THE VAULT COLLEGE CAREER BIBLE 2005: Job and Hiring Information for Students and Recent Graduates

Vault maintains one of the major survey databases on what employees think about employers, used by job seekers and HR reps alike (if for differing reasons). This inaugural guide aims to demystify the job market for college students by explaining what sorts of jobs are out there ("Sales is another core component of the investment bank") and how to prepare, while still in college, to get them. Introductory sections cover campus recruiting, résumés, "schmoozing/networking," mentors, stereotyping and more, while the bulk of the book is given over to "Industry Overviews" of everything from accounting to "energy/oil & gas," fashion, media/entertainment, nonprofit, publishing and telecommunications. The synopses are short and bland, but informative enough to give the basic structure of an industry and include directories of major firms. More frank, and often including vivid employee testimony, are longer bits of commentary that sketch out how jobs within an industry interrelate and how to choose among them. For a self-starter who has ambition but is unclear what direction in which to point it, this book offers a variety of possible first steps. (Nov.)