The Wall Street Journal Guide to Building Your Career

For most young professionals, the journey from the bottom rung of the proverbial career ladder to that mythical corner office can seem daunting, if not interminable. But it doesn't have to be. Here, Wall Street Journal Career editor Jennifer Merritt shows you how to lay the foundation and get a head start in the race to the top of your chosen profession.Most career books offer tips for landing a job, scoring a promotion, securing a payslip. Instead, this book offers a step-by-step approach to building the kind of career that offers personal fulfilment, intellectual challenges, and a path to that corner office you always dreamed of. Whether your ultimate destination is to lead an investment group at a bank, be director of marketing for your favourite brand, hit the partner track at a law firm, or nab a leadership role at a non-profit organisation - The Wall Street Journal Guide to Building Your Career will put you on the fast track.As the careers editor for The Wall Street Journal and the author of three columns and a blog on career topics, few people know more about the career landscape than Merritt. At a time when blue-collar jobs are rapidly vanishing and the competition for professional jobs is fiercer than ever, the need for a book helping young professionals lay the foundation for a successful career has never been greater.

The former careers editor for The Wall Street Journal and previously a management education editor at BusinessWeek, JENNIFER MERRITT has written and edited career stories for the past decade. In 2008, Jennifer developed the Journal's Second Acts column as well as 90 Days, a regular column about tackling the first 90 days of any career change. She is currently an editor at Thompson Reuters.