Working 9-5 Archives - Awful Library Books

It’s Labor Day Weekend! Start off with some books about work.

September 3, 2021 Mary Kelly ALB Announcements, Making a Living, Working 9-5 2 comments

Labor Day (Monday, September 6, 2021) is one of my favorite 3 day weekend holidays. For me, it is the unofficial end of summer. Back when I was in youth services, I felt like I had maybe 15 minutes of a break in late August before I started all over with summer reading planning for the next year and getting ready for the next round of students. The Labor Day weekend was almost sacred in my book.

To celebrate Labor day, I have selected a few “labor” themed posts. To add on this, we would like to give a shout out to the Reuther archives. Just about everyone back in our day made a trip to the Walter P. Reuther Library/Archives as part of the intro to libraries course. The Reuther archives is the largest collection of labor archives in North America. If you are a history nerd, take a peak at some of the exhibits available.

Happy Labor Day weekend everyone!

High School Resumes

March 1, 2021 Mary Kelly Working 9-5 4 comments

Creating Your High School Resume
Troutman
1998

Of course anyone hanging around this site already knows, I have a serious issue with old career materials. Well, add this one to the pile of irritations. First, it is dated. Obviously the impact of technology changes how we even go about finding jobs. (Note the recommendation of using Alta Vista for searching.) Second, resumes for high school students seems a bit much. The subtitle implies college and post college too. If the title said High School, I doubt a college level student or post grad will think this is appropriate for their needs.

Offbeat Careers

January 29, 2021 Holly Working 9-5 6 comments

Offbeat Careers: The Directory of Unusual Work
Sacharow
1988

Submitter: Well, Al and I have very different opinions about what constitutes “offbeat.” Mainly things that aren’t actually careers, maybe not even jobs. Miss America? Game Show Contestant? Dated and just… odd. Mary may be interested in at least one of the careers listed! LOL!

All career books need careful curation, but this one was an easy weed!

Sexual Harassment for the 1990s

January 26, 2021 Mary Kelly Working 9-5 7 comments

The 9-5 Guide to Combating Sexual Harassment
Bravo and Cassedy
1992

In 1991, Anita Hill testified that she was sexually harassed by Clarence Thomas at his confirmation hearing. In my opinion, this was when sexual harassment became a mainstream discussion topic. I also remember watching the hearings on television. Fast forward to the mid 1990s, and the Monica Lewinsky scandal during the Clinton administration. Keep fast forwarding and you can add Robert Packwood, Mark Foley, Newt Gingrich, Gary Condit, Anthony Weiner, Mario Batali, Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, Roger Ailes, etc. You get the picture.

Executive Careers in the Time of COVID-19

December 10, 2020 Mary Kelly Working 9-5 9 comments

Executive Resume Book
Foxman
1988

This website started because I had some serious problems with old job hunting and resume books. Of course in 2007 and 2008, our area was hard hit. Our own collection was picked clean. The fact that I found several copies floating around was a bit irritating.

I will give credit to some chapters on what I will call a self-assessment. However, the discussions on using offset printing, paper, and other non-electronic issues is almost quaint. This book is so out of date, it’s ridiculous. The worst part was when I was helping people back in 2007/2008, the older people that were out of work for the first time since the 1980s thought advice like this was still the way to go.

Your call is important to us

September 28, 2020 Mary Kelly Working 9-5 10 comments

Telephone Courtesy & Customer Service
Finch
1987

Think of a customer service course you are being forced to attend. This is that workbook. It reminds me of something that would be mandated so someone can check off a box on a form. Of course one should use courtesy answering customer calls. They should also be mindful of word choice. However, some seriously big gaps exist in this training:

Customer emergency – someone on the line in trouble (health or whatever)
Angry customers – How do you handle those swearing and yelling?
Customer threats – this can run the gamut to mild intimidation up to a bomb threat

A step in the right direction?

August 10, 2020 Mary Kelly Ladies only!, Working 9-5 4 comments

The Complete Guide for the Working Mother
Albrecht
1967

This book is handy for all those women with money, household help, resources, etc. Even for 1967, this book is out of touch. Even though it probably only applies to less than 1% of working mothers, it does assert that household chores are not the sole responsibility of the mother and that parenting is a family responsibility. I think the author is trying hard to talk about some equality and parenting issues, but not quite ready to take it up a notch. Given the 1967 publication date, that is hardly surprising.

Best Way in the World for a Woman to make money

Women’s Work

August 3, 2020 Mary Kelly Ladies only!, Working 9-5 21 comments

The Best Way in the World for a Woman to Make Money
King
1979

This is one of those relics from the 1970s giving women some career advice. This time it is for a sales career. The book’s general premise is that a sales career can give women a serious leg up financially, and that women do better than their male counterparts. He asserts that women are more talented and intelligent that then men competing for the same jobs. Basically, the author believes that women are an untapped and overlooked resource. Women are supposedly more sociable, nurturing, and better suited to a people oriented career.

There is advice about presenting a more masculine resume. Supposedly, if you have a hobby like woodworking, it shows that you can comfortably deal with a man’s world. Typical of career books for women, there is advice about office decorum, dress, business lunch, etc.