Starting your first job and experiencing the workplace for the first time can be something of a challenge. Most likely you’re about to discover that your university education hasn’t necessarily prepared you for the real world.
Negotiating your salary, securing your finances, networking, emotional intelligence, managing difficult bosses, navigating office politics… You won’t find courses on these subjects at an average university but they are skills necessary for building a positive and successful career.
Thankfully, you can still prepare yourself for the alien corporate world by taking advantage of the wealth of knowledge in books. Here are 7 books we believe young professionals should read as they start out their careers:
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‘The Rules Of Work’ by Richard Templar
For some people, work is a breeze. They glide effortlessly onwards and upwards, always saying and doing the right thing, getting paid more, getting promotions, getting results. Is there something successful people know that we don’t? You bet there is. They know the Rules of work.
These Rules are the guiding principles that will improve what you do and how you do it. They will give you the unmistakable air of confidence that will win you admiration, respect, and help you towards your next promotion. In this new edition of the international bestseller, Richard Templar has added 10 new Rules to help you get heard, noticed, acknowledged and followed in the workplace.
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‘The Pressure Cooker’ by Nkiru Olumide-Ojo
“Don’t you know you are a girl?”
Nkiru Olumide-Ojo sets out, in this book, to respond to that question, and in the process, break down its hidden “restraining” intent. This is the book for the young female professional in need of career guidance.
The Pressure Cooker offers advice to women in the workplace and this advice comes from Nkiru’s lived experience — as a woman at work in a male-dominated field, workplace sensibilities, and climbing up the corporate ladder.
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‘The Richest Man In Babylon’ by George S. Clason
If you’re looking for the ultimate guide to managing your finances as you set out to navigate the professional world, then this book is for you. In this book, George S. Clason reveals the secrets to creating, growing, and preserving wealth.
Through entertaining tales of merchants, tradesmen, and herdsmen, you’ll learn how to keep more of what you earn, get out of debt, put your money to work, attract good luck, choose wise investments, and safeguard a lasting fortune.
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‘The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People’ by Stephen R. Covey
Author Stephen R. Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principled approach for solving personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes, Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, service, and human dignity.
These principles give will give you the security to adapt to change and also, the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that every change creates.
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‘The Smart Money Woman’ by Arese Ugwu
This book tackles debt, spending, the consumerist culture of the African middle class which is, typically, fear and misconceptions surrounding money and the lack of it. Arese Ugwu, in this financial chick-lit novel also addresses love, friendships, cultural and societal pressures and the roles these factors play in success.
Each chapter comes to a Smart Money Lesson, designed to help you work your way up the financial ladder.
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‘Who Moved My Cheese’ by Spencer Johnson
This enlightening and amusing story illustrates the vital importance of being able to deal with unexpected change. Who Moved My Cheese? is often distributed by managers to employees as a motivational tool, but the lessons it teaches can benefit literally anyone, young or old, rich or poor, looking for less stress and more success in every aspect of work and life.
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‘Working With Emotional Intelligence’ by Daniel Goleman
In this book, Goleman reveals the skills that distinguish star performers in every field, from entry-level jobs to top executive positions. He shows that the single most important factor is not IQ, advanced degrees, or technical expertise, but the quality which he calls emotional intelligence.
According to Goleman, we all possess the potential to improve our emotional intelligence–at any stage in our career. He provides guidelines for cultivating these capabilities–and also explains why corporate training must change if it is to be effective.