Emily Bennington is the author of, Who Says It’s A Man’s World: The Girl’s Guide to Corporate Domination is the second book that I am reviewing that is not solely focused on job search advice and tips. In December, I outlined key points from the Leigh Branham’s book, The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave, that job seekers should apply to their job search. I will make the same case as well, but first address why should job seekers read a career book among the other industry related material in preparing for the next opportunity.
To answer a common question, yes, I read the book in its entirety.
I also read through the reviews of Emily Bennington’s last book, Effective Immediately: How to Fit In, Stand Out, and Move Up in Your First Real Job. Most of the positive reviews mentioned how practical the book was acting as a guide for new graduates. Even seasoned professionals commented how the advice was so practical and precise.
As an educator, I appreciate the practitioner approach, witty, mildly caustic, and affable, with an educator’s heart in her latest offering. That makes a book an easily digestible read for me, not one inundated with statistics and learning theories.
The first chapter in Emily Bennington’s book recommends that you outline three points from each of the five sections of the book. In addition, she created some practical worksheets for the readers to use and organize thoughts (I am also ignoring that the women focus advice is as practical for us men folk). I wish more career publications would incorporate this strategy (Emily, please don’t change).
To pontificate on my random statement, no, I did not study this book. I suggest that the job seeker who desires to optimize the wisdom from these lessons is to read through it twice, absorbing a few points per section.
Out of the many reasons job seekers must embrace “…Man’s World,” I am offering five reasons this would aid all job seekers, particularly women:
Self-awareness
Bennington empathizes with the unload of the unexpected work and offers several strategies to help manage stress and expectations. As mentioned before, there are exercises to help the employee envision the type of pace and culture he or she desires. This mindset is useful for the current unemployed job seeker to manage his or her expectations of a future employer. Bennington’s suggestion is for you to control of every phase possible from the beginning.
Social skills
Bennington tackles commonly sticky subjects such as, appropriately dressing, office banter, and managing your manager in a way that is easier to swallow than most authors would. If anything she suggests that you walk in the other person’s shoes as part of a strategy that accompanies direct communication.
Personal effectiveness
As mentioned earlier, this section is workbook-like so that the reader can create target areas for improvement. More importantly, this enables to keep the reader accountable.
Team development
Bennington merges a chapter about critical thinking to help the reader think even deeper about his or her approach to knowing people on the team. This is useful as job seekers need to display his or her aptitude and abilities to solve problems. How do you engage coworkers, learn their strengths, and complement them with your abilities? Bennington provides 100 questions to engage others as either a non-management coworker, and as a manager.
Leadership
Again, the practical approach makes this book easy to follow and put in practice, especially when she discusses leadership in a “walk the walk” mantra. Bennington makes the case as trust is earned, and “…trust is built on dependability.” Although much of this is addressed to women, men can take away the approach.
I recommend “Who says…” not just as a preparedness to the office, but as intended by Bennington, an opportunity to excel in the workplace.
Oh Yes, the FREE copy!
Would you like to own a copy of Emily’s new book? To qualify, all you have to do is leave a comment below before Monday by answering this question: Which of the five areas (self-awareness, social skills, personal effectiveness, team development, leadership) mentioned in this review is your strength? The winner will be randomly picked on Monday. Good luck!
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About Mark Anthony Dyson
My name is Mark Anthony Dyson, and I am the Founder of The Voice of Job Seekers. I am a career advice writer, but more importantly, I hack and re-imagine the job search process.. I've worked with hundreds of job seekers one-on-one helping them to construct a narrative and strategy that appeals to hiring managers and recruiters. I present at colleges and organizations, and facilitated many workshops including my volunteer effort through a Job Lab. I write and create useful job search content on this blog and write career and workplace advice for blogs such as Glassdoor, Payscale, Job-Hunt.org, Prezi and more. Media Feature highlights: Forbes, Business Insider, NBC News, Glassdoor, LinkedIn's #GetHired, and NPR Freelance writer and content contributor: Glassdoor, Payscale, job-hunt.org, The Financial Diet, RippleMatch.com and more. Contact me to contribute career, job search, or workplace advice for your site at markanthonydyson@gmail.com.