, and satisfaction. (publ.)

Reviewed: PW 22 June 2020 p. 29.
Description: Becoming a Nurse takes you behind the scenes to find out what it’s really like, and what it really takes, to become a nurse. Acclaimed former New York Times reporter Sonny Kleinfield shadows veteran nurse Hadassah Lampert of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York to show how this in-demand job becomes a reality. Known for her mastery of technical skills and her heartfelt compassion for her patients, Lampert embodies the best of nursing. Go inside a hectic ER as veteran nurses work around the clock to treat incoming patients in a dazzling display of focus, skill, and bravery. Learn about their paths to the top of their field, from nursing school and clinical rotations to on-the-job realities like dealing with trauma and death. Gain insight about how this high-stakes job is actually practiced at the highest levels. As a nurse, expect the unexpected. (publ.)

Description: Go behind the scenes and be mentored by the best in the business to find out what it’s really like, and what it really takes, to become a teacher. Educators are the bedrock of a healthy society, and the exceptional ones have a lasting impact. The best teachers surpass mere instruction to cultivate and empower students beyond school. In LaQuisha Hall’s classroom, students are “scholars,” young ladies are “queens,” and young men are “kings.” The Baltimore high school English teacher’s pioneering approach to literacy has earned her teacher of the year accolades, and has established her as a visionary mentor to the young black men and women of Baltimore. Acclaimed education writer Melinda D. Anderson shadows Mrs. Hall to reveal how this rewarding profession changes lives. Learn about Hall’s path to prominence, from the challenging realities of her rookie year to her place of excellence in the classroom. Learn from Hall’s inspiring approach and confront the critical issues of race, identity, and equity in education. Here is how the job is performed at the highest level. (publ.)

Description: This book takes you behind the scenes to find out what it’s really like, and what it really takes, to become a video game designer. Gaming is a $138 billion-dollar entertainment industry, and designers are the beating heart. Long-form journalist Daniel Noah Halpern shadows top video game designer Tom Cadwell to show how this dream job becomes a reality. Cadwell is head of design at Riot Games, the company behind award-winning blockbuster games like League of Legends, which has an active user base of 111 million players. Creating a massive multiplayer online game takes years of visionary R&D–it is a blend of art and science. It is also big business. Learn the ins and the outs of the job from Cadwell as well as other designers, including Brendon Chung, acclaimed founder of Blendo Games. Successful designers must be creative decision makers and also engineers and collaborators. Gain professional wisdom by following Tom’s path to prominence, from his start as a passionate gamer to becoming one of the most revered designers in the business. (publ.)

Reviewed: PW 22 June 2020 p. 26.
Description: Figuring out your next move after transitioning out of the military should start before your last day. Prepare your self emotionally and professionally to put those hard-earned skills in context of the civilian world. The transition from military to civilian life is more than just a title change; it is a whole new life experience with the sense of excitement and possibility that accompany a transition. Whether you’re preparing to retire or separate, Success After Service is written to help all veterans succeed in the civilian workplace. Consultant & author Lida Citroën provides the tools, resources and strategies to help you adapt to the civilian workplace and evaluate post-military career options. Whether you become an entrepreneur, move into the corporate world or pursue higher education, you will learn how to develop a portfolio of career assets, including your re-sume, elevator pitch, online profiles, interview acumen and professional network, empowering you to begin your new career with confidence and clarity. This book is a guide for transitioning military and veterans who seek a coherent set of strategies, resources and steps for building a mean-ingful, deliberate and rewarding post-military career. (publ.)

Description: There have been many benefits to automation, including affordable pricing and accessibility of goods through mass marketing, but its impact on the workforce also has the potential to cripple society. While automation saves billions of dollars for corporations, it also eliminates jobs from the workforce. Advancements in artificial intelligence mean that manufacturing jobs are not the only sector to fall victim to job displacement; experts predict that many white-collar jobs soon will be carried out by computers. In this resource, experts predict how the labor market will be restructured and how humans can successfully adapt to these changes. (publ.)
Note: Library Standing Order.

Description: Esteemed journalist Glynnis MacNicol takes readers to the front counters of bakeries and cafes to offer a candid portrait of modern baking. MacNicol shadows Mary Louise Clemens, the owner and head baker of Ladybird Bakery in Brooklyn, to reveal how bakers work and how they stand out in a neighborhood, community, and city. In this book, MacNicol reveals the path to becoming a baker, from education to the creation of new recipes, from negotiating with suppliers to the possibility of opening a small business. Prepare the legendary “Brooklyn Blackout” cupcakes in Ladybird’s kitchen, shape croissants at the beloved Sea Wolf Bakery in Seattle, and learn why bakers think the Great British Bake-Off has captured our collective imagination. (publ.)

