Grad to Great: Discover the Secrets to Success in Your First Career

Grad to Great: Discover the secrets to success in your first career, is the perfect book at the perfect time. This valuable book not only helps recent grads successfully adjust to the real working world, it helps them get a job too. It's too bad every recent grad isn't automatically given this book upon graduation. This is a short book---just 170 pages long---but there isn't a wasted word or piece of fluff in it. The 12 Secrets to Success are worth the price of the book alone. And succinct chapter summaries make it possible to glean the gems of the book if you haven't got time to read every word. But my advice is read it, highlight it, re-read it and incorporate its teachings into your job search---and life. Parents, relatives and friends of recent grads---this could be the best gift they'll get.

"Grad to Great" is directed towards the "soon to be" or recent college graduate demographic (hence the title). To that end, a portion of the book does indeed specifically target people who have never conducted a job search, have not done many interviews at a professional level, etc. That said, the book is full of success skills and straight forward career advice that is applicable and useful to anyone from large company employees to self-employed to "what AM I doing with my mid-life crisis" Baby Boomers such as myself. Co-author Brown indicates a journalism background that is apparent in the text. The book is easy to read and doesn't contain a lot of fluff with straightforward chapters on networking, dealing with difficult people, getting people to listen to you and other subjects that will never go out of style. Included are some of the standard sections on following your passion, knowing yourself and goal setting. I see these as necessary for completeness as the authors are offering a handbook for grads who may not have seen any of the hundreds of business and personal growth books out there that address these axioms of success. I have a son in college that will be getting this book in the next "care package" from home along with Mom's oatmeal cookies. Mark T. Rafter, Author of "The Wealth Manifesto" series of books

Grads... Please read this book! I was recently recruiting MBA's at a major university looking for sales people. Throughout the entire day only two students could answer the following question: "What kind of work are you looking for?" The answers I received varied from "I don't know" to "Something in marketing I think." Oh how I wish those students had read this book "Grad to Great". The authors take you through a logical process of how to identify what kind of job you want and then how to put your best foot forward for any company you interview with (including how to answer the "What Kind of work..." question above). As an HR manager I can tell you the chapter on how to answer interview questions is worth the price of the entire book. But on top of that you get guidance on career paths, office etiquette, dealing with difficult bosses and even 12 sure fire career success tips. The book is long enough to cover the bases but not so long that it is full of fluff and filler nonsense. I loved this book and look forward to many more from the authors.

Grad To Great, is nothing short of great. Authors Anne Brown and Beth Zefo offer advice that ranges from solid basic and practical, to truly sage. More than that they do an excellent job of identifying audience segments so as to provide relevant guidance, more targeted and personalized in its nature. To gain best use of Grad To Great, my recommendation is, read it during your junior year when its time to start your career research and planning your approach to your career choices. Then reread it again as you prepare to apply for your first full time job during or after college. Also, plan to revisit it throughout your first year on the job. The results of your actions, relations with others, and your decisions during that first year will set the tone for making that first job a successful step toward a strong, lucrative and satisfying career. And, if you read and apply the advice in Grad To Great you will definitely make your entrance and success in the work place much easier, less stressful and perhaps just down-right enjoyable. Allan Hay, Career Management & Development Consultant Author of: Memory Mining, Digging For Gems From Your Past Good Work

In Grad to Great, authors Anne Brown and Beth Zefo set out to help graduates find and realise the career they want. Grad to Great starts where it should - about finding out what you love doing and then finding someone who will pay you a salary to do it. This topic's been covered before by other books. The difference with this book, is that the authors involve the reader by providing lots of self tests and vignettes to illustrate. I must admit to being sucked in by the case study of Alyssa who flunked her first job interview - the authors asked "How can Alyssa redeem herself and land a second interview?" I had to wait till the end of the chapter to see if my ideas gelled with theirs. Grad to Great covers just about everything a new graduate would want to know about getting and keeping, a job. For example, as well as some excellent tips on the questions to ask in a job interview, it covers topics such as "Mistakes to avoid at work", "Getting people to listen to you" and "Working with difficult people". A new twist for a book of this type is the final chapter on "Time to move on". There was one particular topic that both employers and new graduate employees find difficult - how to identify the skills a new graduate can bring to the workplace, since they have no previous work experience. This is expertly covered by the authors in a section they call "transferable skills". It will not only be useful to new graduates, but could also be of use to experienced recruiters looking for new hires. When it comes to careers, it's obvious that Brown and Zefo know what they are talking about. They are both experienced professionals in their respective fields. They easily and freely share their own career experiences and show how readers can learn from these. I was impressed with their honesty in describing some of the mistakes they personally made - this adds a great deal of credibility to the book. If graduates were to follow even a small amount of advice delivered in Grad to Great, I'm sure they would be successful in their chosen field. Highly recommended for new graduates, career counselors and there's even something for experienced managers to learn from Grad to Great. Bob Selden, author What To Do When You Become The Boss: How new managers become successful managers