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About
Chris Fontanella
Chris Fontanella is the founder of Encore Professionals Group, a professional services firm specializing in the identification and placement of accounting and finance candidates in temporary and permanent positions. He previously served as Division Director for Robert Half International and Client Service Director for Resources Global Professionals.
Prior to entering the staffing industry, he spent years studying theology and preparing for ministry, having received his bachelor’s degree from Oral Roberts University and his master’s from Fuller Theological Seminary. Chris is also the author of Against the Grain: Counterintuitive Ideas on Business and Life, a unique account of the atypical philosophies behind his own success in the competitive staffing industry.
Chris continues to provide staffing services through Encore while he explores the world of writing and publication.
Books by
Chris Fontanella
Looking for a meaningful work life?
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Are the dashboard lights of your career engine flashing?
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Trying to make sense of your journey?
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About
Jump-Start Your Career
Ten tips to get you going
Looking for a Meaningful Work Life?
You’ve just graduated college and embarked on your first “real” job. Now you’re asking yourself, “How will I do this for the next forty years?” What you need is a jolt of encouragement. While work is not life, it can be rewarding and noteworthy—even a calling.
Jump-Start Your Career is not a book of tips on resume writing and interviewing, or steps you should take to ascend the corporate ladder. It doesn’t tell you how to explain the gaps in your resume, how to negotiate your salary, or when to ask for a raise. You won’t learn how to exit a company without burning a bridge. In sum, it’s not a how-to manual.
Instead this is a guidebook to help shape who you are as a person, which in turn can shape your career. You’ll learn how to
- Identify the overarching theme that gives your life meaning
- Map out your career by finding your “area of exploration”
- Abandon inconsequential goals
- Concentrate more on getting the job done and less on getting credit
About
Tune Up Your Career
Tips & cautions for peak performance in the workplace
Are the Dashboard Lights of Your Career Engine Flashing?
You’ve worked for several employers, paid some dues, and attempted to climb the corporate ladder, but despite your years of experience, do you still find it hard to navigate the corporate world? Have you lost your drive? Has the evolution of your working life slowed, or worse yet, stalled?
If the answer to any of those questions is yes, you’d better take a look under the hood before it’s too late and learn to
- Take ownership of your career: Assume complete responsibility for your life of employment.
- Consider entrepreneurship: Take a hard look at whether you are meant to be in business for yourself.
- Take a broader view of “wrong” moves: Embrace a more positive perspective about the missteps taken on your career path.
- Realize a step down can be a step up: Learn to align yourself with a job that allows you to be true to yourself.
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About
Against the Grain
Counterintuitive Ideas on Business and Life
The unique story of success and the atypical philosophies behind one man’s achievements. It’s an account of Chris Fontanella’s journey from the ministry to the staffing industry and lessons learned along the way. This book offers entrepreneurs, salespeople, and anyone who believe alternate views and approaches and being true to oneself, an insightful outlook on how to achieve one’s goals.
Media
“A Refreshing Perspective on Career Building”
The Book Revue
5-star Review by Lisa Patrick: New Book Discusses How to Take Ownership of Your Career Path by
“Jump-Start Your Career”
GritDaily.com
Interview by Peter Page: New Book Discusses How to Take Ownership of Your Career Path by
“Planning Your Career”
AllBusiness.com
You’ve just started your career or are about to. Images dance in your head: you as the architect behind the hottest new app or video game; you as a New York Times best-selling author after writing your first book; you as the CEO of a media empire . . .YOU—the latest overnight success story to hit the scene.
“Five Things You Need to Create a Highly Successful Startup”
Authority Magazine
If you are interested in learning tips that make a startup successful, check out this question-and-answer session with Authority Magazine, a Medium publication devoted to sharing in-depth interviews, featuring people who are authorities in Business, Pop Culture, Wellness, Social Impact, and Tech with millions of monthly readers.
“5 Keys that Make a Startup Successful”
Startup Nation
To learn more about the keys to a successful startup, check out my article posted at Startup Nation, an entrepreneurship site with 150,000 monthly readers.
To learn more about how to spot signs of trouble at your place of employment, check out my article posted on Careerbright, a popular self-help career website with 100,000 monthly visitors.
“Envisioning Your Future as an Entrepreneur”
Young Upstarts
YoungUpstarts is an online business resource for startup entrepreneurs, small business owners, idea people, and intrapreneurs, or those who simply want to become better at what they do.
“The Mouse in the Maze”
CEO World
CEO World is a leading business magazine written for CEOS, CFOS, top managers, investors, executives and business leaders with 1 million monthly readers.
“How to Take Ownership of Your Career”
YFS Magazine
YFS Magazine is the definitive digital magazine for startups, small business, and entrepreneurship culture.
