James Michael Farr founded JIST Publishing and was a nationally recognized job search expert, multi-award winner and best-selling author of more than 20 career books, including The Quick Resume & Cover Letter Book and Getting the Job You Really Want. He passed away in December 2010.
Widely known as America’s Career Expert, Farr was an important figure in the self-directed job search movement. His passion was empowering job seekers with the knowledge and skills they needed to take control of their own job searches, so that they’d be less reliant on outplacement and vocational services and counselors to find jobs for them.
In 1981, Farr founded JIST, which has been one of the nation’s largest career publishing houses for nearly 30 years. Farr’s ground-breaking job search and career planning books have sold more than 2 million copies and dominate the career shelves of bookstores and libraries across the nation. Farr is the primary author of the Best Jobs series, Top Careers series, and The Quick Resume & Cover Letter Book.
During his lifetime, Farr received numerous awards and recognitions for his work. His books Getting the Job You Really Want, The Very Quick Job Search and Best Jobs for the 21st Century were finalists or winners of Benjamin Franklin Awards. Several videos based on Farr’s job search expertise and book content also have won prestigious Telly, Communicator, WorldFest, NY Film Festival and Videographer awards.