Best products from r/careerguidance

We found 27 comments on r/careerguidance discussing the most recommended products. We ran sentiment analysis on each of these comments to determine how redditors feel about different products. We found 71 products and ranked them based on the amount of positive reactions they received. Here are the top 20.

Top comments mentioning products on r/careerguidance:

u/maybemba131 · 6 pointsr/careerguidance

No, never follow up like that twice. Send a thank you for talking with me within 24 hours of the interview and if promised a response by a certain date and nothing happens a week later then just send a note saying you haven’t heard back but wanted to let them know you’re still available (without asking for a reply).

Company’s change or delay plans all the time. The recruiter will feel nagged if you ask twice which in a competitive field of applicants is enough to hurt your chances. If your feeling desperate I suggest using the Deniz Sazal’s interviewing techniques. I used LIG to job hunt last time and it worked well for me. Alternately, Orville Pierson’s Job search books are the same method but cheaper (if you’re a reader).

Remember these rules of thumb:
1- if your resume is a perfect fit for the job, you’ll get screened/interviewed 1/20 applications. If it’s poorly suited you’ll get 1/50 or less (and waste a bunch of people’s time in addition to your own);
2- from the screeners to the final interview is a numbers and practice game, but an average interviewer will need to talk to 25 decision makers before landing an offer.

If you assume a 50% interview passage rate, 5 final round candidates and a cold applications for one offer letter: 1 offer letter x 5 hiring manager interviews = 5 x 10 screener/other interviews= 50 interview level applications x 20 applications each = 1,000 applications that fit your resume. If you go the direction of applying for everything under the sun, this winds up around 5,000 and you’ll end up settling for a crap job out of desperation.

While it is a numbers game, networking and good honest self analysis can improve your odds dramatically! Figure out what makes you unique in the market by sending out 100 apps where your resume is totally honest but brags a little. (A language you can speak or code that’s rare in your field, or similar skill that other people don’t have). When you get responses note what’s unique about the positions, the companies, the hiring managers etc. Use that information to narrow your applications to more relevant jobs and highlight the (now proven) strengths in your resume.

For example, On my last job search I figured out I was really attractive to companies between 50 and 200 employees who were just beginning to hire HR because I have a legal background. I was also getting tons of recruiter calls for positions involving mandarin, which I speak at a cocktail party level as opposed to a business level. I decided the legal side fit me better, so I added to that by getting a certification in HR and focused on those companies. The job hunt took 3 weeks and I doubled my salary because I had two final round interviews the same week, which allowed me to pick the best place for me. I have a friend who had a rough year long job hunt after college but figured out he knew a language few people in his field knew and targeted positions that required it. Same result.

At the same time network like Orville and Sazal recommend and practice your interviewing. Make at least 10 targeted contacts and 10 targeted applications per day. At a rate of 20 QUALITY contacts per day, you should find yourself with 2-4 interviews per week within a couple of weeks. If not, go back and improve quality.

The mentality here is like dating for the best match as opposed to dating in a romantic win their heart frame of mind. You can do this but you’ve got to set the emotions to the side and focus on getting your daily numbers and quality.

Good luck!

u/unkcagila · 1 pointr/careerguidance

Maybe not so many employers really invest in their people, but guess what? You have your personal lessons available every day no matter what your employer says.
Daily commuting to and from work? Smoke breaks, lunches? Waiting during lengthy installations/scans? Don't know what to do in some afternoons during your free time?

  • Read books! Listen to podcasts!
  • Go through case studies!
  • Volunteer in small projects nobody else wants to work on!

    There is never enough time to learn everything that you can sell later on.

    Please note that I work currently as team lead so my view might be biased, however if you are more a people person, enjoy making people around you happy and not everything is just about "you", team lead can be very rewarding for you personally and career-wise. Why?

    Forget about micromanaging people, monitoring their numbers and telling them what to do. This-does-not-work. This is not a job for a team leader. Team leader LEADS and might have a supervisor to do some of the necessary evils so he can focus on finding a way how to motivate his support team to its maximum potential. To find the right career path for them so they will have a chance to grow, but still have the desire to stay.

    You will learn about how actually people cooperate at their best, what motivates them, what are their strengths and how you can leverage them to make them shine. This will help you to be a better team member/leader because only technical knowledge is not enough. For a senior support people maybe, team lead needs even more than that.