Description: Editor-in-Chief of Teen Vogue Lindsay Peoples Wagner takes readers to the front lines to offer a candid portrait of this creative career. What does it actually mean to be a fashion designer today? What do they do? How do they do it? Wagner shadows three acclaimed New York City designers to see how each carved their own path: Recho Omondi of Omondi, Rosie Assoulin of Rosie Assoulin, and Becca McCharen-Tran of Chromat. Learn from her pioneering subjects as they design new seasons, hold fittings, manufacture, plan shows, and publicize. Designers must function as skilled craftspeople and artists as well as business people and brands. They all come from different places and have had different trajectories. These talented designers show a profession that is radically changing and increasingly addressing issues of race, identity, and inclusivity. Wagner discovers that modern fashion designers must navigate several worlds at once, all with vision and determination. (publ.)

Description: A guide to a career as a life coach written by award-winning journalist Tom Chiarella and based on the real-life experiences of an expert in the field. Being a life coach is a unique career with the ability to change lives. This book takes us behind-the-scenes through the experiences of two top-tier life coaches who spend their days working one-on-one with clients to create new paths forward. The result is an entertaining, practical look at how one gets into and grows within this rewarding career. (publ.)

Description: Journalist Howie Kahn follows a private investigator in the field to offer us a behind-the-scenes, entertaining, and practical look at how it's done and what it takes to pursue a path to this alluring profession. (publ.)

Description: Award-winning journalist and food writer Patric Kuh explores the restaurant industry–based on the experiences of Lien Ta and Jonathan Whitener’s Here’s Looking at You restaurant in Los Angeles–and reveals essential details for anyone considering a path to this risky profession. Everyone knows that opening a restaurant is a risky business, a venture with an astounding rate of failure. Patrick Kuh takes readers behind the scenes of one of America’s trendiest new restaurants, revealing how Lien Ta and chef Jonathan Whitener of LA’s Here’s Looking at You managed to beat the odds. With valuable information about what daily life for a professional is like, this is an entertaining, practical guide to what makes a master restaurateur, from writing the business plan to opening night and beyond. (publ.)

Description: Go behind the scenes and be mentored by the best to find out what it’s really like, and what it really takes, to become a sommelier. Esteemed food and drink writer Rosie Schaap takes readers to the front lines to reveal what a modern sommelier actually does. From curating wine lists and tastings, to vineyard visits and dinner service, Schaap offers an insightful and entertaining guide to the profession. Schaap shadows up-and-coming wine director Amanda Smeltz at the popular New York restaurant Altro Paradiso to show that being a sommelier is a kind of calling. Schaap also follows Master Sommelier Roger Dagorn from a more traditional generation of sommeliers. She discovers how they got their start, how they trained, and how they became established names who have shaped the changing world of wine. This book offers a revealing look at the art, science, and business of this rarified profession. Here is the most valuable informational interview you’ll have–an accessible, fun-to-read introduction to everything you need to know to pursue this dream job. (publ.)

Description: Journalist Elizabeth Greenwood has been practicing yoga for over twenty years. Now, she takes you along as she studies with teachers across the country to figure out how these women and men rose to the top of their profession–and how they stay there. In these pages, you’ll take a private lesson with Abbie Galvin, a rock star instructor whom other yoga teachers fly around the world to learn from. You’ll visit a small business owner as she opens up her very first studio, and meet newbies hustling as they figure out how to stand out from the competition, whether by leading yoga retreats to Costa Rica, helping veterans struggling with PTSD, or teaching classes over YouTube. Bursting with inside information about the yoga industry, and the spiritual, physical, and psychological benefits that daily practice can bring to your life, this book is a perfect virtual internship for anyone contemplating turning their love of yoga into a career. (publ.)

Description: Labor unions have been a part of the United States ever since the Industrial Revolution, when laborers had to fight for safe working con-ditions and fair wages. But are unions still necessary today? Critics argue that labor unions stifle economic growth and harm workers more than they help. Supporters say unions are essential in ensuring that corporations don't take advantage of their labor force. This volume examines the labor force and its changing needs from the Industrial Revolution to the present, presenting diverging perspectives on the effectiveness of labor unions to ensure the safety and welfare of the American worker. (publ.)
Note: Library standing order.

