The Right Job, Right Now - a new book by Susan Strayer

If you want one book to guide you throughout your career, you need this book.  Just released today, The Right Job, Right Now: The Complete Toolkit for Finding Your Perfect Career (Susan D. Strayer, St. Martin's Griffin, 2006, 320 page paperback, ISBN 0312349262) is the only start-to-finish career guide I've come across and it's packed with great ideas.

Susan Strayer helps people and organizations with their career management issues.  With this book, she brings her approach together in a readable, usable, action-oriented manual.

The book is in three parts.  The first part guides you through Susan's copyrighted Career Kaleidoscope [PowerPoint, 54kb], which will help you determine where your career sweet-spot is.  Susan told me this model is the one thing she is most proud of about the book, and you'll see why when you use it.  She knows how to step you through the tough process of sorting out what you want to do and where, and the model is a key part of that. 

Part II shows you how to find the field and organizations that fit your sweet-spot, how to get the right job with one of those organizations, and how to get a fast and successful start.  The final section covers issues with delivering results on the job, handling performance reviews, growing and developing your skills, and moving on when the time is right.

In this figure (click on the thumbnail for a larger view), I've tried to show where Susan's book fits in the career-literature field.  I see successful career management as a six step process (find your sweet-spot, find the right job, get a great start, deliver results, grow and develop, and revisit as needed).  The Right Job, Right Now covers all six steps.

Other books on my shelves cover only one or two steps in the process, albeit in more detail.  You will want and need some of these books in addition to Susan's book.  But Susan's book is the one you will turn to first and most often.

I love this book.  It's an easy read, with several helpful navigational devices.  "Stop" boxes point out areas of caution on your journey.  "Action" boxes require you to do something before reading further.  And "Good to Know" boxes provide relevant tips.  Susan's tone is straightforward and action-oriented. 

The working title for the book was "Get off Your Butt!", but the publisher advised Susan to choose something a bit more marketable.  Nevertheless, as you work through the book you will surely hear Susan's whispers in your ear:

"Just do it!"

"Come on, give it a try"

and - occasionally - "Get off your butt!"

If you want to give yourself a great New Year's present this year, you couldn't do much better than The Right Job, Right Now.  It's a book you will want to pull off the shelf and use throughout the year.

[Revision 27 Dec 06:  corrected word order (to "surely hear" from "hear surely") - KMB]