Books and Guides: for moments when a blog post isn’t enough
The guides below, written by me, expand on ideas that appear throughout the blog in greater detail.
Each links to a dedicated page with more details, so you can decide whether it’s right for you.
How These Books and Guides Are Different
Most career advice focuses on what to do.
These guides focus on how things are interpreted before you ever get feedback. They come from conversations behind closed doors.
They’re written for people who:
- Have experience, but feel stalled
Keep doing the “right things” without seeing movement
Sense decisions are being made they’re not part of
Want to understand the system, not just improve outputs.
These guides aren’t designed to be skimmed.
They’re designed to change how you think about decisions that affect your career.
Each guide stands on its own. You don’t need to read them all. You just need the one that matches the situation you’re in right now.
The Field Guides (25-30 page range)
Each one goes deeper into a specific part of the job search or workplace decision-making process. Not with scripts or templates, but with context.
How decisions are made. What’s actually being evaluated. And where people unintentionally lose leverage.
If you’re looking for quick tips, the blog is the right place to start.
If you want to understand the system behind the outcome, these guides are where that thinking lives.
Networking: The Unspoken Rules
The unspoken rules for effective networking
📘 See the Guide: →Networking Guide
Cover Letters That Get Read
How cover letters are actually read and why most don’t help.
📘 See the Guide: →Cover Letter Guide
Declined After the Phone Interview
Why are qualified candidates screened out without feedback?
📘 See the Guide: → Declined After a Phone Interview
The Career Reality Series of Books (120 – 130 page range)
How Managers Decide, Remember, and Defend Your Work | The Hidden Logic Behind Promotions, Protection, and Opportunity
How Managers remember your work, predict your performance, and defend our work.
📘 See the Book: → How Managers Decide, Remember, and Defend Your Work
Prefer reading on Kindle?
How Managers Decide, Remember, and Defend Your Work is also available on Amazon Kindle for readers who prefer Amazon delivery.
Before the Interview | How Resumes Are Interpreted
An insider’s view of how resumes are interpreted before anyone talks to you.
📘 See the Book: → Before the Interview
FREE Resources, and will always be free
Laid Off Survival Guide
What to do in the first 24 hours when a layoff happens.
📘 See the Guide:
👉View the PDF for Desktop and Printing: Laid Off Survival Guide P
👉View the EPUB Mobile Friendly: Laid Off Survival Guide M
(Free Direct Download – No Email Required)
Access & Format
All guides are delivered digitally and hosted via Gumroad.
Access is immediate, and each guide is designed to be revisited when the stakes are high.
These aren’t meant to be read once and forgotten.
They’re meant to be used and notated when decisions are being made without you in the room.
Books are also available on Kindle.
Why Some Guides Are Free
Some moments are already expensive.
When someone has just been laid off, charging for basic orientation doesn’t feel right.
Those guides are free on purpose.
They’re meant to reduce panic, restore footing, and help people make better next decisions before anything else.
These guides were written by the founder of HRNasty, based on years of experience reviewing and advising on hiring decisions
New guides are added regularly. This page will always reflect what’s currently available.
