This is a big book and you may be wondering whether the time you ll invest<br >in reading it will be worth it. I assure you that it will.<br > My knowledge of the work world is not founded solely on theory and book<br >learning， like that of many career consultants， but also on my own well-<br >rounded and successful fourteen-year corporate career. During that time I<br >held positions in programming and information systems， sales， marketing，<br >and strategic planning while employed by IBM， General Electric， and other<br >companies. I also consulted to many Fortune 500 and smaller firms repre-<br >senting a cross-section of American business， and， as an adjunct faculty mem-<br >ber of General Electric s Management Development Institute (Crotonville)，<br >taught management practices.<br > In 1979， equipped with this practical experience， I founded Career Solutions<br >of Westport， Connecticut， a company providing personalized career planning<br >and job-search assistance to individuals， as well as outplacement services to<br >corporations. Since then I have helped thousands of men and women develop<br >individualized job-search and career-change plans， enabling them to achieve<br >their goals primarily through their own efforts.<br > In my successful method--followed closely in this book--<br >I provide career changers with a clear understanding of the work world<br >and its substructures so that they can select those career options con-<br >sistent with their interests and abilities;<br >I teach my clients to put themselves in the employer s shoes， so that<br >they can develop a strategy that addresses the perspective of those who<br >have the authority to hire for the positions they want;<br >I provide step-by-step guidance in the management of a job campaign，<br >along with clear explanations of the logic behind the advice; and<br >I give my clients valuable information and novel ideas they can use to<br >favorably distinguish themselves from ot~er job hunters.<br ><br >