"Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is." - Isaac Asimov

Josh Kaufman started The Personal MBA during his senior year in college as he was preparing to enter his career at P#38;G as an Assistant Brand Manager. He realized that many of his peers would be fresh recruits from top 15 MBA programs, and he wanted to make sure he had the knowledge, background and skills that his peers would have.

In this case, Kaufman realized that an MBA certificate may not be necessarymdash;he already had the job, so why not just study on his own? He started his studies as a side projectmdash;reading, researching and eventually sharing what he had learned with others.

The Personal MBA has now been featured in BusinessWeek, Fast Company, BNET and other popular sites and publications.

"If you care about what you're learning about, you'll retain much more, you'll be able to use much more and what you learn is going to be thousands of time more valuable, because you'll actually be able to apply it." mdash;Josh Kaufman

Josh Kaufman's recommended reading for those starting their careers:

The Simplicity Survival Handbook: 32 Ways To Do Less And Accomplish More

The Unwritten Laws of Business

Read the full Personal MBA Recommended Reading List