HBR Guide to Getting a Job

HBR Guide to Getting a Job

by Harvard Business Review
Released April 2010
Publisher(s): Harvard Business Review Press
ISBN: 9781422172926

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Book description

Need a new job? Whether you've been laid off or are considering a job change on your own, you need to search efficiently and effectively. Don't lurch from one job to the next. Use this guide to ensure that your next move is a carefully considered one. The old advice of devoting 8 hours a day to sending out resumes and responding to job postings doesn't work. Instead, learn how to: build a network to expand your contacts and identify career opportunities; prepare cover letters and resumes that will attract hiring managers' attention; develop your personal pitch--one compelling sentence about who you are and what you can do; and shine in an interview.

This collection includes: "Need to Find a Job? Stop Looking So Hard," "How to Make Your Network Work for You," "6 Networking Mistakes and How to Avoid Them," "The Best Cover Letter I Ever Received," "How to Write a Resume That Doesn't Annoy People," "How to Perfect an Elevator Pitch About Yourself," "7 Ways to Shine in an Interview," "How to Ace an Interview," "Five Questions About Interviewing Your Prospective Supervisor: With Rich Wellins," "How to Ask for a Reference Letter," and "Five Ways to Bungle a Job Change."

Harvard Business Review Guides are for busy professionals looking for quick answers to common challenges. They're packed with useful tips and practical advice in a brief, easy-to-read format. Whether you're looking to expand your skills or refresh your existing ones, these guides offer reliable answers to your most pressing problems.

Table of contents

  1. Front Cover
  2. Table of contents
  3. Need to Find a Job? Stop Looking So Hard
    1. Not a Lot of Jobs Out There
    2. A Counterintuitive Approach to Finding a Job
    3. Rules for More Effective Job Hunting
    4. Examples of How to Spend Your Time
    5. Why Does This Work?
    6. How to Manage Your Fear of Unemployment
  4. How to Make Your Network Work for You
    1. Help Others First
    2. Build Credibility
    3. Make Sure People Know You
    4. Think About How People Feel
    5. Grow and Maintain the Network
    6. Principles to Remember
    7. Case Study 1: You Never Know Who Can Be Useful
    8. Case Study 2: Job Search Equals Lifelong Network Creation
  5. 6 Networking Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
    1. How to Start Looking for a New Job: Network, Network, Network
  6. The Best Cover Letter I Ever Received
  7. How to Write a Résumé That Doesn't Annoy People
  8. How to Perfect an Elevator Pitch About Yourself
    1. Focus on your positive impact
    2. Focus on “I,” not “we”
    3. Be slow and steady
    4. See the whole world as an elevator
    5. Practice, practice, practice
  9. 7 Ways to Shine in an Interview
  10. How to Ace an Interview
    1. A Question of Trust
    2. Lay Out What You Can Do
  11. Five Questions About... Interviewing Your Prospective Supervisor
    1. 1. Why is it important for job candidates to interview their potential boss?
    2. 2. Won't a manager who needs to fill the position tend to be less than candid?
    3. 3. Any particulars you should look for?
    4. 4. Can you make reliable inferences based on the way a supervisor interacts with her team?
    5. 5. Are there more indirect ways of discovering what the supervisor is really like?
  12. How to Ask for a Reference Letter
    1. Highlight Your Reviewer's Qualifications
    2. Provide a Template
    3. Offer a “No Questions Asked” Policy
    4. Highlight His Qualifications
    5. Provide a Template
    6. “No Questions Asked”
  13. Five Ways to Bungle a Job Change
    1. The Most Common Missteps
    2. Making Moves Under Pressure
  14. Back Cover

Product information

  • Title: HBR Guide to Getting a Job
  • Author(s): Harvard Business Review
  • Release date: April 2010
  • Publisher(s): Harvard Business Review Press
  • ISBN: 9781422172926