aerospace

I have given a great many lectures on finding jobs, writing resumes, and getting ahead in the aerospace industry. Jim Longuski's book is by far the most important contribution to this subject that has been created to date.

The book is well researched, well-written, and easy to read. If you're a student thinking about a career in aerospace or a young professional getting started on your career, you need this book. It's practical advice packaged in a way that fun to read.

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The author, Jim Longuski, is a professor of aeronautics and astronautics at Purdue University. He also worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) for nine years, so he knows what he is talking about.

This book grew out of a lecture that he gives to graduating seniors called "What Your Professor Never Taught You." The subject might be described as "career advice", but it is quite different from other books of that sort. The writing style is friendly and conversational, with lots of anecdotes and humor. I found it hard to stop reading.

Broadly speaking, there are two parts to the book: "surviving and thriving in industry" and "thriving and surviving in academia." (Professor Longuski has done both.) Some of the chapter titles are:

It Doesn't Take a Rocket Scientist to Be a Rocket Scientist.
Does This Mean You Have to Kiss Butt?
What if My Boss is Incompetent?
Why You Need Two Resumes.
How to Survive Your First Two Weeks on the Job.
How to Give a Presentation to Rocket Scientists.
Why Working on Your Ph.D. is Fun.
How Not to Give an Academic Interview.
The Academic Seminar for Hire.
What it Takes to Get Tenure.

Professor Longuski wrote this book because he really cares about his students and wants them to be happy with their lives. I think that anyone in engineering or science could learn something from it --- and be entertained too!

- Troy McConaghy (one of Jim Longuski's graduate students)

I really enjoyed this book. It is brief, has short chapters, is easy to read and has plenty of humor. Trying to figure out what I should do, I have read a few carreer books myself but became exremely bored with them very fast, because they would just spend too much time with unnecessary information e.g. statistics/surveys to support their arguments and plenty of analysis. This book has non of that. If I had a chance to ask the authors of the other carreer books one question, it would be: So, what are you NOT telling me? This book is the answer to that. Having worked in the industry for several years, I am very confident to make this assesment. I can also say, that many of the tips in this book can be applied not only to the US but to Europe as well.