Top Career books recommended by experts

At MentorCruise, we are all about making the most out of the experience of others. As part of that, we've connected and asked dozens of experts and professionals about their favourite Career books – and here are the answers.

Table of Contents

Fundamentals of Career

Understanding the concepts of Career starts with understanding the fundamentals. On your way to mastery, it's crucial for you to understand how certain concepts were derived, and why things work like they do. Starting with these resources is the best way to do so.

So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love

Cal Newport's clearly-written manifesto flies in the face of conventional wisdom by suggesting that it should be a person's talent and skill - and not necessarily their passion - that determines their career path. ...

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How to Win Friends and Influence People

Dale Carnegie’s rock-solid, time-tested advice has carried countless people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives. One of the most groundbreaking and timeless bestsellers of all time, How to Win Friends & Influence People will teach you:

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What Color Is Your Parachute?

What Color Is Your Parachute? is a self-help book by Richard Nelson Bolles intended for job-seekers. It has been in print since 1970 and has been revised annually since 1975, sometimes substantially.

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The Lean Startup

The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses is a book by Eric Ries describing his proposed lean startup strategy for startup companies.

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Designing Your Life

Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life is a book by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans that aims to help readers organize themselves through journaling and design thinking.

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I Could Do Anything if I Only Knew What It Was: How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It

Isn't It Time You Followed Your Real Dreams? This extraordinary book is designed to help you achieve them. In it, Barbara Sher goes beyond the groundbreaking principles introduced in her phenomenal number one best seller, Wishcraft. ...

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Additional Career Reading

These books are not required for you to learn Career, but they are highly recommended for you to deepen your knowledge.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, first published in 1989, is a business and self-help book written by Stephen R. Covey.Covey defines effectiveness as the balance of obtaining desirable results with caring for that which produces those results.

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The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance---What Women Should Know

Following the success of Lean In and Why Women Should Rule the World, the authors of the bestselling Womenomics provide an informative and practical guide to understanding the importance of confidence—and ...

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Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us is a non-fiction book written by Daniel Pink. The book was published in 2009 by Riverhead Hardcover. It argues that human motivation is largely intrinsic and that the aspects of this motivation can be divided into autonomy, mastery, and purpose.

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The 4-Hour Workweek

The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9–5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich is a self-help book by Timothy Ferriss, an American writer, educational activist, and entrepreneur.

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From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life

Many of us assume that the more successful we are, the less susceptible we become to the sense of professional and social irrelevance that often accompanies aging. But the truth is, the greater our achievements and our attachment to them, the more we notice our decline, and the more painful it is when it occurs.
What can we do, starting now, to make our older years a time of happiness, purp…

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Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving--every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results. If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The probl…

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Specializations and Deeper Career Knowledge

You've got your basics in order – time to move on to some advanced and specialized concepts. Career is evolving every day, these books can help you master it.

Cues: Master the Secret Language of Charismatic Communication

What makes someone charismatic? Why do some people captivate a room, while others have trouble managing a small meeting? What makes some ideas spread, while other good ones fall by the wayside?
Cues - the tiny signals we send to others 24/7 through our body language, facial expressions, word choices and vocal inflection - have a massive impact on how we, and our ideas, come across. Our cues…

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This list is curated by MentorCruise and can include Amazon affiliate links. Have any other suggestions? Add here.

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I was one of the first 150 employees at DoorDash, working there for six years of hyper-growth. When I left DoorDash, the company had scaled to over 12,000 employees, operating on five continents. While at the company, I worked in both data science and operations roles. I helped build DoorDash's …

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