Reviewed: PW 10 Dec. 2018 p. 94.
Description: David Blanchflower draws on his acclaimed work in the economics of labor and well-being to explain why today’s postrecession economy is vastly different from what came before. He calls out our leaders and policymakers for failing to see the Great Recession coming, and for their continued failure to address one of the most unacknowledged social catastrophes of our time. Blanchflower shows how many workers are underemployed or have simply given up trying to find a well-paying job, how wage growth has not returned to prerecession levels despite rosy employment indicators, and how general prosperity has not returned since the crash of 2008. Standard economic measures are often blind to these forgotten workers, which is why Blanchflower practices the “economics of walking about”–seeing for himself how ordinary people are faring under the recovery, and taking seriously what they say and do. This is his candid report on how the young and the less skilled are among the worst casualties of underemployment, how immigrants are taking the blame, and how the epidemic of unhappiness and self-destruction will continue to spread unless we deal with it. (publ.)

Reviewed: PW 10 Dec. 2018 p. 92; 6 May 2019 p. 48 (author interview), 50.
Description: After the local newspaper where she worked as a reporter closed, Emily Guendelsberger took a pre-Christmas job at an Amazon fulfillment center outside Louisville, Kentucky. There, the vending machines were stocked with painkillers, and the staff turnover was dizzying. In the new year, she travelled to North Carolina to work at a call center, a place where even bathroom breaks were timed to the second. And finally, Guendelsberger was hired at a San Francisco McDonald’s, narrowly escaping revenge-seeking customers who pelted her with condiments. Across three jobs, and in three different parts of the country, Guendelsberger directly took part in the revolution changing the U.S. workplace. This book takes us behind the scenes of the fastest-growing segment of the American workforce to understand the future of work in America–and its present. Guendelsberger shows us how workers went from being the most expensive element of production to the cheapest–and how low wage jobs have been remade to serve the ideals of efficiency, at the cost of humanity. (publ.)

Reviewed: WLT Summer 2019 p. 105.
Description: No longer able to live on the proceeds of her freelance writing and translating income, German novelist Heike Geissler takes a seasonal job at Amazon Order Fulfillment in Leipzig. But the job, intended as a stopgap measure, quickly becomes a descent into humiliation, and Geissler soon begins to internalize the dynamics and nature of the post-capitalist labor market and precarious work. Driven to work at Amazon by financial necessity rather than journalistic ambition, Heike Geissler has nonetheless written the first and only literary account of corporate flex-time employment that offers “freedom” to workers who have become an expendable resource. Shifting between the first and the second person, this is a nuanced expose of the psychic damage that is an essential working condition with mega-corporations. Geissler has written a twenty-first-century account of how the brutalities of working life are transformed into exhaustion, shame, and self-doubt. (publ.)
Note: Originally published as: Saisonarbeit (Leipzig: Spector Books, 2014).

Description: This is your playbook for learning if a career as a carpenter is right for you, progressing from pre-apprentice to journeyman to master mason, and launching your own small business. Learn: What does a career as a carpenter look like? Why should you consider becoming a carpenter? How do you become a successful craftsman as a carpenter? How much can you make as a carpenter? What are your career options once you become a carpenter? How long does it take to be successful at each stage in a carpenter’s career? How and where do you find work as a carpenter? What does it take to strike out on your own? What does it take to launch and build a successful small business? (publ.)
Note: Publisher companion series website at https://www.atyourbest.com/

Description: This is your playbook for learning if a career as a mason is right for you, progressing from pre-apprentice to journeyman to master mason, and launching your own small business. Learn: What does a career as a mason look like? Why should you consider becoming a mason? How do you be-come a successful craftsman as a mason? How much can you make as a mason? What are your career options once you become a mason? How long does it take to be successful at each stage in a mason’s career? How and where do you find work as a mason? What does it take to strike out on your own? What does it take to launch and build a successful small business? (publ.)
Note: Publisher companion series website at https://www.atyourbest.com/

Description: A step-by-step guide to succeeding in the skilled trades and achieving the American dream. This is your playbook for learning if a career as an electrician is right for you, progressing from pre-apprentice to journeyman to master electrician, and launching your own small business. Learn: What does a career as an electrician look like? Why should you consider becoming an electrician? How do you become a successful craftsman as an electrician? How much can you make as an electrician? What are your career options once you become an electrician? How long does it take to be successful at each stage in an electrician’s career? How and where do you find work as an electrician? What does it take to strike out on your own? What does it take to launch and build a successful small business? (publ.)
Note: Publisher companion series website at https://www.atyourbest.com/

