Plotting your next move | Career resources

A few of the many resources to help those who dream of a better job:

CAREER COUNSELORS

Expect to pay between $75 and $125 an hour for a career counselor's services, though some contract for a flat fee per project. Find consumer tips for choosing a career counselor at National Career Development Association's site, www.ncda.org.

A professional organization that offers referrals is Bellevue-based Puget Sound Career Development Association (www.pscda.org); contact incoming president Roger Howson at roger@renewvia.com.

FREE AND LOW-COST GUIDANCE

Washington State Employment Security Department, www.workforceexplorer.com

Hit the "Career Center" tab for online self-assessment tools, including occupations cross-referenced by the skills they require.

WorkSource Dislocated Worker Retraining Program, www.wa.gov/esd/dw/dislocated.htm

Free job training through state program for displaced homemakers, laid-off workers and the formerly self-employed. Offered at community colleges and other regional sites. Lists locations and services available.

Bellevue Community College Career Center, www.bellevuecollege.edu/careers/ (425) 564-2279

Services include free individual appointments with career specialists. For $25 you can take an assessment test such as Meyers-Briggs or the Strong Interest Inventory and receive one hour of interpretation.

Dependable Strengths workshops, http://depts.washington.edu/careers/careerplan/depstrg.php (206) 543-0535

These 2 1/2 day "nontraditional job search" workshops are held every quarter at the University of Washington for $150 per person ($120 for alumni).

Princeton Review Career Quiz, www.princetonreview.com/cte/quiz/career_quiz1.asp

Asks 24 questions to point you in the right career direction.

Washington Women in Trades, www.wawomenintrades.com

Information on nontraditional trades work, job listings, a trades fair where employers can recruit women for trades work, apprenticeships.

www.robinryan.com/careerResources.htm: Good resource page on local career counselor Robin Ryan's Web site.

— Compiled by Carol Tice, Special to The Seattle Times

RESOURCES FOR WOMEN RE-ENTERING THE WORKFORCE:

"Back on Track: A Guide for Stay-at-Home Moms Who Want to Return to Work," by Carol Fishman Cohen and Vivian Steir Rabin (Warner Business Books, 2007, $24.99). Written by two former Harvard MBAs who returned to the workplace after stays at home with their kids. A guide to both the practical strategies of what they call "relaunching" and to the psychological factors at work in making a successful transition. www.backonthecareertrack.com

PayScale.com: Tips and facts about your market value.

http://blogs.payscale.com/content/2007/05/taking_time_off.html

www.momcorps.com

Connects mothers who have left the work force but are looking for challenging contract projects with businesses that want experienced professionals for project, part-time or contract positions.

Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth's program, Back in Business, is one of several cropping up around the country "bringing workers with résumé gaps up to speed in the business world."

http://www.tuck.dartmouth.edu/exec/targeted_audiences/back_in_business.html

Money Magazine's "best jobs for returning parents:"

http://money.cnn.com/2007/03/17/magazines/moneymag/bestjobs_parents.moneymag/

— Compiled by The Seattle Times staff

CAREER MAKEOVERS BY THE BOOK

Career coach Tom Washington of Career Management Resources in Bellevue recommended these books to his management-aspiring makeover candidate Kate Nadeau for inspiration in seeking the upward mobility she wants at Microsoft. A couple are out of print, but Washington says used copies are widely available:

"Love It, Don't Leave It: 26 Ways to Get What You Want at Work" by Beverly Kaye and Sharon Jordan-Evans (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, September 2003. Paperback). Encourages employees to assume responsibility for the way their work lives work. Amazon.com calls it "a witty and practical approach to finding job satisfaction."

"Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In" by Roger Fisher, Bruce Patton and William Ury (Houghton Mifflin, 2nd Ed. April 1992). Updated edition of the bestselling negotiation classic.

"Getting Past No: Negotiating in Difficult Situations" by William Ury (Bantam, paperback revised edition, 1993). The director of the Global Negotiation Project at Harvard University shares tips on getting what you want from difficult bosses, customers and coworkers.

"Skills for Success: A Guide to the Top for Men and Women" by Adele Scheele, (Ballantine Books, 1996.) No-nonsense guidelines for getting ahead in all kinds of careers.

