Writer, Agilist, Elder Geek
There's a principle in the psychological theory/techniques known as Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) – you cannot NOT communicate. That's worth remembering in your career (and indeed, your whole life).
Humans are social animals and are communicating constantly. In your career, of course, communication is important, which is why I wanted to do a separate essay on this.
If you're not sick hearing about Social Media, you're a stronger person than I am. I'm a blatant technophile living in a home with multiple Wii's, X-boxes, DSes, and more computers than actual users. Despite this, *I* am getting a bit tired of hearing about social media.
Of course this isn't going to stop me from talking about it, because taking social media for granted is actually a source of trouble.
Namely, when you get to used to it, you miss making a backup plan. Since Social Media is a big part of our lives and careers and job searches, you'll want one.
I read books on careers, personal branding, the job search, and so on. It's part of my life, part of my hobby (here), and in general I'm a self improvement nut.
However, let's also be honest, books can get pricey and there are also moments when you buy that business book or advice book and find it's not for you.
My advice is, that unless the book is useless (which in that case, head to the used book store), circulate the books among friends. Make that $20 or $30 you spent mean something – in some cases, others may get more use out of it than you. It also means a mediocre book gets a chance to be actually useful once it goes through a few hands.
There are plenty of really good books out there on jobs and careers. This is a method I strongly recommend in order to help each other out.
– Steven Savage