A thorough, useful resource for job seekers.
This all-in-one job-search manual provides a candidate’s point of view.
Typically, books offering advice about job searches are written by recruiters or human resources professionals. In contrast, this debut is the work of someone who, over the course of 15 years, “attended more than thirty-five interviews” with little success. Mapleton learned what he did wrong and eventually found a good position. Now he has turned his experience into a handy guide to help other job seekers. The book begins by covering some basic information about types of jobs and the hunt for a position while employed versus unemployed. Next are two perspectives on the job search through the eyes of a recruiter and a hiring manager, each of whom offers valuable advice. One of the strongest sections of the manual, “Body Language Basics,” supplies an instructive overview accompanied by uncredited color photographs of various facial, hand, and body positions. The remainder of the work is divided into three “phases”: “Preparation,” “Moving Forward,” and “Foot in the Door.” Mapleton addresses job descriptions, resumes, cover letters, the oft-overlooked thank-you notes, and “the elevator pitch” in Phase 1; job boards, LinkedIn, recruiters, fairs, and networking in Phase 2; and interviews in Phase 3. The interviewing phase, likely the most crucial, is especially rich in detail. It covers in-person, video, and telephone interviews; delivers worthy suggestions for how to answer numerous queries, and includes typical “trick questions.” In combination, these three phases constitute a comprehensive approach to searching for a job from start to finish. While much of this information could probably be found elsewhere, it is beneficial to have it consolidated in one book. The content is logically organized; examples are liberally sprinkled throughout; and the author’s writing style is clear and conversational. In addition, Mapleton includes some very helpful tips presented from the job seeker’s point of view, such as describing specific “microexpressions” (facial expressions that represent each emotion) and noting a particular “selling method” that can enhance a candidate’s desirability to a hiring manager.
A thorough, useful resource for job seekers.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-5255-7711-6
Page Count: 132
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Jan. 6, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.
All right, all right, all right: The affable, laconic actor delivers a combination of memoir and self-help book.
“This is an approach book,” writes McConaughey, adding that it contains “philosophies that can be objectively understood, and if you choose, subjectively adopted, by either changing your reality, or changing how you see it. This is a playbook, based on adventures in my life.” Some of those philosophies come in the form of apothegms: “When you can design your own weather, blow in the breeze”; “Simplify, focus, conserve to liberate.” Others come in the form of sometimes rambling stories that never take the shortest route from point A to point B, as when he recounts a dream-spurred, challenging visit to the Malian musician Ali Farka Touré, who offered a significant lesson in how disagreement can be expressed politely and without rancor. Fans of McConaughey will enjoy his memories—which line up squarely with other accounts in Melissa Maerz’s recent oral history, Alright, Alright, Alright—of his debut in Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused, to which he contributed not just that signature phrase, but also a kind of too-cool-for-school hipness that dissolves a bit upon realizing that he’s an older guy on the prowl for teenage girls. McConaughey’s prep to settle into the role of Wooderson involved inhabiting the mind of a dude who digs cars, rock ’n’ roll, and “chicks,” and he ran with it, reminding readers that the film originally had only three scripted scenes for his character. The lesson: “Do one thing well, then another. Once, then once more.” It’s clear that the author is a thoughtful man, even an intellectual of sorts, though without the earnestness of Ethan Hawke or James Franco. Though some of the sentiments are greeting card–ish, this book is entertaining and full of good lessons.
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-13913-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.
The late actor offers a gentle guide for living with more purpose, love, and joy.
Mixing poetry, prescriptive challenges, and elements of memoir, Heche (1969-2022) delivers a narrative that is more encouraging workbook than life story. The author wants to share what she has discovered over the course of a life filled with abuse, advocacy, and uncanny turning points. Her greatest discovery? Love. “Open yourself up to love and transform kindness from a feeling you extend to those around you to actions that you perform for them,” she writes. “Only by caring can we open ourselves up to the universe, and only by opening up to the universe can we fully experience all the wonders that it holds, the greatest of which is love.” Throughout the occasionally overwrought text, Heche is heavy on the concept of care. She wants us to experience joy as she does, and she provides a road map for how to get there. Instead of slinking away from Hollywood and the ridicule that she endured there, Heche found the good and hung on, with Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford starring as particularly shining knights in her story. Some readers may dismiss this material as vapid Hollywood stuff, but Heche’s perspective is an empathetic blend of Buddhism (minimize suffering), dialectical behavioral therapy (tolerating distress), Christianity (do unto others), and pre-Socratic philosophy (sufficient reason). “You’re not out to change the whole world, but to increase the levels of love and kindness in the world, drop by drop,” she writes. “Over time, these actions wear away the coldness, hate, and indifference around us as surely as water slowly wearing away stone.” Readers grieving her loss will take solace knowing that she lived her love-filled life on her own terms. Heche’s business and podcast partner, Heather Duffy, writes the epilogue, closing the book on a life well lived.
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781627783316
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Viva Editions
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
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