Description: A step-by-step handbook to finding if a career in the trades is right for you, educating yourself and earning the proper certifications, establishing your-self as an excellent apprentice and journeyman in the industry, and moving on to start your own small business in the trades. At each step of the way, provide the information, recommendations, outside resources, and concrete actions needed for taking the next successful step in You, Inc. Whether you are beginning your first career, changing careers, or ready to move up and start your own business as a carpenter, plumber, HVAC/R tech, or other tradesman, this is the book that will tell you how. There currently over 6.5 million unfilled jobs in the skilled trades in the US. Despite being well-paying and secure, these jobs remain open because enough qualified candidates with the
Note: Publisher companion series website at https://www.atyourbest.com/

Description: This is your playbook for learning if a career as a painter is right for you, progressing from pre-apprentice to journeyman to master painter, and launching your own small business. Learn: What does a career as a paint-er look like? Why should you consider becoming a painter? How do you become a successful craftsman as a painter? How much can you make as a painter? What are your career options once you become a painter? How long does it take to be successful at each stage in a painter’s career? How and where do you find work as a painter? What does it take to strike out on your own? What does it take to launch and build a successful small business? (publ.)
Note: Publisher companion series website at https://www.atyourbest.com/

Reviewed: A step-by-step guide to succeeding in the skilled trades and achieving the American dream. This is your playbook for learning if a career as a plumber is right for you, progressing from pre-apprentice to journeyman to master plumber, and launching your own small business. Learn: What does a career as a plumber look like? Why should you consider becoming a plumber? How do you become a successful craftsman as a plumber? How much can you make as a plumber? What are your career options once you become a plumber? How long does it take to be successful at each stage in a plumber’s career? How and where do you find work as a plumber? What does it take to strike out on your own? What does it take to launch and build a successful small business? (publ.)
Note: Publisher companion series website at https://www.atyourbest.com/

Description: This is your playbook for learning if a career as a welder is right for you, progressing from pre-apprentice to journeyman to master welder, and launching your own small business. Learn: What does a career as a weld-er look like? Why should you consider becoming a welder? How do you become a successful craftsman as a welder? How much can you make as a welder? What are your career options once you become a welder? How long does it take to be successful at each stage in a welder’s career? How and where do you find work as a welder? What does it take to strike out on your own? What does it take to launch and build a successful small business? (publ.)
Note: Publisher companion series website at https://www.atyourbest.com/

Description: Gwenn LeMoine sees the world through the lens of hair. The daughter of two hairstylists, she has taken her natural talent to an entrepreneurial level and is now the owner of Parlor, a wildly popular, two-location hair salon in the East Village and Brooklyn. A pioneer with four decades of expertise in styling eccentric celebrity personalities, LeMoine works with clients such as such as Piper Kerman, Rue McClanahan, Molly Ringwald, Twyla Tharp, and William Wegman, to name only a few. Her work has also been featured on television (SNL, VH1, ETV), in magazines (Real Simple, Nylon, The New York Times, and Paste), and at awards shows, such as the Tonys and Emmys. Columnist and New York Times notable author Kate Bolick provides a compelling profile of a career in hair styling through the life of LeMoine, and offers us a glance at a day in the life at Parlor. (publ.)

Description: What makes a great real estate agent? Is it just numbers? Sales volume? How do you get to the top of the market in boom times? How do you survive a soft market? What tools must you bring to the job? Is it at all like those reality shows on TV? Starting in his own backyard, Esquire writer Tom Chiarella explores the requisite skills needed to thrive in various real estate scenarios: a static buyer’s market in rural Indiana, a booming sell-er’s market in Seattle, and the incredibly high-end market of Chicago’s luxury high-rises. Forming a personal connection with each of his subjects, he watches them work in the front seat of their cars, at lunches, on street corners, and in the doorways of homes. What Chiarella discovers is that great real estate agents devote themselves to the job with a sense of craftsmanship. Showcasing the individual tools used to develop a successful real estate career, this book profiles individuals who live a life of thrilling improvisation, action, and instinct–a life in which excellence is some-times gauged by the ability to walk away from a commission when circumstance demands it. (publ.)

Description: According to a LinkedIn survey that polled 8,000 professionals, the second most popular childhood dream job for respondents was a veterinarian. It’s a career that appeals to many, due to its involvement with animals and association with helping and doing good. … Is there such a thing as a typical veterinarian? Journalist and author Boris Kachka sets out on a journey, determined to discover how to turn a childhood dream into a real career. Becoming a Veterinarian is a behind-the-scenes, honest, and inspiring look at the day-to-day life of a veterinarian through the eyes of four people who have made this career their life’s work. There’s Michael, who thought he would be an architect, but instead works with urban pets at the ASPCA in New York; Elisha, who studied dance before she began treating cows, cats, and horses; Idina, who was injured in a car accident and was forced to find a second career; and Chick, who was earning a Masters in economics but turned to veterinarian science after he began working nights at an animal hospital. With each, Kachka dives into every element of the job: science, surgery, financials, finding a program, and everything in between. (publ.)

