The Career Chronicles: An Insider's Guide to What Jobs are Really Like - the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from Over 750 Professionals - Softcover

"A comprehensive career guide ... Offers a candid view of what it's really like to work in fields from engineering to health care. More than 750 professionals confess the best, worst and most surprising parts of their jobs, giving graduates an insider's view before they start their own on-the-job training."
-- BookPage

"Without sugarcoating the grueling details, this guide still accentuates the positive, and hundreds of personal voices add to the encouraging tone."
-- Publishers Weekly

"A great book for anyone embarking on a new career or making a serious change."
-- College News

"A great tool for the college student who is investigating career opportunities and trying to make a decision about which path to choose. We recommend that students have informational interviews with professionals before choosing a field, and this book is hundreds of informational interviews rolled into one guide! I will recommend it to my students."
-- Lisa Shacklett, director, Career Development Center, Lipscomb University

"This book belongs in every high school library and guidance office."
-- School Library Journal

"I give this book five stars."
-- Joyce Lain Kennedy, Tribune Media Services

"Gregory has compiled an invaluable resource combining tangible and intangible information about the wider work world. Highly recommended for all public libraries and secondary school libraries."
-- Library Journal

"Offer[s] college students an excellent opportunity to make better informed decisions on their career choices."
-- Midwest Book Review

"A valuable overview of many meaningful careers, each of which is richly described and enhanced by the individuals who work in that profession."
-- ForeWord magazine

"This informative guide may have students rethinking a career choice before they spend years training for something they really do not want to do. High school and college counselors could use this resource to help students choose a career path."
-- VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates)

From School Library Journal Adult/High School-An introduction to 23 jobs in health care, architecture, the law, financial services, education, the social sciences, information technology, sales, media, and more. Gregory dedicates a separate chapter to each one, opening with its history and background and describing the current status of the field (including statistics on employment levels, education required, and average salaries). The most revealing portions of each chapter are the direct quotes from surveys. Workers are asked to compare the reality of the profession to expectations developed in school, describe the biggest surprise, say whether they would choose that position again, and answer practical questions about hours and advancement, as well as best and worst aspects of and changes in the profession. The honest, insightful answers given by the survey responders, combined with the wide-ranging fields and professions covered, offer teens an opportunity to learn about "the real world" before committing to a specific career path. The concluding chapter features a table of data comparing current careers and dream professions from 50 survey responders and encourages readers to consider factors beyond salary and status when choosing a profession. This book belongs in every high school library and guidance office.-Sondra VanderPloeg, Colby-Sawyer College, New London, NH Copyright (c) Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.