On the Job: How to Make It in the Real World of Work [Paperback]

Stephen Viscusi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 24, 2001

No amount of career counseling is going to help you figure out how to get a coworker to quit snooping through your e-mail, how to deal with an underground romance that has accidentally become public knowledge, or how to regroup and save face after a disastrous client meeting. Finally, here’s a book that explains how the world of work really operates, and how to navigate it.

On the Job combines the hard-hitting advice of Stephen Viscusi, one of today’s best-known experts on job-related problems, with enlightening “this could happen to you” scenarios and true-life stories. In this manual for every kind of on-the-job predicament, Viscusi provides strategies for:
* Keeping your balance and sanity in an unpredictable and frequently unfair world
* Establishing an identity that reflects your skills and goals — but not your most intimate secrets
* Communicating effectively in every venue, from meetings to e-mails to gossip

Whether you’re starting out on your first job or you’ve been at it for twenty years, On the Job is the only book about working you’ll ever need.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Viscusi, the "Ann Landers" for the workplace, offers advice for dealing with the exigencies of the workaday world. The head of an executive search firm, he is best known for his radio show of the same name, which deals with workplace issues. While employers often focus on whether or not a person is capable of doing the job, almost as important is whether a person will do the job and fit in as well. There is a fine line, for example, between asking enough relevant questions and asking too many questions. On the Job offers newcomers to the world of employment a primer for dealing with their current workplaces as well as larger career issues. The book deals with practical measures and will be of use to most people just starting their working careers. Recommended for general collections. Steven Silkunas, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, Philadelphia
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Viscusi heads one of New York City's 10 largest executive search firms and dispenses work and career-related advice as host of "On the Job," a nationally syndicated radio call-in program. He now summarizes the insights he has gleaned and the advice he has proffered after interviewing thousands of job candidates and talking with his radio listeners. He suggests that our "work-life puzzle" can be broken down into seven primary pieces. First, he emphasizes that "your career is whatever job you hold today." Second, work can be unfair, so "get over it!" Third, keep work and personal lives separate. In turn, he then looks at workplace relationships, communication, and advancement and career planning. Throughout, he uses highlighted boxes to illustrate both positive ("way to go") and negative ("wrong turn") examples and to summarize key points. Always focusing on practical matters, Viscusi repeatedly emphasizes that if one masters the job, a career will follow. David Rouse
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press; 1 edition (April 24, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0609806866
• ISBN-13: 978-0609806869
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,676,398 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Trenchant and true., July 24, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: On the Job: How to Make It in the Real World of Work (Paperback)

Viscusi knows the way of the workplace, and his advice is always insightful and to the point. There are great strategies here for how to think about your work life (and he convinces it is a work life, separate from your other life), so that you're sane both on and off the job, and so that you're positioned to make the most of job/career every day. A must-have for anyone starting a new job, whether entering work for the first time or re-entering after change of career or time off.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Advice for Today, May 13, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: On the Job: How to Make It in the Real World of Work (Paperback)

This book not only helped me to understand the employer's side of the job search, but was a major contributor to allowing me to implement a plan for landing the job that I wanted.

It was written in a great format; plain and simple; to the point and informative. I not only learned so much about the job hunting experience, but was immensely entertained by the anecdotes and experiences imparted by the author. This book is truly a must-have for anyone and everyone in today's workforce.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For every graduate -and then some, May 24, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: On the Job: How to Make It in the Real World of Work (Paperback)

The best career coach $... can buy. A great read w/ captivating side bars. Never got boring. I'm buying them for everyone who is graduating from college, and graduate school. As important as "What Color Is My Parachute" was at its time.