Reviewed: NYT 12 Aug. 2018 (op/ed ref.)
Description: Long-haul trucks have been described as sweatshops on wheels. The typical long-haul trucker works the equivalent of two full-time jobs, often for little more than minimum wage. But it wasn’t always this way. Trucking used to be one of the best working-class jobs in the United States. This book explains how this massive degradation in the quality of work has occurred, and how companies achieve a compliant and dedicated workforce despite it. Drawing on more than 100 in-depth interviews and years of extensive observation, including six months training and working as a long-haul trucker, Viscelli explains in detail how labor is recruited, trained, and used in the industry. He then shows how inexperienced workers are convinced to lease a truck and to work as independent contractors. He ex-plains how deregulation and collective action by employers transformed truckings labor markets–once dominated by the largest and most powerful union in US history–into an important example of the costs of contemporary labor markets for workers and the general public. (publ.)

Reviewed: NYT/BR 1 July 2018 p. 13; LR June 2018 p. 50; TLS 27 July 2018 p. 3.
Description: Does your job make a meaningful contribution to the world? David Graeber asked this question in a playful, provocative online essay titled On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs. He defined a bullshit job as “a form of paid employment that is so completely pointless, unnecessary, or pernicious that even the employee cannot justify its existence, even though as part of the conditions of employment, the employee feels obliged to pretend that this is not the case.” After a million views in seventeen different languages, people all over the world are still debating the answer. ... Graeber, in his singularly searing and illuminating style, identifies the five types of bullshit jobs and argues that when 1 percent of the population controls most of a society’s wealth, they control what jobs are “useful” and “important.” ... Graeber illustrates how nurses, bus drivers, musicians, and landscape gardeners provide true value, and what it says about us as a society when we look down upon them. Using arguments from some of the most revered political thinkers, philosophers, and scientists of our time, Graeber articulates the societal and political consequences of these bullshit jobs. Depression, anxiety, and a warped sense of our values are all dire concerns. He provides a blueprint to undergo a shift in values, placing creative and caring work at the center of our culture, providing the meaning and satisfaction we all crave. (publ.)

Description: Where were you tonight? How did that meeting go? Are you seeing someone else? What qualifies you for this job? These are just a few of the usual questions we might answer in a day. A typical answer to the last question would include a series of “whats”: what experience you have, what you studied in school, and what you do well. Authors Pyle & Karinch guide you in crafting a response to a question, not just an answer. A response should be multi-dimensional and include relevant and compelling information that goes beyond a mere answer. The authors help you build and apply this skill set. You will learn how to manage the four areas of disclosure–people, places, things, and events in time. You will also develop competence in techniques that will help you take control and get your mes-sage across in any kind of interview. You will discover how to: master answer enhancers, such as keywords and body language; analyze a question and understand the motivation behind it; & use questions artfully as part of your response. With these skills as part of your repertoire, you’ll also learn apply them in specific applications such as: job interviews, sales common exchanges, meetings and media, dating, and family situations. (publ.)

Reviewed: Choice (Aug. 2019 vol. 56 no. 12) Recommended for community college libraries.
Description: If you are interested in a career in the dental assistants and hygienists (the allied health field, as it is often called), you’ve come to the right book. So what exactly do these people do on the job, day in and day out? What kind of skills and educational background do you need to succeed in these fields? How much can you expect to make, and what are the pros and cons of these various fields? Do these career paths have a bright future? Is this even the right career path for you? How do you avoid burnout and deal with stress? This book can help you answer these questions and more. The author includes interviews with professionals in the field, and covers three main areas of this field that have proven to be stable, lucrative, and growing professions: (1) Dental Assistants; (2) Dental Hygienists; & (3) Dental Technicians. (publ.)

