Career Renewal: Tools for Scientists and Technical Professionals

"...Rosen and Paul present an enormous wealth of practical material gleaned from years of experience in helping technical professionals evaluate their careers and find new jobs...The book is well written, easy to read, and offers a good deal of information and insight."--Dennis Chamot, Professional Relations Bulletin"The empowerment of scientists to pursue broad career options is a pressing need on both the individual and societal levels. This book draws upon the authors' extensive experience to assist these professionals in making career transitions. It combines personal experiences, practical tips and a fresh perspective on healthy and unhealthy attitudes regarding career change. The book would be a useful addition to the library of any scientist contemplating a transition."--ROBERT H. RICH, Ph.D., President, Association for Science Professionals, Program Associate, American Association for the Advancement of Science"If I had to find a new job, this is the one book I'd read! And carefully so. Stephen Rosen and Celia Paul offer plausible and practical advice, founded in much experience, to the professional changing his or her career. Career Renewal is the ultimate self-help manual for the intelligent job seeker...Career Renewal is a superbly intelligent and practical guide to finding a new profession, to making that new turn that an educated person wants or is forced to make."--ROALD HOFFMANN, 1981 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York"This book is chicken soup for career maladies--and the disgruntled, dismayed, and disenfranchised among the science-trained. The authors have fashioned an antidote to the maxim 'smart people can do anything by amassing testimonials from scientists who have made career transitions. They offer 'existence proofs that science is indeed a solid foundation for a range of jobs. The list of 25 'counterproductive career strategies, dangerous to smart people is a compelling inventory for any professional. With wit and wisdom, Rosen and Paul have produced a singular source--a combination survival kit, biography, and self-help directory to remind and inform the reader that career renewal is a 45-year journey. Each of us can do more for ourselves than merely 'hold on."--DARYL E. CHUBIN, Ph.D., National Science Foundation, Policy Analyst and Co-author of Rethinking Science as a Career: Perceptions and Realities in the Physical Sciences"To those familiar with the popular career development literature, this is a variation of What Color is Your Parachute?, but geared for scientists and engineers. What especially distinguishes their book, besides their use of science metaphors, is the case studies of scientists and other technical professionals making career changes, some quite dramatic: from research physics to software company management, naval architecture to English literature, geology to international finance, and so on. If you want to take a brief and private time-out to think about what matters in your career and life, and how well your current situation matches your values and skills and interests, Rosen and Paul provide tools for organizing your thoughts and feelings."--Catherine D. Gaddy, Executive Director of the Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology in Washington, DC, IEEE SPECTRUM"CAREER RENEWAL, a compendium of self-help ideas, checklists and case histories compiled by two professional consultants (one a former astrophysicist), is designed to help people in the sciences who are less than happy with where their education has taken them. It should appeal to a wide range of readers. Their book is full of thoughtful suggestions and useful tools, helpful to anyone who ambition to unravel the secrets of the universe has been tempered by the need to pay the rent."--Laurence A. Marschall, Professor of Physics at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, THE SCIENCES"...Many people should find this book a useful road map in negotiating their way to a more satisfying career..."--Corinne A. Marasco, ACS Department of Career Services"...the book has very strong appendices with well-annotated guides to other material, including books, references, software, Web sites, recruiters and more..."--Brian B. Schwartz, Brooklyn College, PHYSICS TODAY"...it primary strength in presenting a wholesome and holistic philosophy of a career path for a scientist, which is one of the best examples...one of the best $25 investments I have ever made..."--Igor A. Berensnev, Research Professor in Geophysics, Department of Earth Sciences Carleton University