    You need soft skills. Do you know how to listen? I mean REALLY listen and not just wait until the other one shuts up so you can finally share your idea? Do you know how to deliver positive and corrective feedback? How to get your message across? How to teach with questions instead of telling? How is your time & stress management?

    In the long run you can also earn about incident & problem management, you will be finding bottlenecks of your support, having opportunity to talk to stakeholders and building up your network that might eventually (among other things) help you do your job better. And to move on to become manager. Maybe :)


    Ah! At last! Some real links and not just blabbering :D

  • Having trouble to learn on super fast pace and still remember everything?
    Read this: http://www.amazon.com/Brain-Rules-Principles-Surviving-Thriving/dp/0979777720

  • Feeling that knowledge of MBA would be helpful for moving from the team lead role in some time? No problem!
    http://www.mysliderule.com/learning-paths/mba

  • Need some leadership skills? BAM!
    http://www.mindtools.com

  • Not feeling so comfortable while speaking in front of more people? Or are you boring as a speaker? :)
    https://www.coursera.org/course/publicspeak

  • Already want to leave your current company and get the job you deserve?
    Practise this: http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Guide-Hiring-Getting-Hired-ebook/dp/B00B9JZMKE

    What I have described might not be for you. And that's ok. But think about this and think about this hard, create a mind map about your career path if you need to, but make sure that every single step you take from now on is forward, not backward anymore: http://youtu.be/uyaJ8eR9tzw?t=2s ;)

    Source: Thousands of incidents on help desk, hundreds of hours spent on developing other tech support specialists, tens of people interviewed for various positions in less than 2 years.
u/crshank · 1 pointr/careerguidance

I replied to a similar post recently, but it was specifically about sports broadcasting. Here's a little copy + paste and a few new bits:

I don't know about grad school, but my suggestion would be to study something that you actually care enough to want to report on. The best reporters and journalists usually have a really nuanced and detailed understanding of certain subjects they actually are interested in.

Grad school won't make you a good journalist. The work you put in outside of class and your passion will. You should speak to your advisors anyway about things like that. Also, find journalists that are doing what you'd like to do and look up their credentials or send them an email.

The internship sounds like a good step. It might lead to more, but it might not. It will at least give you a chance to see if you like it enough to continue on that path.

Does your university have a student radio or TV station? Those are going to be more relevant to broadcast journalism. However, starting something new at the paper does show initiative, which looks good for you.

If no on-air options are available through your school, see if there are any community radio stations with open air-shifts. Also, consider starting a podcast outside of the newspaper. It's relatively inexpensive to get started. If you want to be on camera or on-mic, you've got to spend a lot of time getting comfortable with it.

You should spend some time studying up on radio and voiceover in general. I'd suggest looking into these three books.

When everyone starts they put on an over the top "radio voice" or "TV personality" that just seems disingenuous and hokey. You'll need to work on being natural and relaxed. Smile when you talk. While you're on-air or recording, think about speaking to just one person. Seriously. You'll sound much better.

Piggybacking on the one person thing, don't say "everybody" "everyone" or "hello! insert city name." That's the easiest way you can hear an amateur right away. You're trying to make a personal connection. You wouldn't talk that way to your friends or a new acquaintance...don't do it just because you're in front of a mic.

Work on reading out loud until it doesn't sound like you're reading at all. Work on ad-libbing and improvising with information. KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO SAY BEFORE YOU EVER EVEN GET CLOSE TO THAT MICROPHONE. Being prepared will get you out of a jam if you drop your notes or forget something on the way to the studio...or if you have an old-fashioned equipment malfunction that requires you to fill up time until someone can jump in to resolve the issue.

Learn from your mistakes because you will make a lot. Luckily, audiences are fairly quick to forgive and forget. Don't let little slip ups ruin your confidence.

...I hope that's helpful. Maybe some of that isn't what you're looking for, but those are some things to think about.

u/rbegirliegirl · 3 pointsr/careerguidance

I don't think it's optimistic to want to be passionate about what you do. I also don't think you're foolish for deserting something wanting to move on to something different, something that fits you better.

You have to decide what kind of life you want, starting today. Not what kind of life you think you should want or what kind of life you think others want for you.

