Hundreds of books out there tell you how to find your first job, but Andrea Sutcliffe's book, First Job Survival Guide, will tell you how to succeed in your first job once you find it.
As any veteran of the job market knows, finding a first job is not only exciting, it can also be scary. There are often unwritten rules in business life, and finding one's way along this unfamiliar path can be confusing and intimidating.
Sutcliffe uses knowledge culled from 20 years of working with young people and their first job experiences. She taps into her experience working in managerial and supervisory positions at companies both large and small to coach people on the finer points of fitting into the business atmosphere more comfortably.
First Job Survival Guide,
by Andrea J. Sutcliffe
Published by Owl Books, Henry Holt and Company, Inc.
1997
In the span of nine easy-to-understand chapters, readers are taught how to handle the many perils one might face during a first job. From the opening chapter on navigating through your first three months on the job to the final chapter on when to know it's time to move on to a different job, Sutcliffe expertly covers most, if not all, questions readers might pose.
Two of the most appealing things about this book are its readability and its simplicity. An example of this is the way Sutcliffe tackles the often-misunderstood subject of job performance Reviews step by step and in easy-to-understand detail. Readers complete each section with renewed confidence and understanding about what to expect and how to deal with potential job challenges.
Aside from standard, by-the-book job advice, readers are also given numerous chapters of advice on certain intangibles that will help mold them into a respected professional. These chapters discuss in detail why attitude matters most, how integrity scores big, and how to get the job done and remain organized yet flexible at the same time.
One chapter that should be highlighted and reread several times over is chapter seven, Communicating Clearly. In a world where technology dictates much of the way we deal with people (e-mail, beepers, faxes), Sutcliffe emphasizes the need for knowing how to communicate on a more personal level. Advice on how to speak more clearly, write more easily, and communicate more effectively is given, along with a primer on interpreting various speaking styles.
For new employees, performance reviews can be an intimidating process, but in chapter eight, Sutcliffe explains what a performance review is, how readers can best prepare for a review, what types of appraisals there are and how ratings work. For those workers who might suffer the crushing blow of a less-than-satisfactory review, Sutcliffe also demonstrates how to react and cope.
In the last chapter, Sutcliffe gains bonus points by her frank discussion of how to know when it's time to leave your first job. Are there warning signs you should be looking for -- and what are they, anyway? Should you look to move to another job in the same company, or would it better serve you to look elsewhere for employment? The final chapter assists readers with finding concrete answers to these tough questions.
Finally, Sutcliffe offers a handy list of qualities found in successful people, while cautioning readers to remember to define success in their own terms. In a positive, reassuring tone, she lays the bare facts out for the reader's consideration, yet never forgets to sprinkle plenty of encouragement between the lines.
Teachers or career counselors will find this book full of real-world examples of job scenarios to share with their students. By reading and discussing the real-life job situations portrayed in Sutcliffe's book with students, educators can better prepare young people for their entry into the real world of work. Young people will then be armed with the knowledge and confidence required to conquer many of the challenges they will face during their first job experience.
If you're looking for an easy way to learn the rules of the road when it comes to working in the business sector, Sutcliffe's book will provide the map you need to guide yourself to attainable success in not only your first professional job, but far beyond!
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