Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Discovering Your Career in Business by Timothy Butler Ph.D., James Waldroop Ph.D. ISBN: 0-201-46135-8 Publisher: Perseus Publishing Pub. Date: January, 1997 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $27.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.9 (10 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Credible answers -- but may be the wrong question
Comment: The authors have taken an important problem -- how to ensure the best 'fit' between a person's values and interests, and a particular job -- and applied both intelligent scrutiny and strict scientific method to come up with trustworthy results. The "Business Career Interest Inventory" is a valuable tool (at a good price), and the book offers excellent insight into interpreting its results and using them to discover which business career best suits you.
I have only one area of disagreement with this approach, but it's a profound one. The authors seem to assume that the business world, as it exists today, is a "given," and that choosing a business career requires you merely to identify the right shape of hole into which you, the peg, will fit. In fact the business world is undergoing profound changes: the hierarchical model of management is flattening; more people are adopting the philosophy that they work "for themselves" rather than attaching their loyalty to a company or an industry; and the transition from a product-oriented to a service economy, and from a skills-based to a knowledge-based model of employee competence, is transforming the work place.
How do the interest patterns identified by the BCCI fit into a business environment in a state of flux? Maybe the authors will address this problem in the second edition ... but the fact that they didn't (yet) makes me question the premises upon which this book is based.
Rating: 5
Summary: More Relevant than "Color...Parachute"
Comment: I read this books three years ago, and it still is the basis for how I approach not only my career but every single project I get on as a consultant. This books focuses on self-diagnosis of one's skills as it relates to the business world (whether you are above/below average in the quants area, creative area, etc.) and essentially reveals what your core strengths are vis-a-vis the universe of other business-people (over 5,000 or so high achieving MBAs and executives). I have since focused on taking on work that capitalizes on these core strengths and the results have been amazing. It's like reviewing a diet program three years after you experienced it -- if I still think it is great, there must be a reason. Buy the book. It may be the only one you need.
Rating: 4
Summary: A fabulous book
Comment: Perhaps the person who gave this book one star is not really among the intended audience. The insights are based on a high-achieving and high-profile group: business executives and students that the authors have encountered at Harvard Business School. This sample is not your typical slice of the population, which is what makes their analysis so good. They have analyzed this very high-achieving and intelligent group to find out what motivates them and what interests them. If you find yourself at a crossroads in your career, questioning how you got where you are or why you do what you do, the tools for self-analysis provided here may be very useful.
While there was some redundancy, I have found this to be typical of books of this type in which not all sections are applicable to every reader. It is also not really appropriate to read it through beginning to end in the manner of a novel; if you do, you'll be reading a lot of variations of the same themes. Focus on the parts that are relevent based on the included profiling tool and your own self understanding. It was helpful to me in recognizing career paths I may not have considered, and also in affirming strategies for success that I had formulated on my own but not tested. If you want to avoid simply falling into a career that may or may not be what you want, this book can help you better consider what will make you happy and what your real goals are, without too simplistic an approach.
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
