Careers by the People: Candid Career Advice from 101 Experienced Professionals

by Mike Wysocki

Overview

Looking for advice on how to choose a career path? This dynamic approach goes straight to the source: asking real-world workers how they feel about their occupations.

After three decades in corporate America, Mike Wysocki wondered if the grass really was greener on the other side. So he put his background in sociology to work and spent years surveying industry veterans in a variety of occupations.

The responses were eye-opening: an honest, insider's look at what workers say about their careers outside of the office.

Wysocki chose the 101 most powerful responses for Careers By the People to demystify the world of work with practical experience rather than theory. These industry profiles pair the practicality of guidance counselors with the storytelling of a networking event (without the small talk).

Told in a Q&A format, insightful answers to thought-provoking questions include:

• descriptions of a day-in-the-life of the profession they chose.
• truths about conflicts, co-workers, and management.
• common misconceptions, issues and what pitfalls to avoid.
• what's fulfilling, what's draining, and what's worth it.

With humor and authenticity that doesn't hold punches, this career guidebook will help you narrow down career choices so you can determine what is best for you.

All paths lead to retirement—which one are you on?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781634895743
Publisher:	Wise Ink Creative Publishing
Publication date:	01/10/2023
Pages:	568
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Mike Wysocki always wanted to know what it's like to wake up to a career that you enjoy. So, he spent years researching occupations, culminating in his first book, Careers By the People. Or you could say that after thirty years, he's finally using his degree in sociology.

Editorial Reviews

2023-02-08
Wysocki presents an interview-driven overview of the ups and downs of a wide variety of professions.

The author opens his nonfiction debut with a deceptively simple question: “Why are so many people unhappy” in their work life? His answer is equally simple: Those people didn’t actively choose their careers. Instead, he asserts, they drifted into them, letting opportunity—or, more specifically, market trends—guide them. The purpose of his book is to give readers a chance to find a career that resonates with them—to “clarify what calls to you.” Wysocki’s compelling approach provides readers with a series of detailed interviews with people, identified only by their first names and last initials, in a broad range of careers. These discussions are grouped under general headings, including “The Hustlers” (which include delivery people, truck drivers, farmers, and office managers), “The Einsteins” (software engineers, database developers, electrical engineers, and accountants), “The Good Kids” (ministers, social workers, and registered nurses), and “The Rock Stars” (writers, graphic designers, television producers, and, perhaps unexpectedly, English professors). The interview subjects are asked similar questions about how well their job pays, what they dislike about their work, what they see as common misconceptions about their job, and so on; regarding the latter, an archeologist mentions that his work involves a lot of tedious paperwork, for instance. Over the course of this survey, Wysocki shows himself to be highly skilled at assembling this material for practical use. He helpfully advises readers to skip straight to professions that interest them, but reading the book from cover to cover makes for a surprisingly gripping experience. Its optimistic tone, too, may strike some readers as unexpected; time and again, in profession after profession, responders report that they’re truly fulfilled by their job and wouldn’t change it, thus demonstrating to readers that satisfying careers really do exist.

A compelling examination of how to find satisfaction in today’s working world.

Kirkus Reviews