by J. Michael DeAngelis, Information Resources Manager
The summer brings not only a little bit of downtime to the always busy Career Services office, but also marks the start of a new fiscal year! With the budget refreshed, let’s take a look at some of the latest editions to the Career Services library.
Film School: The True Story of a Midwestern Man Who Went to the World’s Most Famous Film School, Fell Flat on His Face, Had a Stroke and Sold a Television Series to CBS by Steve Bowman – From the publisher: Steve Boman was just your average middle-aged ex-newspaper reporter and stay-at-home dad when he applied to be a student at the University of Southern California’s vaunted School of Cinematic Arts. Boman didn’t know what would await him at the world’s oldest and most prestigious film school, a place that has trained Hollywood heavyweights George Lucas, John Carpenter, James Ivory, Judd Apatow, Brian Grazer, Shonda Rhimes, John Singleton, Jay Roach, Conrad Hall, and many others. In this rollicking, thoughtful, and unexpectedly touching tale, Boman shows what life is like behind the scenes at Hollywood’s pre-eminent boot camp… and what it’s like to do the almost unthinkable–sell a primetime television show while still in school.
The Professor is In: The Essential Guide to Turning Your Ph.D. into a Job by Karen Kelsky, Ph.D. From the Publisher: Each year tens of thousands of students will, after years of hard work and enormous amounts of money, earn their Ph.D. And each year only a small percentage of them will land a job that justifies and rewards their investment. For every comfortably tenured professor or well-paid former academic, there are countless underpaid and overworked adjuncts, and many more who simply give up in frustration.
Those who do make it share an important asset that separates them from the pack: they have a plan. They understand exactly what they need to do to set themselves up for success. They know what really moves the needle in academic job searches, how to avoid the all-too-common mistakes that sink so many of their peers, and how to decide when to point their Ph.D. toward other, non-academic options.
Karen Kelsky has made it her mission to help readers join the select few who get the most out of their Ph.D. As a former tenured professor and department head who oversaw numerous academic job searches, she knows from experience exactly what gets an academic applicant a job. And as the creator of the popular and widely respected advice site The Professor is In, she has helped countless Ph.D.’s turn themselves into stronger applicants and land their dream careers.
Navigating the Path to Industry: A Hiring Manager’s Advice for Academics Looking for Jobs in Industry by M.R. Nelson. From the publisher: Finding a job is hard. Running a non-academic job search when all of your previous experience is in academia is even harder. This book won’t make it easy (unfortunately, nothing can do that), but it will help you learn to run a successful job search and avoid common pitfalls. It provides a hiring manager’s advice on networking, conducting informational interviews, converting your curriculum vitae into a resume, writing a cover letter, interviewing, and maintaining your self-confidence throughout the job search process. This concise collection of job searching advice provides a framework for finding the way out of academia and into a new job for academics at all levels who have realized that they want a different sort of career.
Peterson’s Graduate & Professional Programs: An Overview (2014 edition) from Peterson’s Guides. From the publisher: Peterson’s Graduate & Professional Programs: An Overview 2014 contains over 2,200 university/college profiles noting degrees available, enrollment figures, tuition, financial support, housing, faculty, research affiliations, library facilities, and contact information. This graduate guide enables students to explore program listings by field and institution.
- Informative data profiles for more than 2,200 institutions, including facts and figures on accreditation, faculty, students, degree requirements, application deadlines, expenses, financial support, and application contacts.
- Two-page in-depth descriptions, written by each featured institution, give complete details on the graduate study available.
- Expert advice on the admissions process, financial support, and accrediting agencies
- Comprehensive directories list programs in each volume.
- Up-to-date appendixes list institution changes since the last edition and abbreviations used in the guide.
