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Feeling stuck in your career, or wondering why you just cant get a job? You might not need a better resume, or more networking events. Consider instead a little career therapy.
Thats what “Dancing Naked” provides. The book was written by Robert Chope, a career counselor and psychologist who noticed that emotional baggage often stops people from getting the job they want, or enjoying the jobs they have.
His book skips tips on resumes, cover letters and other nuts and bolts. Instead, he homes in on the psychological snakepit that is job hunting. If youve ever felt bored in your job, regretted not sending a resume or talked yourself out of applying for a job you found interesting, this book will help you. It will also help you if youre contemplating one of the seven to eight career transitions the average American now makes during his or her working life.
And in these hard economic times, if youre an IT professional who has been laid off, tried everything you can think of to get a new job and still failed, “Dancing Naked” will give you new ideas and bring to the surface hidden fears or beliefs that may be preventing you from getting work.
Chope breaks his book into three main parts: Managing Your Career Change, Understanding Your Career Identity and Beliefs and Handling your Emotions During Your Career Search. He adds a section on Staying on Track with useful tips for people stuck in a prolonged job search.
The three main sections contain copious exercises. Do them. Theyre generally interesting, sometimes fun and will spark all sorts of new ideas about the work you want to do and how to find it.
The exercises help drive home Chopes list of eight rules you should follow during your job search, establish your beliefs about your career, and also battle the self-doubt, anxiety and anger that being out of work can foster.
Dancing Naked also features plenty of stories about real people. The stories are particularly useful for job seekers, because every one of them involves someone who had reached a breaking point in their lives, either because of their job or because they didnt think they could get the job they wanted. All of them are able to conquer their problems and find satisfying work. Seeing such challenged people turn things around may prove inspiring.
So get this book, work through it and take it to heart. Youll end up excited about your possibilities, and better prepared for them.
You may even feel comfortable dancing naked. But were not suggesting you consider it as a career.
- Title: Dancing Naked: Breaking Through the Emotional Limits that Keep You from the Job You Want
- Author: Robert C. Chope
- Publisher: New Harbinger Publications (www.newharbinger.com/)
- Length: 262 pages
- Price: $14.95