Customer Reviews

The Career Coward's Guide to Changing Careers: Sensible Strategies for Overcoming Job Search Fears (Career Coward's Guides)

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I just had to write a quick review of this little gem of a book. Don't judge a book by its cover. It actually takes a lot of courage to align our values, our work, and our lives with the divine inside. I believe that is the purpose of this book and it does the job very well. As a recent career changer, I have read many books on this topic. What sets this book apart is that it avoids digging into past pyschological hang ups and focuses on the work at hand. As you work through the exercises you begin to see possibilities rather than limitations. With solid information at our finger tips, barriers previously faced seem much easier to overcome. We all like to be guided along and this book offers expert guidance in a warm, personal tone. You will feel like author Katy Piotrowski is personally helping you take the steps needed to discover the work you were meant to do. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is really ready to explore career options and make lasting life changes.

This is a great workbook for anyone who as ever thought of changing careers. My confidence rose with each chapter. The "panic points" seemed to be reading my thoughts and doubts. After putting together my career choices compass, I had a light bulb moment. I now realize that I have several career options that I didn't see before. After working in one career most of my life, nursing, I now feel ready to make a career change into a more creative, fun, and less stressful job. I plan to buy this book for my son for Christmas. Provided by DianaFromIowa!

This book was amazing! I didn't plan to read it. Really. But it was so well written that I found myself reading every word, thinking "I CAN do that", and developing a time and guideline for what I've known for years that I need to do. The "Panic Points" are so realistic. I felt that the author really knows how frigtening it is to face a career change. I'm in my late 50s and the idea of starting over is paralyzing. This book truly gives courage!

Making a career change can feel traumatic. So many fears and doubts can get in the way. How do you start? How do you decide what career to pursue? Is it really possible? The Career Coward's Guide to Changing Careers answers all of these questions and more.

There are 3 reasons I recommend purchasing this book if you are even contemplating a career change:

(1) This book gets to the heart of what stops you from making a career change--your fear. Each chapter contains a golden nugget called "The Panic Point!" that identifies the specific fears career changers have and more importantly, shows you how to overcome them.

(2) This book isn't theory; it's fact. Katy has worked with hundreds of career changers. In fact, as I was reading this book, I was thinking, "Boy, a lot of what she describes mirrors how I made my own career change." (I'm a former practicing lawyer-turned-career coach for lawyers.) From brainstorming exciting career possibilities to deciding which career is for you to re-crafting your resume, this book covers it all from A-Z.

(3) It's easy to get bogged down in career books. Not this one. It's clear, concise, and fun to read. It is indeed a step-by-step guide.

Beware: If you're just interested in complaining about how your career makes you miserable, don't read this book. Because if you do and you do the exercises, you may find yourself transitioning to a career you love!

Career Coward's Guide to Changing Careers: Sensible Strategies for Overcoming Job Search Fears (Career Coward's Guides)

The idea of changing careers can be so overwhelming. This great book is a wonderful tool that provides step-by-step activities and ideas to help evaluate career options and make smart decisions. By far this is one of the best career books available!

Get That Push You Need!

I was struggling with the idea of changing careers. It's a scary step to take if you've been in the same field for many years. Katy provides exercises that you can take to evaluate your areas of interest. Or, if you already have a new career in mind she helps you develop a plan to pursue your goal and ultimately find happiness! Each step helps pave the path for you. If ever I had doubts, I'd read her "Core Courage Concept". She makes complete sense and seems as if she knows exactly what you are thinking!
This book is great, and if you're looking for that extra push, Katy gives it to you! I highly recommend this book for anyone even thinking of making a career change. You won't regret it!

The title of this series is what caught me; if we would only admit it, we are ALL cowards when it comes to career change. Being in an older age bracket doesn't help, but this book did, immensely. Clear, fun, and wonderfully positive, the author takes you through easy steps towards something that could have been so daunting. I loved the "Pinpoint Your Passion Zones" section, the Best-Kept Career-Change Secret, and the help with handling career-change confusion. I could see myself in some of the Career Champ Profiles. Really, this was all I needed to boost my confidence to make a successful career change.

I recently bought this book, "Career Coward's Guide to Changing Careers" (CCGCC), along with "What Color is Your Parachute" and "Do What You Are." The latter two were quite helpful; unfortunately, CCGCC was not. (And I have read numerous career-related books in the past several years.) I will discuss CCGCC and then the other two books.

I guess the title of CCGCC should have warned me, as books such as "The Idiot's Guide to [Whatever]" and "[Whatever] for Dummies" were never my cup of tea. I tried, however, several times, to give CCGCC a chance, to see if maybe there was something worthwhile in this book to merit suffering through to the end. There was not. Some of the problems: (1) the author's juvenile, cheerleaderish attitude--I really couldn't stand it, page after page (her writing style seems geared more towards teenage girls than adult career changers); (2) her giddy overuse of exclamation points (if the writing is effective, exclamation points aren't necessary--this seems to be a cheap trick that lazy writers use to try to be more "expressive," or in this case, "motivational"); and (3) her condescending tone ( she never seemed to tire of using "coward," again and again). I kept thinking, "Can you give it a rest?" In short, this book just didn't work for me--a guy who is looking for a well-written, well-researched, and useful book to help me change careers. Simple. There are much better career change books out there. I will now turn to two of these.

I have read several past editions of "What Color is Your Parachute," and as always, I found the 2008 edition quite helpful. Briefly, "Parachute" helps the reader determine: (1) what their favorite transferable skills are, (2) where they might best use these skills, and (3) how to go about finding their dream job. I had to spend a good bit of time reflecting and writing about myself in order to complete the exercises in the book, but it was time well spent. (There really are no short-cuts when planning a career change.) Doing these exercises gave me a clearer idea of the types of job I should pursue, by (a) confirming what I had suspected about my favorite skills, interests, etc.--this was reassuring, as it made me more confident that I was on the right path, and (2) making me consider other career options that I had not previously thought of. I could have done without the author's occasional use of "God," "His Plan," etc., but since he doesn't overdo it, it wasn't a big deal.

"Do What You Are," is a book to help one discover their "type." There are free online sites that can help one do this (and my results were the same for both--the book and the online site); but as the book required me to think more (instead of just choosing between two choices, as many online inventories do), I felt more confident with my results. These writers also seem to be exclamation point-happy, but overall, the book is well-written and I fould it quite useful.

But if I had to recommend only one career change book to buy, it would be "What Color is Your Parachute." This could be supplemented by doing the inventories on free online sites to discover one's Type, as well as Interests, Values, Skills, etc.

Hope this helps.

I worked in the same industry for several decades and felt as if it might be impossible to switch industries, but after reading this book, I have confidence that my skills and abilities can be applied to many different industries and positions. More importantly, I know which skills I enjoy using and fit with my natural talents and abilities. The exercises are both fun and enlightening and something that I plan to use on a regular basis when evaluating job opportunities.

I have found this book and its companion book on Interviewing to be invaluable sources of information that would be beneficial to read at any stage of one's career. Katy Piotrowski has done a great job at covering so many important topics in both books that I know that they will be a highly valued part of my personal library for many years to come. They are true confidence builders that I am happy to recommend to anyone looking to explore new career possibilities.

"Career changing has seemed like such a scary step for me. I love that this
author tackles it head on...'You're going to be afraid, and that's
normal!' Her upbeat, encouraging writing style makes the process seem much
more doable to me. After YEARS of thinking about a career change, I've
finally started taking action on a few of the career experiment exercises
she recommends...and they're fun. I truly believe I can make a career
change this time. I love this book!"