You say you love working with your hands -- that's great! A lot of people don't know what they want, and knowing this puts you at a good advantage.

Is there a way you can drop down to 3 or 4 days a week and start building your own business, or working part-time somewhere else or start attending a trade school? This would ease you in and may be be easier than quitting your job completely and starting fresh. It would also make your debt repayment a little easier, because it definitely is something to consider.

I read The Art of Non-conformity last year and it was good. I like all of Chris Guillebeau's books.

I think that people discount what their true talents are and what they're really here to do as sentimentalist fluff. Maybe we all just think we should be doing whatever the safe thing is, or what everyone else is doing, or what the market says we should do. But I don't think a lot of people are happy or fulfilled with that.

Lastly, I will say I was in your position 15 years ago. I started a job as a programmer right out of college, and almost immediately I knew it wasn't right for me and I ended up quitting. I'd like to say that right after I quit, I figured everything out and I'm blissfully happy today, but the truth is that life is a journey with lots of ups and downs. I don't regret quitting, for sure, but I'm still trying to find my way in the world. When you follow what you're "supposed" to do, the rules are pretty clear. But when you know that's not for you and you try to break your way out and find something different, you'll find (or at least I found) that it's not always easy or clear. That doesn't mean it's not worth it, though :).

Good luck to you!

u/thetalentguy · 2 pointsr/careerguidance

I feel your frustration. I'm here to tell you that you can find what you want to do. I hope my advice can resonate with you in a way that you can take action tomorrow on overcoming your challenge.

  1. What are 3 job titles or industries that sound remotely interesting to you? Nothing where you have to commit your life to, but something like "Hey, yeah that sounds like something I could learn more about"

  2. Talk to 10 people who are in each of those current roles today or have had those roles in the past. Ask them questions along the lines of...

  • What led them into that field?
  • What are the key qualifications required?
  • Where
  • Any recommendations on who else you should speak with?

    Keep this up and you'll be learning about careers and jobs that may interest you as well as building a network of individuals who could potentially connect you with your next job.

    There is no right answer on how to find out what you should do with your life, but this is by far the best method that I know of.

  1. Invest $5 or go to the library and read this book:

    http://www.amazon.com/SEE-YOU-AT-THE-TOP-ebook/dp/B0047T78TQ

    This book helped me. I hope it helps you and you can find nuggets of wisdom that guide you and give you the confidence, commitment and momentum to find your way.

    Another book I can recommend:

    http://www.amazon.com/Choose-Yourself-James-Altucher-ebook/dp/B00CO8D3G4

    PM if you need help.

u/the1manriot · 1 pointr/careerguidance

Art School Admissions Rep here. Not here to promote my school. But I will say that its never too late to go back to school. Sounds like you were "a pretty lazy student" because there was no context for your education. A good Graphic Design program would teach you how to function in that creative environment - to communicate with your employer/clients so you can deliver what they want in the style you provide. And there's nothing like the right teacher when you're ready to learn. They can expand your style, stretch your limits, and help you do things you didn't consider.
>I've never taken any art classes, and while I think that art school would be a terrific experience, I can't justify going into debt for a degree that has a pretty good chance on not helping me pay it back.

I would point you to The Graphic Artist's Guild Handbook of Pricing and Ethical Guidelines Go down to Barnes and Noble and just flip through it. This will give you some idea how your training can be paid back through your career. And what options are available for what you do. I will say though that from my perspective, to make a living drawing everyday, you will need to know Photoshop or(but really and) Illustrator.

Here's what I see: you're doing a ton of work! You're working hard on advancing your work, and people are paying for what you do (even if they don't know what they'll get). These are the signs of a professional artist. No matter what you do next - keep doing those things. Your perseverance will pay off.
I say that because I don't think you have to go to school. I think it would be, as you say, terrific (we would also have accepted:easy access to mentors, a safe place to fail, and built-in networking). But the other avenues you listed: tattoos, children's books, Graphic Designer, etc are just as open to you without a degree. You have tons of material for a demo reel: put yourself out there as a freelancer. Define your business, decide what you provide, and go sell that to people who you think could use it. Write a business plan and use it. You seem like an enterprising young man. I think if you give yourself a little more credit for what you've accomplished (Graduating 2nd while Lazy, doing something about your depression, making money from your videos, the successful kickstarter), seek out those who are doing what you want to do, and double or even triple your efforts on your work - you will live a life at 35 that you cannot dream of now.
I hope that helps. If you want some schools to think about feel free to PM me. Good luck.

u/sleepyheadp · 2 pointsr/careerguidance

Draw draw draw. Look up and follow a WIDE variety of artists and their social media. Look at old paintings and news photography (you get some really great reference in genuine emotion in a lot of that stuff, but it can be very intense so beware).

