Get a life, not just a holiday

ONLY 25 days, six hours and 14 minutes to go before holidays, only 25 days, four hours and 28 minutes to go before holidays, only - stop it.

Stop wishing your life away. If holidays are all there are to live for, returning to that same old job will be a huge cloud on the beach horizon.

Don't wait for September's job-changing frenzy, start preparing for a promotion, new job or complete career change now. Ditch glitzy airport novels, where the heroine always hooks up with the man introduced on page two as "nothing more than a friend", and pack some of the following: What Colour is Your Parachute?, Richard Nelson Bolles, Ten Speed Press 14.99.

This American daddy of careers advice is updated yearly. The Reverend Bolles, an Episcopalian minister, puts the power to land a better job squarely in your hands. To work in a large corporation, ask around until you find somebody employed there, finding out who "has the power to hire" in your field. Set up a meeting with the big cheese, and afterwards send your CV, cunningly adapted to incorporate all you have learned from the meeting.

Bolles takes the fear out of interviews with five key questions: What are you here for? What can you do for us? What kind of person are you? What distinguishes you? Can I afford you? Parachute's title comes from the belief that job hunting is a lifelong mission, solved by utilising "your greatest gift that you delight to use". Exercises and self-analysis games will fill a fortnight.

Creating You and Co, William Bridges, Nicholas Brealey, 12.99.

Bridges goes one step further than Bolles, suggesting you should use desires and abilities to create a one-person company, "You and Co".

Rather than being a pawn of endless takeovers, reorganisations and redundancies, look for "unmet needs", keeping yourself in work rather than in a defined, therefore limited, job. Drawing on experience of quitting teaching English to run careers seminars, Bridges takes unhappy wage slaves through analysing their Desires Abilities Temperament Assets (DATA), finding "your life work", discovering markets and developing the product, your services, to reinvent your career as a one- person business.

How You Can Get That Job, and Successful Interview Skills, both by Rebecca Corfield, Kogan Page, 6.99 and 7.99.

If going it alone feels too scary, Corfield has the answer as she gently guides you through the traditional recruitment process, CVs, application forms, interview preparation and presentations. Even if you've been through the job-hunting hoop countless times, Corfield's step-by-step guide, including interview classics such as "Tell me about your strengths," and "Why should we employ you rather than another candidate?", will make you feel more in control of the process.

The Monster Guide to Jobhunting by Andrew Chapman, Prentice Hall 12.99.

Just published, this is a thorough guide to internet job-hunting and career management. In five years time 55 per cent of recruitment will take place over the net, so it's as well to know your plain text from your PDF (portable document format).

Chapters on using chat rooms, online applications and who should and shouldn't build a web page will inspire even cyberphobes.

Natural Born Winners by Robin Seger, Arrow 6.99.

Principles of being a natural-born winner are self-belief, goal- setting, planning, confidence and no fear of failure. Seger's good on learning from mistakes and rejection: "If you're not being rejected you're not trying hard enough." His comedy-writing background shines through in the dry style - a refreshing change to most careers books.

Time Management For Dummies by Jeffrey Meyer, IDG Books, 14.99.

Don't be intimidated by its 372 pages, believing there will never be time to read it. Meyer's book falls into easy-to-digest, doable sections covering everything from converting your desk from a toxic dump to an aircraft console, to winning over strangers on the phone. His prescription for chaotic desks is beautifully simple throw out the piles, file the relevant stuff and get on with your day. Time management boils down to making a master list and sticking to it. When diversions come along ask: "How much money is this activity making me?" and treat them accordingly.

Networking: The Art of Making Friends by Carole Stone, Vermilion, 7.99.

People who need people are not only the luckiest people, but the most employed ones according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. Stone's slim volume takes you through surviving formal receptions, debriefing after events to build up a networking database and even how to throw a swell party. "Today, who we are is a matter of whom we mix with."

The perfect kiss off for the beach bar waiter who won't take no for an answer.

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