Title: Brilliant job hunter’s manual
Author: Fagan Angela
Publisher: Prentice Hall
ISBN 0-273-66315-1
Price: £12.99
Reviewer: Kevin Igoe
The job-hunting experience is one many of us have difficulty coming to terms with. Even employers can have difficulty with the recruitment process. Angela Fagan’s book sets out to make the process much easier by explaining the process in detail from both the employers and the job hunter’s perspective.

This book comes as something of a surprise package. It is billed as “your complete guide to getting the job you want” but it not only offers detailed guidance to the individual but also contains information which recruiters would do well to read. I have recruited staff for many years and still found the book to be a very useful refresher.

Angela Fagan provides some genuinely thought provoking insights into the whole recruitment procedure – from planning the C.V., finding which jobs to apply for, how to apply, interview pointers to negotiating job offers. The book is packed with useful tips throughout, even to the point that it lists specialist agencies.

It is quite frank where necessary, pulling no punches. For example, the job interviewee is advised to remember; “this is an interview, not a confession.” There are also numerous quotes from the likes of Will Rogers; “Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”

The book is very well written. It is set out in a manner which makes it very easy to read and digest. Angela Fagan is clearly very experienced and has given more than superficial thought to the contents of her book.

It was refreshing to read her acceptance that not all employment consultants are good.

This fact will be recognised by many people who have come across faceless, unhelpful individuals who clearly have little interest in the needs of either the job hunter or the employer.

She stresses the importance of remembering the fact that they are salespeople and if you are unhappy you should find another one. It is not necessarily the fault of the job hunter if they are unsuccessful at a particular agency.

Another section of the book refers to Career Counsellors. These are firms who are paid by the job hunter to help them find a job. These can be very expensive and their fees run into thousands of pounds.

My tip to all would-be job hunters is to obtain a copy of this book. It will give you greater understanding, confidence and potentially save you time and money. In many respects it really is brilliant!

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