Watch out for colleges that are "WE graduate lots of artists who ALL MAKE IT BIG!" There are a LOT of scam schools out there and you can find cheaper better teaching environments like community colleges or Atelier's. These are generally more geared towards the traditional ways of illustration, but what you learn would help you establish more believable worlds to put your characters in.

A couple of resources I can recommend are Framed Ink
and a illustration group called One Fantastic Week.

And ThatOneDruid brings up a good point. Don't look at comics being your sole job as for many artists its not. Even the currently working artists who are employed do so on a contractual basis and often need to do other gigs on the side. Whether those other gigs are other full time jobs or just other contract jobs making ads, you're looking at a lot of hustle. Not bad if you can keep it up, just keep that in mind (especially if you're going alone and don't have a partner who can provide the more stable stuff like insurance and income.)

This is also very true if you're trying to do the whole indie/kickstarter thing as its really nice to go and put out your own stuff into the world, you have to do all the hard work of finding your audience and staying consistent with content.

And as always, you can start putting your stuff out there now on any social media site you'd like. Just draw draw draw and good luck!

u/LycaonTalks · 1 pointr/careerguidance

I used to hate math, too. Rest assured, you don't hate math, you hate the way you've been taught math. Math is beautiful and wonderful and every bit as lovely as the most eloquent of sonnets. There's true beauty in Euclid's proof that there are infinitely many primes, and in Cantor's proof that the infinity of the real numbers is greater than the infinity of the integers, or in any proof of the Pythagorean theorem. Math isn't about numbers, or equations, or multiplication tables, it's about seeing the beauty that comes from exploring a set of rules, be that algebra or calculus or geometry.

If you want to make video games, you've come to the right place. If you want to try it out, Ludum Dare, a 48 hour game jam, is coming up soon, and you can make something very simple for it to see if coding is for you. More than math, computer science is about problem solving and logic. The math is there, but that stuff can be done with calculators and Wolfram|Alpha. Even if you don't like code, you may like designing games, and if you do, you can make simpler games with less coding knowledge in GameMaker or Twine or Stencyl until you've built up enough of a portfolio to justify working with coders to make your designs become reality. (GameMaker, Twine, and Stencyl are all really mature tools at this point. GameMaker was used to make Hotline Miami, and Twine was used to make Depression Quest)

Note, however, that game design is not just being an "idea guy". Game design is real work involving real problem solving, playtesting, and a lot of study of the greats of the past, like any artistic endeavor. You'll want to play and dissect the great works of the past and see how they tick and why they're still memorable all these years later, read things like Jesse Schell's "The Art of Game Design", or Steve Swink's "Game Feel" to understand what games are and what they can be, so you can push those boundaries in new and exciting directions.

u/TunaSandwitch · 1 pointr/careerguidance

Getting a job in development isn't quite as much about the degree you specifically get, but how well you can actually program. The primary difference in the job you would have vs. a Computer Science major could have in development would probably be the complexity of the problems. I am a Information Science major myself, and I have done programming for several companies. They will probably use you for a more small scale quick development solution, and not for larger projects that require a lot of time to complete. But again, this all depends on your competencies.

A good comparison between what Information Technology majors do for programming vs. a Computer Science major could be derived from an example of one of my internships. I worked on a lot of small programs that mostly display and handle small amounts of information. Most of my projects took me no less than a week to complete. On the opposite side, on of my colleagues did much harder work, like building an application to scan bar codes through a camera. That is a quite complicated program to write, and he spent a lot of time with some of our engineers doing trig.

Yes, the job opportunities increase after you have a CCNA, because that certification proves to employers that you know the theory of networks, as well as know how to configure commercial Cisco devices. Something to look at if you decide to go for it. You can also try to transition into a networking position during your first job with a company. It might be a little easier to get into the industry that way, just make sure you have the skill set.

