Top Career Growth 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 Growth books – and here are the answers.

Table of Contents

Fundamentals of Career Growth

Understanding the concepts of Career Growth 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.

Designing Your Life

Designers create worlds and solve problems using design thinking. Look around your office or home—at the tablet or smartphone you may be holding or the chair you are sitting in. Everything in our lives was designed by someone. And every design starts with a problem that a designer or team of designers seeks to solve.
In this book, Bill Burnett and Dave Evans show us how design thinking can …

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

What Color Is Your Parachute?

For more than fifty years, What Color Is Your Parachute? has transformed the way people think about job hunting. Whether searching for that first position, recovering from a layoff, or dreaming of a career change, What Color Is Your Parachute? has shown millions of readers how to network effectively, compose impressive resumes and cover letters, interview with confidence, and negotiate the bes…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

In this edition, Dweck offers new insights into her now famous and broadly embraced concept. She introduces a phenomenon she calls false growth mindset and guides people toward adopting a deeper, truer growth mindset. She also expands the mindset concept beyond the individual, applying it to the cultures of groups and organizations. With the right mindset, you can motivate those you lead, teac…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Deep Work

Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It's a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. Deep Work will make you better at what you do and provide the sense of true fulfillment that comes from craftsmanship. In short, deep work is like a super power in our increasingly competitive twen…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen R. Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered 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--principles that give us the security to adapt to change and the wisd…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

In her famed TED talk, Sheryl Sandberg described how women unintentionally hold themselves back in their careers. Her talk, which has been viewed more than eleven million times, encouraged women to “sit at the table,” seek challenges, take risks, and pursue their goals with gusto. Lean In continues that conversation, combining personal anecdotes, hard data, and compelling research to change th…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

Additional Career Growth Reading

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

Atomic Habits

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 pr…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise

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

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I'm John, an experienced engineering leader passionate about helping others grow in their careers and scale their impact. Over the past decade, I've led teams at companies like Instagram and Patreon, building products from early-stage MVPs to platforms used by millions of people. As a mentor, I offer guidance and …

$200 / month

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Hey y'all! My name is Jan and I am located in Austin, TX, originally from Northern California. I have 20+ years of experience in the tech industry where I started out as a Software Developer and have transitioned over the years to Technical Program Management and now running Product Strategy …

$280 / month

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Student or Junior UX Designer? I can help you refine your CV and portfolio, create new case studies to showcase your skills, and more generally help you grow as a designer. Additionally, I can share valuable insights and advice to help you navigate the workplace, whether you're just starting or …

$80 / month

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*** Not accepting new mentees from Feb 15, 2025 - June 30, 2025: on paternity leave *** *** Still available for single sessions, reach out if you have any questions! *** I manage a small data science team for a startup (<40 people) and can help you learn about data …

$600 / month

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Senior Software Engineer at GitHub Actions. I build distributed systems and tooling for platform engineering and developer experience, improving how teams deploy and scale cloud-native workloads. I’m especially interested in Go, Kubernetes, networking, containers, and observability. I also maintain a strong interest in emerging technologies like Rust, eBPF, and WebAssembly …

$390 / month

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I like to consider myself a dynamic leader and have over 30 years of experience in technology leadership roles within the entertainment, gaming, tech, and publishing industries, I have a proven track record of driving operational excellence, revenue growth, and forging impactful partnerships. In addition to playing a key role …

$180 / month

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  • "Naz is an amazing person and a wonderful mentor. She is supportive and knowledgeable with extensive practical experience. Having been a manager at Netflix, she also knows a ton about working with teams at scale. Highly recommended."

  • "Brandon has been supporting me with a software engineering job hunt and has provided amazing value with his industry knowledge, tips unique to my situation and support as I prepared for my interviews and applications."

  • "Sandrina helped me improve as an engineer. Looking back, I took a huge step, beyond my expectations."