Career Management & Work-Life Integration: Using Self-Assessment to Navigate Contemporary Careers (Hardcover)

by Brad Harrington (Author), Douglas T. Hall (Author)
Key Phrases: career autobiography, work arrangement working, current work hours, United States, The Self-Assessment Process, Career Development Over the Lifespan (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Back around the turn of the century, I was on the Alliance for Work-Life Progress board, and some of the board members found their jobs and offices being downsized as a fairly lengthy recession set in. I have been in touch with many of these folks since then, and they have all done well, but mainly by changing careers. What they really needed was Career Management and Work-Life Integration, by Brad Harrington and Douglas Hall (2007). As the authors note, job ladders inside of corporations (and job security) are largely a thing of the past. For young or mature adults, the implications of that shift are enormous. Specializing can be dangerous, and making yourself indispensable may not be a great idea. So individual career planning becomes on one level more difficult and less useful because the unexpected is always just around the corner, but on another level far more important if you don't want to end up stuck doing work you don't like for a company you like even less... And this really is a work-family book, which is anything but surprising once you take in the implications of modern careers: the difficulties of navigating contemporary careers are heavily compounded for modern families, where dual-earners are the norm, and fathers as well as mothers expect to devote substantial time to children and, increasingly, elderly parents and relatives. And corporate work-life policies become important for a reason that is often downplayed: attracting talent. My reading of most of the literature on the business case for work-life is that it tends to emphasize talent retention. But that may be the wrong angle if the problem is getting the right people, and planning on fairly short 'career' duration. I should mention that much of the book is very much practical, with exercises designed to draw out the reader's values, aspirations, history, and family situation in order to make sense of -- and plan for -- the future. I highly recommend it for that practical
purposes, but genuinely enjoyed it as a contribution to rethinking the way work & family will play out in the future. Great stuff!” (Bob Drago Newsletter )

"Its key features develop a bridge between theory and application, offering a rigorous self-assessment process and providing a more thorough experiential view than most existing books." (Johnson Thomas Business India )

Product Description
Career Management & Work/Life Integration: Using Self-Assessment to Navigate Contemporary Careers is a comprehensive, easy-to-follow guide to managing contemporary careers. Although grounded in theory, the book also provides an extensive set of exercises and activities that can guide career management over the lifespan. Authors Brad Harrington and Douglas T. Hall offer a highly useful self-assessment guide for students and other individuals who want to deal with the challenge of succeeding in a meaningful career while living a happy, well-balanced life.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 248 pages
• Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc (May 16, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 141295410X
• ISBN-13: 978-1412954105
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,342,709 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Useful inside and outside of the classroom, May 28, 2008

By	D. MacLaughlin (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Career Management & Work-Life Integration: Using Self-Assessment to Navigate Contemporary Careers (Paperback)

I used this book as a textbook during graduate school, but found its application reached far outside the classroom. It was a quick and interesting read providing a balance of theory, exercises, and anecdotes. I found the exercises to be exceptionally useful. Performing a self-assessment using various tools helped me identify the values that are most important to me. Additional exercises, such as drafting a 10-year plan, helped me identify which jobs would enable me to reach my career and personal goals.

I would recommend this book to anyone struggling to decide "what they want to do" as well as people looking to achieve a better work-life balance. When I started reading the book, I was unsure what my next career move should be. When I finished, I felt confident in my next move, and now have a career plan based on my goals and desired lifestyle.

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Guide for Today's Working Parents, June 18, 2008

By	Stephen Tuttle - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Career Management & Work-Life Integration: Using Self-Assessment to Navigate Contemporary Careers (Paperback)

Career Management and Work-Life Integration provides excellent career information and many great self-assessment activities. The main point of the book is that we all need to take control of our own careers given that no employer these days will do it for us. Beyond making this important point, the book then provides ways for the reader to understand what is happening in the world of work, and how best to manage their career in order to maximize personal and professional success.

As a working father with two young children and a demanding job, I found the book provides an excellent "how to" guide to better understanding and approaching the always difficult issue of striking the right balance. While I did not complete all the exercises in the book, I could see myself returning to it as a resource at different stages of my career/life. Overall, an excellent and highly useful read for any working people, especially working parents.