Another note I would like to make overall on this: if you have no actual professional experience, as in an internship of some kind, it will be far easier for you to find a job in programming, as opposed to networking. When it comes to networking, you are competing with people who went to technical colleges for associates degrees, who expect to be paid less than I would assume you would.

There is nothing written in stone when it comes to the route you take through your IT career. I know people who have graduated with Art majors, who are now self-taught programmers making quite a bit of money.

I hope that answers your questions.

u/TheBigCalm · 6 pointsr/careerguidance

https://www.amazon.ca/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124

Read this book before you do anything rash- he offers a framework/perspective you might find helpful.

It's always hard to tell whether we are thinking "this is hard I want to stop because it's hard even though its making me grow" VS. "this path is legitimately pointless and not going to lead me to where I want to go with my life".

Pretty sure everyone deals with this kind of doubt- especially when you're really challenging yourself. Which is OFTEN a good sign, it means you're outside of your comfort zone which is where growth happens.

I'm just saying step 1 is figure out if this is just edginess due to perfectly normal feelings of inferiority (I'm not good enough/this is easy to everyone else) The first sentence of your post makes it pretty clear you're AT THE VERY LEAST adequate. "3rd year PHd student at a large research university..." I would bet on you being fairly capable, hardworking/intelligent. just a hunch. :)

The idea of "quitting" is seductive because there's no reality there- it's a pure concept that exists in our heads, a fantasy we construct when facing a difficult reality. This is a normal human reaction- you are normal.

TLDR; It's super healthy and normal for these kinds of doubts to come up. Also, even the most meaningful work is often difficult, boring, demanding and stressful- that's true in any field. But if you hate yoga and believe it's useless you shouldn't be working in a yoga studio. And if you have some other ability/skill that will meaningfully contribute to the world (WHILE GETTING YOU PAID) then it might be worth exploring that option first- before throwing away all your hard work.

Sounds like your attitude towards work has taken a hit and you need to realign yourself with YOUR purpose and motivation that doesn't involve rewards such as the approval of a parent.

u/trngoon · 2 pointsr/careerguidance

Please look into this book:

https://www.amazon.ca/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/1455509124/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1455509124&pd_rd_r=5cc4db23-5eb0-11e8-895a-49ce3940778b&pd_rd_w=DMRhC&pd_rd_wg=iXvs8&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&pf_rd_p=6833277728960378486&pf_rd_r=6JWDH0DQ5VZHRTJ0SG5K&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=6JWDH0DQ5VZHRTJ0SG5K

Here is a quote from the description:

"In this eye-opening account, Cal Newport debunks the long-held belief that "follow your passion" is good advice. Not only is the cliché flawed - preexisting passions are rare and have little to do with how most people end up loving their work - but it can also be dangerous, leading to anxiety and chronic job hopping.

After making his case against passion, Newport sets out on a quest to discover the reality of how people end up loving what they do. "

Have a great day.

u/venannai1 · 5 pointsr/careerguidance

Richard Bolles for the What Color is Your Parachute.

I also agree with the Design Your Life book.

I would also recommend this book as well:

Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type

https://www.amazon.com/dp/031623673X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_ojj6BbPQ0ATAG


That book along with the Parachute book and some self inventory help me a lot on deciding what path I should take next.

u/cheap_dates · 2 pointsr/careerguidance

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.

I actually had a whole class on this some years ago. Essentially after WWII, there was an implicit contract between industry and workers that essentially traded employee loyalty for job security. Many people in the Silent Generation and even Boomers had one or two jobs for their entire lives. People were proud to say, I worked for GM, Ford or Hughes Aircraft my whole life. Today, the average shelf life of an employee is 4.5 years.

When was in high school, I worked after school for an insurance company where it was easy to find people who had been with the firm 10 , 20 even 30 years; cradle to grave as it were. My brother started with "Ma Bell" about a month after he graduated high school and stay with the various telephone companies for 30 years. He never went to college. He retired at 55, full pension and now lives in Thailand. T

Several things have caused this to be a different job market than the one your parents knew. First downsizing, then offshoring and finally automation. All of this done in the name of short term profits. This is where that implied social contract between employer and employer has been broken.

Sources:

  1. The Great Reckoning
  2. Corporate Abuse
  3. Corporate Executions