Customer Reviews

Now What?: The Young Person's Guide to Choosing the Perfect Career

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Hello folks, this is my first review on Amazon. yay. I'm not much of a critic and I hate to bash on other people's work, but I really felt the need to give my two cents about this book.

I'm in my mid-twenties who wants a career change and I plan on reading a handful of these self help books. A few weeks ago I completed Richard Bolles' Parchute 2009 book and thought it was awesome. I was fully engaged from page one and enjoyed all the exercises.

For my next book, I debated between Lore's Pathfinder and Now What?, and decided on the latter because I thought it would have updated info based on this rough job market.

Chapters 1,2 and the first part of 3 are fine. Lore briefly explains why a career that fits you benefits various aspects of your life and how tradition methods of career placement usually fail (i.e college career centers, parents, etc....) The last part of Chapter 3 is what kills it for me. He explains that if I truly want to find my perfect career, I should invest $500-600 on a personality testing program conducted by various organizations including the Rockport Institute which, duh, he started and owns. While he's at it, he should've pitch in a timeshare in Tahoe... he might have sold me! It was just awkward. He might have been able to get away with it if he worded it differently and maybe mentioned it toward the end of the book. Instead I was stuck with the mentality that I just spent my $$$ on something that the author just admitted isn't the best thing for me. Laaaame.

Everything that followed was just as lame. "The Career Design Toolkit" exercise, which is supposed to be the meat of the book, doesn't come until about chapter 15. Yet he uses most of the previous chapters to explain how the Toolkit will work and how great it's going to be for me. It's quite boring, confusing and irritating.

Actually, I'm at Chapter 16 and I don't feel I can go further. In 16 chapters, I've discover that I want a fufilling job that makes me happy, I'm an ISFP (which I've known since high school) and that I'm an introverted Maestro... whatever that means.

So, on to my next book! And hopefully it will lead me to write a more positive review to make up for this crappy one! Actually, I'm going to write a nice review on the Parachute book. I highly recommend it!

As a young professional who devoted so much time and energy to a career I thought I would love, it was disheartening to realize after 4 years and 2 companies that I hated what I was doing. I had no idea how to figure out what to do next... then I found my guide - my career coach and co-author of this book, Anthony Spadafore.

I spent the last few months working with Anthony (www.pathfinderscareerdesign.com) and became a guinea pig of sorts as he helped me navigate my way utilizing this new book. Each chapter is filled with relevant and purposeful information, as well as meaningful inquiries to help you dig deep inside and really put some thought behind what you want to do for the rest of your life! You spend so much of your life at work... too much to be miserable and hate what you do. Don't you owe it to yourself to find what truly makes you happy, what satisfies you and empowers you? I think you do and this new book will help you do that.

Unlike any other career-related program I've personally experienced or seen advertised, this book steps outside of that box and takes you down 3 separate paths that ultimately come together as one when you are ready to design your career: 1 - Natural Talents, 2 - Meaning & Subject Matter, 3 - Workplace Environment.

This book goes against everything we are taught about choosing a career. I am willing to bet that most of you heard this question asked of you many times - "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Typically, you would answer with a job title such as "doctor", "fireman", "President of the United States", etc. Whatever your little heart desired - you can be anything! Well, I don't know about you, but the thought of "anything" was a bit overwhelming. And it's awfully disappointing to start down a career path, investing time, money, and energy into something you end up hating.

I encourage you to read this book and learn how to approach it from the other side. Instead of picking the title first, try backing into it - figure out the components first, then find the title that meets your criteria. This book will help you with that - every step of the way.

My biggest revelation that came about as a result of this process was that I didn't need to stuff myself into a career "box" that didn't fit. And for the last 4 years of my life, that is exactly what I was trying to do. It's no wonder I hated my job. It didn't fit who I was or what I desired - talents, meaning, environment and all. Instead, I made the choice to design a career "box" that fits me for who I am... not the other way around.

I successfully completed Anthony's career change program using this book just a short time ago. Now, I am making choices and taking chances to pursue the new career that I designed... for me and me alone. I am a success story - a positive result of using this book.

If you are truly serious about finding a career that fits, and you are willing to put the time and energy into this process, then you are in the right place. Buy this book and start down your new path.

Lore picks up where he left off with the "Pathfinder." His first book helped mid-career people shed damaging expectations, peel back the myths that our society places on work, and realize they could get or even create jobs that make them happy while focusing on the things they're actually good at. In many cases, the generation helped by the "Pathfinder" spent years or decades in jobs that made other people happy.

"Now What?" can help students and younger workers save that time and make smart decisions earlier than we did.

