If My Career's on the Fast Track, Where Do I Get a Road Map? [Hardcover]

Anne Fisher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 3, 2001

Here, finally, is the essential guide for navigating the tumultuous, often exhilarating, and sometimes perplexing job market of the New Economy.

Inspired by the questions and concerns of her millions of readers and fans, Anne Fisher, author of Fortune magazine's immensely popular column "Ask Annie," has woven together the advice and expertise of countless professionals (along with the personal stories of both entry- and upper-level employees) into a comprehensive career guide. "Annie" uses her sassy, engaging, and funny voice to take you from your first job out of school to the big corner office.

If My Career's on the Fast Track, Where Do I Get a Road Map? offers unique advice on:what to do after graduation how to move your career ahead dealing with toxic colleagues failing or being fired, and how to bounce back useful tips for new and seasoned managers

Fisher also provides an appendix with further sources of information, including websites, books, trade associations, and professional groups, and a detailed index that allows you to quickly zero in on the answers to your particular concerns.

Along the way, Fisher addresses such issues as figuring out what you really want from your career and your life; asking for a raise or a promotion (but only if you know you really deserve one -- and how to tell whether you do); identifying skeletons in the closet; getting an MBA -- and whether you really need one; working from home; networking (even if you're shy or if it feels "fake"); dealing with stress; knowing when it's time to move on to your next job -- or your new career; and knowing how to hire the best and the brightest (and how to keep them!).

Fisher shares fresh and surprising insights into how technology and the internet have shaped your role as an employee and offers tips on how to use the Web to get a job that's really right for you.

If My Career's on the Fast Track, Where Do I Get a Road Map? is full of levelheaded advice that will help and reassure anyone who wants to get ahead in his or her career and have some real fun with it, too.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Fisher (Wall Street Women) is a career advice columnist for Fortune magazine who also maintains a popular web site, www.askannie.com. Like Fisher's columns, this book is written for college graduates who are on the corporate executive track. Within this context, Fisher's book covers a wide variety of topics, as the titles of the various chapters indicate (e.g., "So You've Graduated from College. Now All You Need Is...More Advice?"; "Now That You're the Boss"). Fisher frequently cites the readers of her column by reproducing, as sidebars, the questions that they have posed and her responses. Her advice is honest, balanced, and diplomatic throughout, particularly in the section on online job hunting and in the chapter on how to cope with difficult bosses and co-workers. Many readers will appreciate her advice on cubicle etiquette ("Pretend you overhear nothing, ever, in a cubicle or anywhere else"). Fisher's references to dotcoms and the ongoing labor shortage make the book current but may also date it rather quickly; however, the extensive appendix, which lists the print resources to which she refers and annotates the electronic ones, is valuable in and of itself. Suitable for career collections in public and academic libraries but also for career counseling centers. Cheryl Van Til, Kent Dist. Lib., Grand Rapids, MI
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Fisher writes a regular career advice column called "Ask Annie" for Fortune, and her own Web site attracts seven million page views each month. She admits to not being a "career expert"; instead, she claims to be a "pretty good reporter" who knows how to listen. The guidance she dispenses comes from conversations with hundreds of consultants, coaches, lawyers, executives, recruiters, managers, and other experts she has interviewed for her columns. Her advice is sensible, savvy, and hip. Fisher covers job-hunting for the new graduate; how to get ahead once a job is landed; how to deal with office politics ("difficult bosses, toxic coworkers, and other irritants"); how to handle the complications of success and failure (stress, lay offs, etc.); and how to make the transition to being boss. She includes many of the questions she has received along with the answers she provided. An appendix has a bibliography and a list of Web sites that will be invaluable to any librarian responsible for building collections or maintaining Web pages. David Rouse
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1st edition (April 3, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 068817387X
• ISBN-13: 978-0688173876
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,970,707 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars If you read her column, you've read the book., June 28, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: If My Career's on the Fast Track, Where Do I Get a Road Map? (Hardcover)

The information is pedantic and dated; much of it is a compilation of Fisher's Fortune columns. While it might be appropriate for someone with no knowledge of the workplace, it is a rehash of concepts from other authors. "First, Break All the Rules" by Buckingham and Coffman is a far better resource.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally the inside track, April 4, 2001

By 

"chintzy" (Katonah, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: If My Career's on the Fast Track, Where Do I Get a Road Map? (Hardcover)

I'm a big fan of the Ask Annie column in Fortune Magazine. But, wow, this book of hers is even better. It covers everything-- from how to get hired to how to fire once you're the boss. But what I really love is her down-to-earth tone: she talks right to you. She is way smart, but very nice about it, and funny, too. If you want the inside track on the job world, this is the book. She knows everything. A fantastic appendix of web sites, articles, you name it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great way to rejuvenate a sagging career, April 3, 2001

By 

Tom Jones - See all my reviews

This review is from: If My Career's on the Fast Track, Where Do I Get a Road Map? (Hardcover)

What a fun read! Annie not only provides answers to questions you never thought to ask, she also taps into her vast network of workplace experts to offer professional advice and personal assurance. In addition to the numerous helpful quotations from noted authors and respected practioners cited in every chapter, the appendix contains references and resources that are priceless. It's no wonder her weekly column "Ask Annie" has such a large following. This book deserves to be a best seller. Well done Annie and thanks for sharing your collective wisdom.