Over the years I’ve read and, uh, put on my shelf lots of books written by PhDs and other professionals that are great resources for any graduate job search.
I recently updated my list and published it as a separate resource page: Recommended Reading.
The first books I read that helped me include William Bridges’ Transitions and titles that seemingly have nothing to do with the job search, such as ones by Tara Brach (Radical Acceptance), Pema Chödrön (Comfortable with Uncertainty), and Alyssa Harad (Coming to My Senses). The first and last book are on my Recommended Reading page; the others aren’t, but they were no less critical — and some of the most critically important — to my career transition after my PhD.
The big list includes more than 30 books, and some will be more relevant to you than others. For example, linguistics PhDs can read (or listen to!) Anna Marie Trester’s career guide just for you; folks who want to start a small business will love Katie Pryal’s inspiring and practical Freelance Academic; and those of you serious about the academic job search will appreciate Karen Kelsky’s The Professor Is In as well as a couple others, including one co-authored by my own former coach, Hillary Hutchinson.
Here’s the full list.
Happy reading!
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