Summary
If you're looking to just find a resource that'll let you quickly whip up a quick resume for a job application, then the first three chapters may feel like a waste of time.
Persevere through chapters 1 to 3 though and it will leave you armed with a great foundation on which you can really get started on putting out and maintaining a great professional profile.
The book is not just filled with 'scripts' to include in resumes, cover letters, etc, but they teach you the reasoning and base knowledge behind those scripts, so you can take that knowledge and tailor it to your situation.
Overall, I think that it's a good reference book I'll keep coming to as and when I need specific on certain topics on everything 'career'
Notes
CHAPTER ONE: REFLECT
- The authors begin by challenging the 'ok rule' of graduating from high school, getting into college, choosing a major that led to a specific career path.
- Instead, they argue that your education is only a platform from which to spring forward. They emphasize the need to realize that plotting the chart for a career doesn't need to only depend on the specific skills you were taught in school, but it should take into consideration your strengths, innate talents, personal interactions, and core values.
- Based on that assertion, the book leads the reader to 'Reflect'.
- The reader is taken through a series of steps, that in the end lead the reader to understand themselves.
- The two (2) main questions that leads the reader into the state of 'Reflection' are:
- What do you value?
- What's your current frame of mind?
- These questions are meant to tease out your frame of mind and take your emotional temperature.
CHAPTER TWO: RESEARCH
- Deals with 'Laying out a full set of choices - including those you may not know you have'
- The book guides you to draw up what the authors term 'THE MUSE GRID'
- The book presents a generalized list of common roles or functions and a list of industries.
- Examples of Functions: Administration and Support, Fundraising & Development, Engineering
- Examples of Industries: Finance, Food & Beverage, Media & Publishing, Travel & Hospitality
- The Muse Grid has on the Y-axis, a list of seven F&I that the reader identifies, and on the X-axis, a narrowed down list of 3 of the reader's topmost values as identified in Chapter 1.
- The aim at the end is to enable the reader to have an informed idea of how the various F&I chosen to align with their values in real life.
CHAPTER THREE
- The book challenges the assumption that your passions and motivations didn't matter in career choices and decisions. The authors point to the fact that what you want matters.
- A career choice is a deeply personal decision and goes a long way in helping one live a fulfilled life. It is therefore imperative to 'look around' a lot before committing yourself.
- Facing and conquering fears about career change or a particular path
- Identify the areas where you need help
- Recognize your strengths
- Go outside your comfort zone
CHAPTER 4
- The chapter opens by pointing out that branding is not only for products, and in the modern age, a person is as much of a brand as a product.
- The book emphasizes the fact that a strong personal brand helps establish yourself as an expert in your field providing hiring managers with insight into your personality and skills.
- What do people say about you when you are not in the room
- If people don't have a clear picture of how you are, they'll author the story of who they think you are without your consent.
- This chapter helps you craft a Personal Brand Statement and LinkedIn Profile
- The Five Steps for Successful Brand Building
- Determine your brand attributes.
- Pick three to four descriptors/adjectives that best define your personal brand. Refer to Chapter 1
- Draft your Brand Statement
- Refine your Profile: create a consistent and compelling online presence
- Create a personal website
- Activate your Brand - put yourself out there through content and carve out your unique voice.
CHAPTER FIVE
- This chapter talks about how more nuanced networking these days is. Modern networking is not only reserved for when you attend big industry events and conferences.
- These days, casual emails, Twitter interactions, coffee dates and many more are all things you can use to expertly build and manage a network.
- Networking is about meeting new people anywhere
- The idea is to look at networking as building relationships that grow over time rather than a business transaction when you need something.
CHAPTER SIX: The New Rules of Finding Job Opportunities and Openings
- How to scope out opportunities using a variety of resources, your network, targeted industry organizations and online job sites.
CHAPTER SEVEN: The New Rules of Crafting Your Application
- This chapter helps you and give actionable steps to craft a Resume & Cover Letter
- Cover Letter Tips
- Write in the company's voice; mirror the tone and language
- Research whom you are sending it to you
- Resist the temptation to copy and paste your resume
- Look at the job description, identify some requirements that fit your skills, you have and highlight an experience or time where you used/exhibited those skills.
- Where relevant, start with an anecdote.
CHAPTER EIGHT: The New Rules of Acing the Interviews
- All about interviews; types, what to wear, how to prep, etch.
CHAPTER TEN: The New Rules of Communication
CHAPTER ELEVEN: The New Rules of Interpersonal Skills
CHAPTER TWELVE: The New Rules of Productivity
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: The New Rules of Career Advancement