Customer Reviews

Work It! How to Get Ahead, Save Your Ass, and Land a Job in Any Economy

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The advice in this book is refreshingly honest and, in my case, literally helped me get a job. I found practical tools and tactics to overcome almost any challenge faced in `the full time job of job hunting.' I also felt sincere empathy for the intimate emotional struggles experienced when prospects seemed grim.

Some of us need this book for the verbal kick in the ... to keep on track. ALL of us can benefit from the sensible coaching and real-life examples of common pitfalls to avoid. Anyone unemployed for any length of time should have a copy. I've already shared mine with a friend who recently got the slip!

Good intro, but no new nuggets. Enough to get me motivated again, but the advice is stale especially for a 2003 book. This book was written for the unsophisticated or the new grad. Advice like wear a suit to the interview and send thank you letters are so old hat. I was looking for concrete examples and got none. One suggestion was to include a powerful subject line in e-mails, but she included no examples. It's easy to give advice, but back it up with suggestions. That's what I was looking for. I'm very glad I bought the e-book as it was cheaper!

WORK IT! is jam-packed with the information -- not to mention inspiration -- you need to find a job in any economy. It smartly divides its contents into three parts:

Part One: Everything You Know Is Wrong (which dispels countless job-hunting myths and legends, and explains why the Internet Is Ruining Your Job Search)

Part Two: Back to Basics (which advises losing the McResume, and standing out through more authentic communications)

Part Three: Break Open in Case of Emergency! (which answers the SOS call for desperate situations)

Best of all, the advice comes with the smart and witty imprimatur of Allison Hemming, the originator of the infamous "Pink Slip Parties" that marked the beginning of the end of the dot.com era. Hemming dispenses advice not as an "I told you so" expert-on-high, but as a best friend through thick and thin willing to tell it like it is -- and wanting to see you come out on top. With the help of this book, you can't help but feel like you will.

I bought this because I know my job is going away soon, and I need to find a new place to live quick. This is exactly what I needed-a kick in the butt, and a message: you don't have time for doubt and self pity. The economy is crap. Get over it. This is what you need to do, so stop whining and just DO IT. The author who gave this book one star without reading a single line should have his reviewing rights revoked.

Too many of these books aren't written for real people. This one is. It is real advice for real situations. A worthy purchase.

This is not a bad way to spend $4. I found it in the bargain bin at Borders (may it now rest in peace), and have referred to it for every job interview. It's an easy read to read all the way through, but I actually found myself tabbing and re-reading certain passages to hammer a few principles home, especially when it comes to negotiations and what I can expect with first offers. Basically, it is a general guide that starts out with providing advice about how to make yourself stand out over the competition. You learn networking processes as you work with headhunters. You are given the usual questions that may be asked at a job interview so that you can be ready and prepped to make the best responses you can. It also provides advice on behaviors like your body language. It's so important to be aware of how the interviewer perceives you. The first impression may be the ONLY impression, so you have to make it count. It also shows you the other side of the job process in the event that you are laid off and what options that are available to you. The text is useful, the book isn't too big. So I really recommend it if you can find it for cheap or for free.

an actually readable and entertaining romp through a subject that has been mistreated by so many other authors.

This one's a keeper. It skips along at a nice pace and delivers lots of practical information about establishing the right kind of employment.

Allison Hemming, who heads an interim workforce agency, discusses strategies you can use to get employed. She focuses primarily on entry level jobs and directs her advice to younger workers, especially those affected by the tight job market (hence the sassy, but unnecessarily tacky, sub-title). However, the basics of her technique can be applied by most job seekers. Hemming writes with an authoritative air, using a casual style to appeal to younger, hip workers, although her job hunting principles sound fairly basic. Note the book's tips on techniques to avoid and alternate techniques to pursue. She suggests niche searches on the Internet, targeted resumes and extensive networking. It's not very flashy but, nowadays, as job hunting increasingly becomes an extreme competitive sport, We recommend taking all the solid advice you can get.

... Allison Hemming has written a very good book packed with practical advice for finding work and getting jobs. She's an expert at dealing with the grown-up world of work. One problem I have with this book is that it appears to be very heavily slanted to getting a certain kind of work - "corporate identity" types of jobs in particular - without really dealing with the great, big, whole world of work available out there. "Office Job" hunters will love this book. The problem is that not everyone is cut-out for an office job. The other problem I have with this book is that the print is very small - and even smaller in the highlighted boxes with the gray background. It is very difficult to read at times. Nevertheless, reading this book will help anyone in their job search, if only because of all of the helpful web sites mentioned.

... For those cautious souls uncertain about making a change or taking a leap, the advice given on pages 275 to 279 is encouraging: "The only thing scarier than living with your parents is relocating to a city where you don't know a soul. But if your heart is set on an industry that tends to be centered in one or two specific cities (like Washington, D.C. for the federal government, New York or Los Angeles for entertainment, or the San Francisco Bay Area for technology), you could be looking at pulling up stakes. So how exactly do you conduct a long-distance job search while you're still at college or stuck in your hometown living with your parents? Do you move to the city right off the bat, or do you wait until you land a job and then go? Quite simply, it depends. The biggest consideration is that four-letter word: c-a-s-h. ... To Move or Not to Move. That's the million-dollar question. If you can swing it financially and you're sure of where you want to go, it probably makes sense to just do it, even if there's no job waiting for you in your new city. Interviewers will feel more confident that you're for real if you have a local address than if you're just in town to check things out. Besides, having no money and no job will motivate you in ways you can't imagine."

... As the NIKE ad says: "Just Do It!" ... From internet searches, to networking, to resume writing, to correspondence, to interviewing, to unemployment benefits, to career counseling, to budgeting one's money - it's all here in this helpful book. Read it, and then WORK IT! ... YOWZA! - The Aeolian Kid

Just the shot in the arm I needed. Ms. Hemming's presentation style is right on. She comes across as a good friend passing along some hard won, useful advice, instead of some PhD or Psychologist lecturing me on the "proper" way to go about finding a job. Well done!