Hands down the best career / job hunting / personal development book I've ever read.
I had been considering a career change for a little over a year, but was still feeling a bit lost on what to transition into and where to go despite lots of soul searching and researching on my own. I picked up this book due to the high recommendations, and it has been an absolutely wonderful source of information and clarity for me.
The job hunting tips in the first section of the book are brilliant. The author writes in a very tangible way and provides techniques and practices that readers can start using right away. He also pays very specific attention to the present time, and what works right now, and what doesn't work. The job market is dynamic, and he understands that and abridges the book every year with updates information to reflect that. Since reading through the author's job hunter tips in the first section, I've felt like I've had a personal revelation with how I approach jobs and interviews, and I feel so much more confident and effective with my job hunting skills than ever before. (And to be honest, I was pretty confident before).
The next section of the book contains the infamous "Flower Exercise", an extensive 7 petal (7 exercises) exercise that lets the reader figure out exactly what it is they want to do with their lives, and what they want out of their jobs. Exercises include topics such as "What are my Transferable Skills?", "What is my Preferred Working Environment", to even "What is my Mission in my Life". There's also exercises to determine other aspects as your favorite interests, what kind of salary you need to survive (with a comprehensive budget chart), and the type of people you want to work with. It covers all the aspects of what is the perfect career path or job for you, understanding that aspects such as the work environment and the people you work with are just as important (to complete job happiness) as the job responsibilities and salary! The exercises are not for the faint of heart though, and most exercises are going to require a few hours of your time working on them. One exercise involves writing 7 short stories, then analyzing those stories for clues about your personality, interests, and skills. I think it probably took me around 30 hours to complete all the exercises, maybe even more, but it was definitely worth it in the end. I was able to accurately identify my perfect careers, down to the smallest of details. That is priceless.
The last sections of the book contain great information on changing careers, starting a business, dealing with handicaps, and other miscellaneous information. Once again, absolutely wonderful information here and it's worth reading even if it doesn't apply to you. There's also some bonus sections at the end that provide even further resources should you need additional help. Through and through, this book is the ONE to get for any professional individual, whether you're looking for a job or not. I had spent tons of time researching job information and soul searching on my own, paid to go to expensive career coaches, and sought advice from friends and family advice, but this book has let me make more progress in the short time it took to read and complete it then the year and a half I spent trying to learn through other methods.
Save your money, save your time, pick up this book and prepare to be amazed at what you read!
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