Reviewed: PW 21 May 2018 p. 34.
Description: One in three American workers is now a freelancer. This “gig economy”–one that provides neither the guarantee of steady hours nor benefits–emerged out of the digital era and has revolutionized the way we do business. High-profile tech start-ups such as Uber and Airbnb are constantly making headlines for the disruption they cause to the industries they over-turn. But what are the effects of this disruption, from Wall Street to Main Street? What challenges do employees and job-seekers face at every level of professional experience? In the tradition of the great business narratives of our time, this book offers deeply-sourced, up-close-and-personal ac-counts of our new economy. From the New York computer programmer who chooses exactly which hours he works each week, to the Kansas City Uber driver who starts a union, to the Arkansas charity worker who believes freelance gigs might just transform a declining rural town, journalist Sarah Kessler follows a wide range of individuals from across the country to provide a nuanced look at how the gig economy is playing out in real-time. Kessler wades through the hype and hyperbole to tackle the big questions: What does the future of work look like? Will the millennial generation do as well as their parents? How can we all find meaningful, well-paid work? (publ.)

Reviewed: PW 4 Mar. 2019 p. 52.
Description: Reveals the real-life drama behind cavernous event spaces and soaring white tents, where cooking conditions have more in common with a mobile army hospital than a restaurant. Known for their modern take on Southern cooking, the Lee brothers steeped themselves in the catering business for four years, learning the culture from the inside-out. It’s a realm where you find eccentric characters, working in extreme conditions, who must produce magical events and instantly adapt when, for instance, the host’s toast runs a half-hour too long, a hail storm erupts, or a rolling rack of hundreds of ice cream desserts goes wheels-up. (publ.)

Reviewed: PW 11 Jne 2018 p. 58
Description: A practical guide to managing your attention–the most powerful resource you have to get stuff done, become more creative, and live a meaningful life. Our attention has never been as overwhelmed as it is today. Many of us recognize that our brains struggle to multitask. Despite this, we feel compelled to do so anyway while we fill each moment of our lives to the brim with mindless distraction. This book provides profound insights into how you can best take charge of your attention to achieve a greater sense of purpose and productivity throughout the day. … Bailey examines such topics such as: identifying and dealing with the four key types of distraction and interruption; establishing a clear physical and mental environment in which to work; controlling motivation and working fewer hours to become more productive; taking time-outs with intention; multitasking strategically ; and learning when to pay attention and when to let your mind wander wherever it wants to. (publ.)

Reviewed: PW 25 June 2018 p. 84; NYT/BR 10 Feb. 2019 p. 11; NYT/BR 8 Dec. 2019 p. 28 ("100 Notable Books of 2019").
Description: : While she worked hard to scratch her way out of poverty as a single parent, scrubbing the toilets of the wealthy, navigating domestic labor jobs, higher education, assisted housing, and a tangled web of government assistance, Stephanie wrote. She wrote the true stories that weren’t being told. The stories of overworked and underpaid Americans. Written in honest, heart-rending prose and with great insight, Maid explores the underbelly of upper-middle class America and the reality of what it’s like to be in service to them. “I’d become a nameless ghost,” Stephanie writes. With this book, she gives voice to the “servant” worker, those who fight daily to scramble and scrape by for their own lives and the lives of their children. (publ.)

Description: Welcome to medical office professional careers! If you are interested in a career in the medical office professional field, you’ve come to the right book. So what exactly do these people do on the job, day in and day out? What kind of skills and educational background do you need to succeed in these fields? How much money can you expect to make, and what are the pros and cons of these various fields? Do these career paths have a bright future? Is this even the right career path for you? How do you avoid burnout and deal with stress? This book can help you answer these questions and more. This book, which includes interviews with professionals in the field, covers eight main areas of the medical office professionals field that have proven to be stable, lucrative, and growing professions : (1) Nurse Practitioner; (2) Physician Assistant; (3) Medical Records and Health Information Technologist; (4) Optometrist; (5) Pharmacy Technician; (6) Phlebotomist; (7) Sonographer; & (8) Surgical Technologist.

Reviewed: PW 25 June 2018 p. 33; 14 May 20128 p. 47; PW 21 May 2018 p. 34.
Description: For a generation, roughly from 1945 to 1970, business and government leaders embraced a vision of an American workforce rooted in stability. But over the last fifty years, job security has cratered as the postwar institutions that insulated us from volatility–big unions, big corporations, powerful regulators–have been swept aside by a fervent belief in “the market.” Temp tracks the surprising transformation of an ethos which favored long-term investment in work (and workers) to one promoting short-term re-turns. A series of deliberate decisions preceded the digital revolution and upended the longstanding understanding of what a corporation, or a factory, or a shop, was meant to do. Temp tells the story of the unmaking of American work through the experiences of those on the inside: consultants and executives, temps and office workers, line workers and migrant laborers. It begins in the sixties, with economists, consultants, business and pol-icy leaders who began to shift the corporation from a provider of goods and services to one whose sole purpose was to maximize profit--an ideology that brought with it the risk-taking entrepreneur and the shareholder revolution and changed the very definition of a corporation. With Temp, Hyman explains one of the nation's most immediate crises.