After a failed summer job search, I ended up spending my last summer before moving out of my parents' house working through this book. It definitely takes some time, if you want to get the full benefit of it. The layout is a bit confusing - Lore spends the entire first half telling us why it's so important that we find the right job (before we've even got an idea of the right direction), setting goals (before we know what goals we should be setting) and how to commit (before we've any idea what to commit to).

There are also lots of optional tests throughout and lists and charts in the back, and it's not always clear what's connected to what. Lore also insists that we understand certain things about ourselves and the way we think, and then fails to clearly connect these things to careers. If everything were a bit more mixed in and the instructions were more clear and step-by-step, this would be a five-star book. After spending about two months slowly working through it, often a few hours a day, I've narrowed my choices down from "just about anything" to two careers, and that weight off my shoulders is more than worth the work.

I got this from the library and then decided I needed to own my own copy. I homeschool. I wanted my high school daughter to start thinking about what she wanted to be when she grew up. I started flipping through the book and ended up reading it myself. Its a great read. She's only 14, mature and smart, but even at 14 she can follow the path in the book and develop lots of ideas. Highly recommend. I had first gotten her the teen book What Color is your Parachute? I had used the adult version and thoroughly enjoyed it. But this did not help her. It might be ok for a college aged person. But she was suppose to do alot of activities drawing on her experiences. Most high schoolers dont have alot of experiences. This book however draws upon her talents and preferences.

If you're a parent or stepparent challenged by how best to support your kids as they enter the 'real world', or a young person struggling to find your way professionally, or a counselor/educator/mentor dedicated to making a difference in the lives of the next generation, please heed my suggestion to run out and buy this book. Like Lore's first best-seller, THE PATHFINDER, NOW WHAT? is an equally life-altering experience! A must, must, must read.

I read The Pathfinder first, which confirmed my feelings that I was in the wrong career. It also gave me the "kick in the butt" to resign. I was interested in testing and so did this through the Rockport Institute. It was extremely informative, useful and fun. I then started working with Nicholas Lore as my career coach and he suggested I read Now What. I hadn't bought the book initially because it states that it's for young adults starting a career and I was in mid-career. The book, however, was also very enlightening and useful in a different way than the other above elements. The activities in the book really do point you towards a career and makes the whole daunting process do-able. I have since recommended this book to many people and it has been raved about by people of all ages, backgrounds and skill levels. This book is the most useful career guide of the five books I've read. I highly recommend it.

I'm one of the many 20-somethings struggling to figure out what to do with my life and dealing with all the obstacles you encounter solving this conundrum. I can readily think of at least three sentences out of the 50+ pages I've read so far that seemed to have been written in direct response to my own thoughts. It's nice to know that you're not alone and that others have faced the same questions you have. That being said, Lore doesn't peddle easy answers. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to put some time in figuring out what they want, what they need, what they're good at, and the difference between the three. This book will then help you figure out how that pertains to your career choice. I've not finished the book yet, but so far, it gets an A+.

I purchased this book for my niece, who is a college sophmore and struggling with what to do with her life. We spent an afternoon going through several chapters and quizes. We found the book to be very enlightening. It confirmed a direction she was considering and gave her confidence to pursue her passion.

I am now purchasing the book to use with my son, who is a high school senior. Now What provides a variety of personal assessments that really help a young adult see why they would be good in a particular field or work environment. I wished my high school counselor had a similar book when I was a teen.

Nick Lore has written a book that takes career choice seriously while writing in a tone that is light enough to be read. He has moved so far past those ridiculously unhelpful "aptitudes and interests" tests foisted upon high school and college students that it does this book a disservice by putting it in the same category as those tests.

As an industrial-organizational psychologist, I have been impressed by the growing sophistication with which employers are trying to fit the person to the job and to the organization. A wide array of tests, screening mechanisms, and sophisticated recruitment strategies attest to the high value employers see in getting a good fit.

Yet, the other side of the coin -- the young person's act of choosing a career -- has received far less attention and care. For the most part, the process and thinking behind such a critical choice is haphazard at best.

"Now What?" doesn't sugar-coat this process. On the contrary, Mr. Lore portrays career choice as a profoundly difficult process that involves time and dedication. It is probably better to think of this book as a workbook than a mere self-help book.

Yet, for the person who takes the time -- perhaps measured in weeks or months -- to work through Mr. Lore's process, there is the distinct promise that he or she will end up in that blessed minority of people who truly love their work.

It has been years since I insisted that my 18-year-old son read a particular book. Until now. He's got his own copy now, as will his 14-year-old brother in a couple of years. I'll be helping both of them work through the steps Mr. Lore outlines "Now What?" until we're all the way through the process. I'm confident they'll see my gift of this book to them as I see Lore's gift to us: as an act of love.