Book Review: The Career Playbook by James M. Citrin
As someone with a corporate job which involves building and growing teams I'm always interested in reading business books with a self-help flare. That's why when I saw The Career Playbook* by James M. Citrin on Blogging for Books I had to get it. You know the time when your job search sucks the absolute most? When you graduate college. It's been 5 years since I graduated college, but my younger sibling graduated from college this year and I learned that not much has changed in 5 years. The Career Playbook is for recent college grads and young professionals and I have to say it's one of the better career books out there.
The book is written by James M. Citrin who is basically someone with a wealth of corporate experience. You can read more about him here. The number one reason why this book is better than the dozens of other career books I've read is that it is just that, a career book. The book is split into 3 sections: how careers work, how to get the job, and how to thrive. In the beginning of the book the overall lifespan of one's career is broken down and obviously the book hones in on the earlier parts of that lifespan.
Another thing that sets this book apart for me is that there is a section just for those of us who graduated with a liberal arts degree. You always hear that if you have a liberal arts degree it's important to demonstrate that your skills are transferable, but this book shows real examples of how to actually do that. In fact, the number of specific examples showing you how to do something rather than describing it is impressive. Other topics covered include how to have a great interview, how to negotiate, and even how to get a mentor. The examples and advice from the book come from a variety of individuals ranging from college students to Sheryl Sandberg.
Ultimately I think that this is one to keep on your book shelf as it provides some real action items for getting yourself into the career you want and staying there. The book wraps up nicely by talking about happiness and basically saying that happiness is what matters the most in all of this. Whether you are a college student trying to navigate the "real world" or someone a few years into their career trying to make your next move, The Career Playbook is worth a read.
Another thing that sets this book apart for me is that there is a section just for those of us who graduated with a liberal arts degree. You always hear that if you have a liberal arts degree it's important to demonstrate that your skills are transferable, but this book shows real examples of how to actually do that. In fact, the number of specific examples showing you how to do something rather than describing it is impressive. Other topics covered include how to have a great interview, how to negotiate, and even how to get a mentor. The examples and advice from the book come from a variety of individuals ranging from college students to Sheryl Sandberg.
Ultimately I think that this is one to keep on your book shelf as it provides some real action items for getting yourself into the career you want and staying there. The book wraps up nicely by talking about happiness and basically saying that happiness is what matters the most in all of this. Whether you are a college student trying to navigate the "real world" or someone a few years into their career trying to make your next move, The Career Playbook is worth a read.
*I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.
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