Sink Or Swim!: New Job. New Boss. 12 Weeks to Get It Right. [Paperback]

Milo Sindell (Author), Thuy Sindell (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1593375409 | ISBN-13: 978-1593375409 | Publication Date: April 15, 2006 | Edition: 2

In today's job market, finding a new position entails a substantial amount of work. However, getting yes doesn't mean getting a break. Most new employees are thrown into their positions with little or no orientation and must either "sink or swim' in the first 90 days - or face termination. This book shows readers how to be a performer from day one. With week-by-week charts, and straightforward, no B.S. information, this book enables any new employee, in any industry to decode the company's culture, discern what the priorities should be and survive and thrive in the first twelve weeks.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Everyone starting a new job must have this book under their arm at work and under their pillow at night." -- Jeffrey Fox, Bestselling Author “How to Become CEO”

"Great! This book is the perfect toolkit to get maximum impact from the critical first three months on the job." -- Ken Siegel, Partner Morrison & Foerster

"New employees who follow this program will no doubt achieve success." -- Kirkus Reviews, April 2006

"Sink of Swim greatly increases the new person's control over his/her success..." -- Ellen Johnston, Director, Leadership Development Siebel Systems

"Sink or Swim is the most practical guideline for starting a new job that I have ever seen." -- Marshall Goldsmith, Forbes Top 5 Coach & Executive Educator

"The ultimate guide for new hires..." -- Beverly Kaye, author of Wallstreet Journal bestseller Love 'Em or Loose 'Em

The book is...particularly useful for young workers, especially those new grads making their first steps into the working world -- The Washington Post, Sunday, June 18, 2006

About the Author

Milo T. Sindell has developed career training and employee integration programs for disabled adults and has worked with top businesses on Generation X employee retention strategies. He has also held senior management positions for several Fortune 500 organisations. Thuy Sindell is Director for Client Services and a leadership coach for Mariposa Leadership Inc., a premier provider of consulting and coaching services for Fortune 100 companies. Dr. Sindell's recent clients include Cisco, The Gap and Hewlett Packard.

Product Details

• Paperback: 316 pages
• Publisher: Adams Media; 2 edition (April 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593375409
• ISBN-13: 978-1593375409
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #718,359 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

88 of 94 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mediocre, December 20, 2006

By 

jeffnc "jeffnc" (Raleigh, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sink Or Swim!: New Job. New Boss. 12 Weeks to Get It Right. (Paperback)

Be knowledgeable about your industry. Be knowledgable about your company. Be knowledgeable about your required job skills. Communicate well with people. Set goals for yourself. Dress like others around you dress. Pretty common sense stuff.

By the way, check out some of the other reviews. It's pretty unusual for any book, especially a one like this, to get all 5 star reviews. Look at the earliest 8 reviews. This is the only review that has been written by each of these 8 reviewers. All written on May 8. Almost all from San Francisco/California (interesting that the company founded by the authors is in San Francisco.) A bunch of people from San Francisco just happened to swarm to Amazon on May 8 to give the book a bunch of 5 star reviews. Interesting.

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Down-to-earth, straightforward advice for the new employee, June 7, 2006

By 

Jonathan Groner (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sink Or Swim!: New Job. New Boss. 12 Weeks to Get It Right. (Paperback)

The polar opposite of a theoretical business management book, Sink or Swim is relentlessly practical and relentlessly upbeat. The clear message is that you can make it to the top if you buckle down, take your job seriously, understand your company's culture, do your networking, and so on. It's solid, straightforward advice, organized into 12 chapters, each of which corresponds with one of the new worker's first 12 weeks on the job. After 12 weeks, the authors conclude that if a reader has followed their advice, "the attention you paid in the last three months to taking care of yourself and your career has manifested itself into a successful foundation."

Although the authors don't precisely say so, their advice is better suited to someone starting his or her first job than to an experienced worker. It starts with many of the basics: follow the dress code, don't check your e-mail in mid-conversation, show up on time for meetings. Most people who have been in the work force for a while know those things, or at least we hope we do.

Still, the Sindells provide some solid and less obvious career advice that can be useful to employees at all levels. For example, they suggest that an employee develop a personal "PR message" - almost a personal brand that the employee is known for around the company. They suggest that you identify a couple of qualities that you want to stand for, such as reliability, hard work, or creativity, and repeat the "PR message" consistently at the office. "Your PR message helps you articulate your strengths, measure progress, and define and realize your professional legacy," they write. This can be good advice. Knowing yourself is the first step to understanding others. But it can be overdone. No one wants to work with someone who's always chattering away with some personal mantra.

Building on a great deal of business research that has been done about personal networks, the Sindells suggest that an employee consciously build his or her own network within the company. Schedule lunches; go out of your way to meet people. The more people you know, the more information you will have access to. As they write, "An effective network means that you have the ability to pick up the phone or send an e-mail to one of your colleagues and know that an answer to an important question or resource is on its way." That's absolutely correct. Many workers focus too much on building networks outside our firms and don't cultivate the people within our organizations who can help them when they need help the most.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Guide that Came in Handy, September 25, 2006

By 

Paul Marc Oliu (Princeton, NJ) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sink Or Swim!: New Job. New Boss. 12 Weeks to Get It Right. (Paperback)

Let me begin by saying that I started a new job, and before the transition, I bought four books on this same topic. I hoped that between all of them, I would learn everything necessary for my first 3 months at my new job.

After having read all of them, I came to the conclusion that I would have saved some money had I only purchased Sink or Swim. It was by far the most comprehensive, week by week guide about how to start a new job and successfully chart your path within the first three months of your new job.

Some of the sage advice includes simple matters like knowing the right time to speak to your boss, the types of conversations you want to have when first being introduced to your new colleagues. Some of the best advice comes in the form of advice for the reader that helps them present the best possible image to others.

Readable, engaging and formatted in a clear reference style, I highly recommend this for anyone who is starting a new job, or for anyone who wants to start their old job, anew.