Reviewed: PW 10 Dec. 2018 p. 27; PW 11 Mar. 2019.
Description: In today’s workplace, managers, leaders, and HR professionals often believe they don’t have the time to help employees navigate conflict. More often than not, however, it takes more time not to address conflict than to constructively intervene. But before you can successfully guide others in managing disagreements, you must be able to manage yourself–your mind-set, presence, and behaviors. … Auther Judy Ringer offers a way of working with clashing employees that is deliberate and systematic–one that draws on her expertise in conflict and communication skill-building and a decades-long practice in mind-body principles from the martial art aikido. (publ.)

Description: Mary Gatta takes the case of restaurant workers to examine the experiences of low-wage workers who are middle-aged, aging, and past retirement age. She deftly explores the many factors shaping what it means to grow old in economic insecurity as her subjects face race- and gender-based in-equities, health hazards associated with their work, and the bitter reality that the older they get the fewer professional opportunities are available to them. More importantly, Gatta demonstrates that these problems are pervasive, as more industries adopt the worst workplace practices of service work. In light of these trends, we must consider the devastating effects on already vulnerable Americans because, as Gatta contends, this crisis does not need to be inevitable. Taking as a model the small percentage of “good” restaurant jobs that exist, she ultimately offers incisive commentary on what can be done to stave off this bleak future. (publ.)

Description: In 2012, journalist Hugo Meunier went undercover as a Walmart employee for three months in St. Leonard, Quebec, just north of Montreal. In great detail, Meunier charts the daily life of an impoverished Walmart worker, referring to his shifts at the box store giant as “somewhere between the army and Walt Disney.” Each shift began with a daily chant before bowing to customer demands and the constant pressure to sell. Meanwhile Meunier and his fellow workers could not afford to shop anywhere else but Walmart, further indenturing them to the multi-billion-dollar corporation. Beyond his time on the shop floor, Meunier documents the extraordinary efforts that Walmart exerts to block unionization campaigns, including their 2005 decision to close their outlet in Jonquiere, QC, where the United Food and Commercial Workers union had successfully gained certification rights. A decade later he charts the Supreme Court of Canada ruling that exposed the dubious legal ground on which Walmart stood in invoking closure and throwing workers out on the street. (publ.)
Note: Originally published as: Walmart: Journal d’un Associé (Montreal: Lux Éditeur, 2015).

Description: Adam Reich and Peter Bearman examine how workers make sense of their jobs at places like Walmart in order to consider the nature of contemporary low-wage work, as well as the obstacles and opportunities such workplaces present as sites of struggle for social and economic justice. They describe the life experiences that lead workers to Walmart and analyze the dynamics of the shop floor. As a part of the project, Reich and Bearman matched student activists with a nascent association of current and former Walmart associates: the Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart). They follow the efforts of this new partnership, considering the formation of collective identity and the relationship between social ties and social change. They show why traditional unions have been unable to organize service-sector workers in places like Walmart and offer provocative suggestions for new strategies and directions. Drawing on a wide array of methods, including participant-observation, oral history, big data, and the analysis of social networks, this book is a sophisticated reconsideration of the modern workplace that makes important contributions to debates on labor and inequality and the centrality of the experience of work in a fair economy. (publ.)

Description: Nardon offers a comprehensive framework for understanding intercultural interactions and developing skills for successful intercultural situations. Numerous examples and exercises, including how to reconcile personal beliefs of equality with a hierarchical workplace and how to respond to perceived aggressiveness in business negotiations, enable employees and managers to embark on reflective processes that will springboard their intercultural competence. (publ.)

Reviewed: PW 21 May 2018 p. 34.
Description: There are new flexible and independent working opportunities available in the gig economy for those brave enough to seize them. It is estimated that the number people involved with the gig economy will double in the next four years. New generation workers are realising that they can break the chains of corporate work and go at it alone. With flexible working hours, fluid work arrangements and technology that they can leverage to their advantage, people are creating purposeful careers that fit in with their lives, not the other way around. This is a book that will allow you to really examine the possibilities of freelance and flexible working. (publ)

Description: The concept is simple: At 211 degrees, water is hot. At 212°, it boils. And with boiling water comes steam. And steam can power a locomotive. The one extra degree makes the difference. This analogy reflects the ultimate definition of excellence. The one extra degree of effort, in business and life, can separate the good from the great. The 212°; concept is vividly illustrated for every aspect of your life through powerful stories that will inspire and motivate yourself or your team to the next level of success. (publ.)
Note: Staff request.

