Suggested Readings

Many career resources are available at Irwin Library. There you can find information about major exploration and internships, and you can locate careers by major, by your interests, and by your personality.

These books can be found at Irwin Library in the career reference sections, the Butler University Bookstore, or any online bookseller.

What Should I Do With My Life? The True Story of People Who Answered the Ultimate Question

This book offers an "inspiring exploration of how people transform their lives and a template for how we can answer this question for ourselves." It offers fifty-five stories of individuals trying to answer questions such as: Is a career supposed to feel like a destiny? How do I tell the difference between a curiosity and a passion? Should I make money to fund my dream first? The author writes, "We all have passions if we choose to see them. Most of us don't get epiphanies. We don't get clarity. Our purpose doesn't arrive neatly packaged as destiny. We only get a whisper. A blank, nonspecific urge. That's how it starts."

Let your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation

With wit, wisdom, compassion and gentle humor, Parker J. Palmer invites us to listen to the inner teacher and follow its leading toward a sense of meaning and purpose. Telling stories from his own life and the lives of others who have made a difference, he shares insights gained from darkness and depression as well as fulfillment and joy, illuminating a pathway toward vocation for all who seek the true calling of their lives.

Majoring in the Rest of Your Life

Majoring in the Rest of Your Life offers a practical strategy to get you from your first semester of freshman year to your first job. This book shows you how to make the most of your opportunities to discover what you enjoy doing, get practical experience, and meet people. Self assessment tools and activities are included.

Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for you Through the Secrets of Personality Type

This helpful book focuses on using information about your personality type to choose a fulfilling career that enhances the quality of your life. You may recognize the instrument based on this theory as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). This book is divided into three parts: Part 1 will take you step by step through the discovery and understanding of your own personality type, Part 2 will introduce you to the four ingredients you must have in your work if it is to be truly fulfilling, and Part 3 will show you how to utilize this self knowledge in launching a career.

The Pathfinder: How to Choose or Change Your Career for a Lifetime of Satisfaction and Success

This book shares techniques on how to design your career direction step by step so that it fits your talents, personality, needs, goals, and values. It offers more than 100 self-tests and tools to help you choose a new career or view a current job from a new, more positive perspective. The book is designed to actually "take you through the process of choosing your future career rather than just reading about doing so...It will become your personal career coach and guide."

What Color is Your Parachute?

Called by some "the most popular job-hunting book in the world", What Color is Your Parachute? offers helpful insights at all stages of career exploration. Chapters of interest for those beginning the decision-making process include: What Are You Looking For?, The Geography of the Heart, and The Secret to Finding Your Dream Job. This book has both a companion workbook (sold separately) and a website (www.JobHuntersBible.com).