Product Description

The Penguin Careers Guide is the indispensable and practical source for anyone seeking careers information. Now fully revised and updated for its thirteenth edition, it contains in-depth discussions of hundreds of possible careers, with invaluable advice on education, training and employment issues. Whether you’re just starting out after college or returning to work, looking for a full or part-time position, wondering how to set up your own business or finance your studies, this is the essential guide to point you in the right direction.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #260813 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 688 pages

About the Author
Jan Widmer is a professional careers adviser and the editor of Newscheck, a magazine for school and university careers departments and careers companies. She lives in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

Customer Reviews

Informative, up-to-date and comprehensive - an excellent guide
For information on careers, "The Penguin Careers Guide" by Jan Widmer is the first place one should look. First published in 1966 and now in its thirteenth revised edition, it remains an up-to-date and highly informative reference on the sheer variety of possible occupations that exist, and how to get into them.

An introductory section provides a short description of the British qualifications system, together with advice for those returning to work and for those considering working abroad. At the end of this section Widmer also lists a variety of useful books, directories and websites for further research. However, the majority of the book (some 600 pages in total) is given over to an alphabetical list of 92 main career areas, starting with Accountancy, including Construction, Journalism, Nursing and Sport (to name but a few), and finishing with Youth and Community Work. The book's extensive index means that it is usually possible to find an entry for any occupation you may be interested in: 'air traffic controller', for example, does not have a heading of its own, but readers are directed to both Armed Forces and Civil Aviation.

For each of these 92 areas Widmer offers a brief but comprehensive summary: the required entry qualifications, a description of the work involved, the kind of personal attributes employers are looking for, advice for late starters and on maintaining a work/life balance, as well as a list of the main organisations to contact for further information. These entries are, admittedly, quite brief, and if the book had to be faulted on any point it would be this. However, with over 300 different occupations featured within these pages, it is difficult to criticise too heavily, and instead it is perhaps best to view each entry as a stepping stone on the way to finding out more.

There is particular emphasis on the school leaver and the university student/graduate, and Widmer admits as much, suggesting that "the Guide is likely to be used mainly by young people between 14 and 20". Correspondingly there is information on applying to university and financing your studies. (Incidentally for graduates, I would also strongly recommend "The Graduate Career Handbook" by Shirley Jenner.) In truth, however, "The Penguin Careers Guide" will prove ideal for anyone returning to work or considering a change of career. An indispensable first port of call.