Job Hunting for Dummies by Max Messmer – second edition was written over a decade ago. As such, some of the material contained in the book is truly dated. So why would you consider purchasing or even reading a book with such dated material? For the most part, while many things have changed such as the Internet is more widely used, and resumes have been over-shadowed by on-line applications, there are still many great nuggets of information contained in the book.

Readers may find the section on job leads particularly helpful. Job Hunting for Dummies assumes that the readers are not particularly Internet-savvy, which is typical of most of the "Dummies" series. This is an excellent approach to take for people who have not been in the job market for a while and are not used to the tech-savvy requirements required to apply for jobs even in the fast food industry.

Just how dated is some of the material? Messmer suggests you purchase a phone card in order to make telephone calls to perspective employers without worrying the call would be cut off in the middle of your conversation. While phone cards are a relic of the past and no one really uses pay phones anymore, the reader can definitely self-update this material to modern times. For example, if you use a pre-paid cell phone, make sure you have enough minutes.

Job Hunting for Dummies covers all of the prerequisite subjects including resumes, cover letters, effective research, networking, interviewing and how to handle low morale from long term unemployment. The book contains a catchy section at the end of the book entitled, “The Part of Tens.” This contains 10 tip lists on topics such as interviewing tactics and job search resources - all the way to how to get started on the new job.

Job Hunting for Dummies not only provides suggestions on how to research companies and find the hidden job market, but it also includes numerous search sites to help the job seeker look for employment. Messmer realized that job seekers not only needed to know where to look for work, but also websites to research companies. Information about search engines and portals is included.

The important thing to remember about this book is that some of the information is dated before cell phones became the major mode of communication and the Internet was a primary source to look for jobs. While this may turn off readers looking for more up-to-date electronic job searching methods, the information contained is still extremely important and can be adjusted to reflect a more modern method of job search.

This book was checked out for review from the local library.

A copy of this book is also available at Amazon.com:
Job Hunting for Dummies, 2nd Edition

Also available in Kindle:
Job Hunting For Dummies