Note: Faculty request (GP)
Description: Provides you with inside information on how to prepare for interviews, various interview formats, and how to handle tricky questions. Additionally, you will discover a creative range of inside information on what impresses interviewers and makes you stand out as a candidate. (publ.)

Contents: Respect : practicing the “platinum rule” -- Chapter two : social skills : putting your best foot forward -- Professional presence : getting it right -- Business behavior : combining proven strategies with 21st century expectations -- Business communication : making the connection -- Elec-tronic communication : smart rules for smart devices -- Twitter, etc. : acing social media -- Business dining : observing the formalities -- New frontiers : future-proofing your career -- Conclusion.

Reviewed: LJ 1 Mar. 2018 p. 90
Description: A guide for workers who have been fired or laid off and are in process of rebuilding not only their careers, but also their personal identities independent of a job title. By addressing the many aspects of job loss and job search, Moving Forward provides solutions for dealing with the challenges encountered at each stage of the rebuilding process, from the initial shock and humiliation to the difficult but rewarding task of rebuilding persona and seeking new employment opportunities. (publ.)

Reviewed: PW 12 Mar. 2018 p. 49; NYT 21 June 2018 p. C6.
Description: How are women, and artists, “seen” and judged by their age, race, and looks? And how does this seeing change, depending upon what is asked of the viewer? What does it mean when someone states (as one teacher does) that “you will never be an Artist”–who defines “an Artist,” and all that goes with such an identity, and how are these ideas tied to our shared conceptions of beauty, value, and difference? Old in Art School represents an ongoing exploration of such questions, one that ultimately honors curiosity, openness, and joy–the joy of embracing creativity, dreams, the importance of hard work, and the stubborn determination of your own value. Nell Painter’s journey is filled with surprises, even as she brings to bear the incisiveness of her insights from two careers, which combine in new ways even as they take very different approaches–one searching for facts and cohesion, the other seeking the opposite. (publ.)

Description: Krawcheck addresses and refutes the notion that women in business have to "act like men" to achieve their goals and advance in corporate structures. "A better strategy is to embrace and invest in the unique traits that make women better positioned to lead and succeed: broader perspective, greater long-term focus, healthier attitude toward risk, higher aptitude for creativity, better people skills, empathy, and more." (publ.)

Reviewed: NYT/BR 27 Aug. 2017 p. 20
Description: Investigates the real-world experiences of graduates with humanities majors, the majors that would seem the least employable in Silicon Valley’s engineering-centric workplaces. Draws on the experiences of Stanford University graduates and uses the students’ own accounts of their education, job searches, and first work experiences. … At a time when institutions of higher learning are increasingly called on to justify the tangible merits of the liberal arts, A Practical Education reminds readers that the most useful training for an unknowable future is the universal, time-tested preparation of a liberal education. (publ.)

Description: This book argues that insisting that women fix themselves won’t fix the system, the system built by men. Catherine Fox does more than identify and analyze the nature of the problem. Her book is an important tool for male leaders who say they want to make a difference. (publ.)

Reviewed: NYT/BR 3 Dec. 2017 p. 72; NPR (Author Interview 1/9/2018)
Description: Former White House social secretaries Lea Berman, who worked for George and Laura Bush, and Jeremy Bernard, who worked for Michelle and Barack Obama, have written an entertaining and uniquely practical guide to personal and professional success in modern life. Their daily experiences at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue taught them valuable lessons about how to work productively with people from different walks of life and points of view. These Washington insiders share what they’ve learned through first person examples of their own glamorous (and sometimes harrowing) moments with celebrities, foreign leaders and that most unpredictable of animals—the American politician. This book is for you if you feel unsure of yourself in social settings, if you’d like to get along more easily with others, or if you want to break through to a new level of cooperation with your boss and coworkers. (publ.)

Reviewed: LJ Dec. 2017 p. 106
Description: A collection of inspirational offerings detailing the experiences of people who have left unfulfilling jobs outlines four fundamental steps to pursuing one's dreams, revealing how others have managed the risks, emotional fallout and setbacks of living life on their own terms.

Reviewed: PW 12 Feb. 2018 p. 72
Description: As a teenager visiting the Andy Warhol Museum, Beth Pickens realized the importance of making art. As an adult, she has dedicated her life to empowering working artists. Intimate yet practical, Your Art Will Save Your Life helps artists build a sustainable practice while navigating the world of MFAs, residencies, and institutional funding. (publ.)