Book Review: Managing Your Career

The world is going through harsh economic times, which has forced employers to be so keen on the type of contracts they give to their employees. Due to this, the employees have to look for tactics to ensure that they have job security. The book Managing your career gives tips on how employees can manage their careers and thus acquire a sense of job security. In particular, this book is combination of the works by various writers and so it covers vast field of knowledge, thus, being of immense help to anyone who reads it.

To start with, the writer expounds on how managers learn and develop. Here, it is noted that for one to be a good and effective manager, he/she should be particularly eager to learn about him/herself, that is, understand his/her emotions, strengths and weaknesses. This enables them to make changes on their characters where necessary. Due to the world changing rapidly, the managers have to be extremely keen on developing their leadership talents (Hill 1998). To support this point, the writer gives an example by John Kotter, who gave some guidelines on how leaders should always be in line with the continuing revolutions.

However, leadership skills can be acquired through experience but most skills are acquired through learning. In addition, the writer says that when a leader is diverse, then he/she balances his/her development in different areas. Therefore, when faced with different challenges, they will be in a better position to tackle them. Although experience has many implications, it is very beneficial for a manager to reflect on his or her experience in order to understand him or herself better.

Secondly, it is extremely important for managers to choose rightful positions necessary for building their career. When choosing jobs to pursue, one has to know whether opportunities offered by the job are in line with whom he/she is and good for developing who he/she wants to be. When one selects a job which does not fit him/her, he/she is very likely to make mistakes therefore affecting his/her career. This means that one should look for those job opportunities that require more of his/her strengths than weaknesses.

However, it is through experience that one understands him/herself. Hence, they should not end up choosing jobs because they are popular, but because they are better placed to do the jobs. Other people select jobs that demand more than what they can offer, this is because they selected jobs for the money offered and thus they end up being frustrated. It is therefore advisable to choose jobs that perfectly go well with our capabilities.

The author also notes that when people select jobs that are suitable for them, they tend to be competent and thus do better work. Due to this, their performance records grow and so many employers will be seeking to work with them. As a result, they will have job security. Not only will they have job security, but also others will be eager and willing to take risks for them and therefore they will be more successful.

It is also noted that people who choose assignments end up more successful than those who don’t. This is because they will be in a better position to prove themselves and thus, acquiring good reputations and even bonuses (Hill 1998). Additionally, the writer notes that it is important for one to build networks of relationships as he/grows, for in this way he/she will be in better position to build his/her career. Even so, it is of utmost importance if one acquires lots of mentors and sponsors who have hopes in him/her as well as advising him/her, and thus giving him/her opportunities to have more experience.

The writer notes that those who are the minority (like women or black Americans) are not considered as important and therefore not given job exposure. This is referred to as deskilling. It has an undesirable effect since these people find it difficult to handle jobs that are more demanding. It is therefore important if the minorities have strong relationships with people who will take risks for them. This will give them a lot of experience to grow. However, it is a great challenge for them to get these experiences since mentors tend to associate with people who are like them. Although this point has a lot of truth in it, the minorities also have a chance to grow through their hard work. A good example is President Barrack Obama who is a black American, and he made it to become the president of America. Therefore, this point has less weight, so people should consider their hard work and not how minor they are.

Moreover, when managers grow, they acquire power and so, they must be very clear-headed not to abuse their power, and this is referred to as ethical judgment (Hill 1998). Not only should the managers not abuse their power, but also they should learn not to neglect their duties. Here the writer expounds on ethics regarding managers and even refers to people who did research on the subject of ethics in businesses. The writer also notes that managers are easily tempted to make mistakes, which are unethical due to being ambitious. Due to this, managers should be very keen on their work and avoid greed. In addition, they should always make sure they make the right choices.

Individuals should assess their careers to know what is required of them. Guidelines on how to do this are: to take jobs that have learning opportunities, to develop records of accomplishment, not to focus on personal ambition but organizational and many more (Hill 1998). Furthermore, one should look at where he/she is and where he/she wants to be in the future. This will be helpful since one will be able to know the amount of effort he/she has to put in his/her work.

Finally, the writer gives a chart that clearly summarizes how one should build the course of his/her career until he/she achieves his/her goals. This book is very helpful to students who are on their way to deciding what their careers will be and those who are building their careers. The writer gives vast knowledge since the book constantly refers to works of many other writers. This gives an in-depth coverage of the necessity that is helpful to the topic addressed.