Alexandra Levit, the author of the book in question, has started to work practically as soon as she graduated. The corporate of which she speaks in her book had zoomed on her all at once and the stress she had experienced took the form of the thoughts expressed in “They Don’t Teach Corporate in College.” This book provides the author’s personal experience before and after she found the ways to go and people to learn from. Also, the book is consistent with the author’s advice to twenty-somethings who, like herself in her time, are in need of a job. The book teaches post-grads not only to seek and find, but also to make and get good first impression, struggle with all things negative, know the ropes in the world of corporate, and learn to promote themselves.
So far, the book has raised much talk and is actually used to-date as a handbook in colleges and business establishments in the US. The book was edited and republished, and this newest edition encompasses the demands and needs of the new generation in their twenties. The author realizes that new twenty-somethings have their own, profound challenges to face. She also assumes that, if they have picked the book in the first place, they must feel there is something lacking among their skills in goal-hitting and decision-making. Which is why the new book includes useful advice for digital world inhabitants: how to be more productive and efficient in networking, and more.
The book consists of 10 chapters that overview all aspects that might be of interest to a post-grad in search of a job. The author advises former students how to apply, stay, and change jobs. The chapters each have their strong points which I am going to enlist here. Chapter 1 explains why a post-grad does not necessarily have to apply to all jobs that there are. The author advices that the post-grads stay focused and picky at times. The second chapter gives valuable advice on learning as much as possible in the shortest time, as soon as the former student is hired. The new employee should learn not only about the rules and details of their job but also establish communication with colleagues and gain deep insight into the people and the culture.
Chapter 3 further expands the logics and the way a young employee should use when communicating. What is still more important, especially for a person in their early twenties, is to single out a more experienced worker and use their experience as a sort of mentorship (Levit ch. 1-4). Chapter 4 is primarily focused on the twenty-something’s first job and how they can try and make the best use of it. Setting goals adequately and assessing and highlighting their achievements, the author states, a young employee becomes the master of self-promotion. The fifth chapter demonstrates the importance of finding a meaning in what one does and the way one communicates. The next chapter is devoted to fighting with negative experiences; the key point here is not to let negativism affect performance and probably use negative emotions as an asset in the art of decision-making.
Chapter 7 further expands the subject of anger and suchlike and provides an advice on how to deal with other people’s negative experiences. It also states that corporate is held in place by interpersonal relationships, which are more important than theory one can read in books (Levit ch. 4-7). Chapter 8 further presses the importance of promotion and advises on how to boost performance and, consequently, enhance the reviews. The next one is devoted to management once a newly-employed post-grad takes on extra responsibilities. As per Levit, the most important skill in a manager include setting expectations adequately, mastering delegation and critique. Chapter 10, which is the last one, is under no illusion that a post-grad’s current employment is going to last forever. Which is why the author considers it necessary to tip the reader on how to leave with dignity and grace (Levit ch. 8-10).
As said, the book has resonated with the public, and the author has got public recognition both within and outside digital space. There is a number of interviews with Levit present on the Web, where the author shares her experience and answers questions concerning her book. In one such interview, Levit explains a concept that I find one of the most interesting in her book, which is what she dubs the gofer syndrome. As per Levit, gofer is a condition of multitasking when one’s colleagues and authorities take it as their duty to delegate all the tasks to a newly-employed post-grad. The author explains the necessity to avoid excess goffering through marking off one’s responsibilities (Busch par. 13).
Levit’s useful advice on management and communication is considered very effective, bearing a certain resemblance to the strategies of some other specialists in management and productivity that have sprung up both in print and in blogosphere. For instance, “The 4-Hour Work Week” strategy assumes one should focus on the critically important tasks, avoiding goffering whenever possible (Ferriss n. pag.). The author of another strategy recommended by Levit asserts that a multifold task should be treated as an algorithm and simplified by taking small steps to achieve the goal (Allen 126-128). Personally, in what concerns the author’s management and maintenance strategies, I have noticed an analogy to McKinsey’s system of centered leadership. Among other things, the strategy assumes that a leader should first master the art of self-assessment and self-awareness, be able to control their anger and use it in decision-making (Barsh, Mogelof, and Webb par. 3). The advice put forward by Levit resembles this strategy in terms of being aware of one’s capabilities and accomplishments. Also, the author states the importance of controlling one’s anger and using this skill in managing other people’s negative emotions. In what concerns conflicts, it is critical that an employee stays cold-headed and solves the problem – either individually or collectively – without giving up to their distress.
Overall, the book “They Don’t Teach Corporate in College” is the author’s disclosure of her experience as a young job seeker and a complete newbie to the world of corporate; the book comes as a written reconceptualization of this experience in the form of useful advice. The main focus of the book is to provide a true-to life tactic and constructive advice to ease the twenty-somethings’ way into the world of business. It appears that, for some, the book’s message has hit home; the Amazon reviews, for example, give it a 75% “excellent” rating (“They Don’t Teach Corporate in College” n. pag.). The helpfulness and practicability of the author’s assertions, as well as the vibrant style and humor, make this text an excellent piece of reading, which is also proved by public recognition and the abundance of positive feedback.
Being a college student, I have found myself unable to mark this book as unsatisfactory since it contains so much useful information put so concisely. Although the strategies Levit offers are present in other works by successful authors and bloggers, this text is a reexamination of them in a smarter form. The author obviously knows her subject as a former job-seeker and a person with substantial knowledge in the spheres of public relations and marketing, which is why her advice is trustworthy. What I liked best was how the author advocated for self-promotion. Indeed, the world of corporate as we expect it to be, is the world of opportunities; the underside of it is, however, that the opportunities are not offered to young employees – they have to catch them. On the other hand, the author’s view on how one should choose a job seemed questionable: whether a post-grad should be picky or not is a matter of choice, as I see it. All in all, as the author’s message implies, corporate is not taught at college, and a post-grad can – and certainly will – come to face rules and customs that make corporate and that are nowhere to be learned. it That the book by Levit equips young people with this knowledge for them to use and survive in the corporate makes it ever so valuable for studying.
Works Cited
Allen, David. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. New York, NY: Penguin, 2015. Print.
Barsh, Joanna, Josephine Mogelof, and Caroline Webb. “How centered leaders achieve extraordinary results.”n.p. 2010. Web.
Busch, Jack. “10 Questions with Alexandra Levit, Author of “They Don’t Teach Corporate in College”.” Primer. Primer Media, Inc., n.d. Web.
Ferriss, Tim. “The Tim Ferris Experiment.”Timothy Ferriss. The 4Hour, n.d. Web.
Levit, Alexandra. They Don’t Teach Corporate in College: A Twenty-Something’s Guide to the Business World. 3rd ed. Wayne, NJ: Career Press, 2014. Kindle file.
“They Don’t Teach Corporate in College, Third Edition: Kindle Edition”. Amazon.com. Amazon.com, n.d. Web.