"Office Politics: Seizing Power, Wielding Clout" by Marilyn Moats Kennedy (New Win Pub, June 1980). How to build unassailable relationships with coworkers and bosses.

— Reported by Carol Tice, Special to The Seattle Times

HERE ARE A FEW RECENT CAREER BOOKS AIMED AT WOMEN:

"New Girl on the Job: Advice from the Trenches" by Hannah Seligson (Citadel Press Books, 2007, $20). Practical and pointed, a must-read for the young career women this one's aimed at. Seligson, who has the dubious credential of getting fired from her first job, draws on lots of voices of both young career women and seasoned veterans to produce an easy-to-read primer on how to succeed in the work world that's geared to today's marketplace.

"Art of War for Women: Sun Tzu's Ancient Strategies and Wisdom for Winning at Work" by Chin-Ning Chu (Doubleday, 2007, $22). Get ahead ethically without confrontation, transforming female weaknesses into strengths, using the Taoist philosopher's guidelines. Some instructive high-powered women's success stories.

"See Jane Lead: 99 Ways for Women to Take Charge at Work" by Lois P. Frankel (Warner Business Books, $22.99). Discusses attitudes and obstacles that keep women from reaching the top and strategies for using and overcoming them. Like Chu in "Art of War," she argues that women's traditional strengths (e.g., consensus building rather than top-down hierarchical management), make for more effective leaders in today's world. She also has an updated version out of her book "Stop Sabotaging Your Career: 8 Proven Strategies to Succeed — In Spite of Yourself" (Warner Business Trade Paperback, 2007, $13.99).

"Your Career, Your Way: Personal Strategies to Achieve Your Career Aspirations," by Lisa Quast (Lisa Quast, 2007, $19.95). Quast is CEO and president of a Seattle-based international career development consulting company "dedicated to helping women improve their chosen careers and achieve their professional aspirations." The book shows how to use strategic planning to position yourself competitively, just as businesses do with their products. She also answers career questions on her Web site, www.careerwomaninc.com

"Ladies Who Launch: Embracing Entrepreneurship and Creativity As a Lifestyle," by Victoria Colligan and Beth Schoenfeldt with Amy Swift (St. Martin's Press, 2007, $24.95). A guide by the cofounders of the company with the same name — an online social networking and offline support system operating in more than 40 cities to help women start their own businesses. The authors embrace the growing trend of women leaving traditional jobs to run their own shows, allowing them more balanced and creative lifestyles.

"Off-Ramps and On-Ramps: Keeping Talented Women on the Road to Success" by Sylvia Ann Hewlett ( Harvard Business School Press, 2007, $29.95). Top thinker's research on who's leaving work, why, for how long, obstacles for returning, the price paid, the brain drain's toll on corporate bottomlines, and solutions.

"Mothers on the Fast Track: How a New Generation Can Balance Family and Careers" by Mary Ann Mason and Eve Mason Ekman (Oxford University Press, 2007, $24.95). Shows how having a family enhances men's career chances while derailing most ambitious women off the fast track. The mom and daughter authors (Mason, first graduate dean at UC Berkeley, led efforts to create more family-friendly policies at Cal) suggest policy solutions as well as strategies women can employ to plan family and work lives, particularly during the make-or-break years of their 30s.

"Opting Out? Why Women Really Quit Careers and Head Home" by Pamela Stone (University of California Press, 2007, $24.95). The Hunter College sociologist conducted extensive interviews to get to the bottom of the question, focusing on 54 white women who had been highly successful professionals and were married to men who could support them while they stayed at home.

She found they quit as a last resort because of inflexible, "all-or-nothing" workplaces or "because they found themselves marginalized and stigmatized for trying to hold onto their careers after becoming mothers."

"TheAnti-9-to-5 Guide; Practical Career Advice for Women Who Think Outside the Cube," by Michelle Goodman (Seal Press, 2007, $14.95). Useful strategies, tips and resources on how to create a career outside the cubicle world — from self-employment to part-time and flex-time.

Work 101: Learning the Ropes of the Workplace Without Hanging Yourself" by Elizabeth Freedman (The Bantam Dell Publishing Group, 2007, $12). A denser read than "New Girl" and not exclusively aimed at women but lots of useful info to help young workers navigate the corporate halls — from what to wear to the art of subtle self-promotion. The price is right on this one, too.