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The Critical First Years Of Your Professional Life
"Dilenschneider has guided thousands of highly successful people through the world of business." —Maria Bartiromo
Faced with an unstable economy, recent college grads need more expert guidance than ever to land that dream job and make it rewarding and meaningful. This invaluable guide—revised to meet the specific challenges of today's fast-evolving job market—shows how you can use your talent, originality, and initiative to sharpen your competitive edge.
The first years of your professional life are critical to long-term success in any field. The skills you acquire, the contacts you make, and the lessons you learn will help you remain involved, adaptable, and always ahead of the curve. Now a seasoned veteran of the workplace shares his insights, tips, and experiences in a thoroughly updated edition of a career-planning classic.
Praise for Robert L. Dilenschneider and The Critical First Years of Your Professional Life
"Offers practical advice on how young people can take charge of their careers and develop independently both the skills required to excel in any environment and the savvy to know when to move on." —Norman R. Augustine, former Chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corporation
"An insightful, idea?laden, practical guide that will be valuable to young professionals seeking to advance their on?the?job lives." —Stephen A. Greyser, Richard P. Chapman, Professor of Business Administration Emeritus, Harvard Business School
"Bob Dilenschneider has the right recipe for coping in an era of stunningly rapid change." —Allan Goodman, President, Institute of International Education
Faced with an unstable economy, recent college grads need more expert guidance than ever to land that dream job and make it rewarding and meaningful. This invaluable guide—revised to meet the specific challenges of today's fast-evolving job market—shows how you can use your talent, originality, and initiative to sharpen your competitive edge.
The first years of your professional life are critical to long-term success in any field. The skills you acquire, the contacts you make, and the lessons you learn will help you remain involved, adaptable, and always ahead of the curve. Now a seasoned veteran of the workplace shares his insights, tips, and experiences in a thoroughly updated edition of a career-planning classic.
Praise for Robert L. Dilenschneider and The Critical First Years of Your Professional Life
"Offers practical advice on how young people can take charge of their careers and develop independently both the skills required to excel in any environment and the savvy to know when to move on." —Norman R. Augustine, former Chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corporation
"An insightful, idea?laden, practical guide that will be valuable to young professionals seeking to advance their on?the?job lives." —Stephen A. Greyser, Richard P. Chapman, Professor of Business Administration Emeritus, Harvard Business School
"Bob Dilenschneider has the right recipe for coping in an era of stunningly rapid change." —Allan Goodman, President, Institute of International Education
- GenresBusiness
242 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
5 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
About the author
Robert L. Dilenschneider
28 books7 followersRobert L. Dilenschneider, founder and CEO of The Dilenschneider Group, is one of the world's foremost communication gurus and leadership coaches. Dilenschneider started in public relations in 1967 in New York.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 31, 2021
'The Critical First Years of Your Professional Life' got my attentiveness for widening the exposure of the professional life. The self help book by Robert L. Dilenschneider started with the first step you have to pursue to become great individual in you career and also if you already an employee and worried about the professional prospects of your career, the book's describing it in detail.
The book is based on the author experience and also some personal interview with one of the greatest leader in their respective area. Robert wants to provide some training to reader to achieve their professional career goals in the future.
What I relished the most about this book is the exposure for how to survive and to be a better person in your career, examples can be seen in every chapter of the book with practical guidelines. However, there are some part of the book have being too complicated to understand. Because of that, it would be better to use more comprehensive approach to explain the situation.
To conclude, I would recommended reading this book for those who struggled with some issues during their career or graduates who want to enter the first step of their professional life.
The book is based on the author experience and also some personal interview with one of the greatest leader in their respective area. Robert wants to provide some training to reader to achieve their professional career goals in the future.
What I relished the most about this book is the exposure for how to survive and to be a better person in your career, examples can be seen in every chapter of the book with practical guidelines. However, there are some part of the book have being too complicated to understand. Because of that, it would be better to use more comprehensive approach to explain the situation.
To conclude, I would recommended reading this book for those who struggled with some issues during their career or graduates who want to enter the first step of their professional life.
March 7, 2014
BOOK REVIEW: 'The Critical First Years of Your Professional Life': Comprehensive, Readable Book for College Graduates Seeking Their First Job
"Ooh, baby, baby, it's a wild world. It's hard to get by just upon a smile..." -- Cat Stevens, 1971
* * *
Cat Stevens' hit song from 1971 aptly describes the 2014 job market for today's college graduates, making "The Critical First Years of Your Professional Life by Robert L. Dilenschneider, with Mary Jane Genova (Citadel Press/Kensington Publishing Corp., introduction by Maria Bartiromo, 223 pages, trade paperback, $15.00, also available in a Kindle ebook) even more valuable today than when it was first published in 1997.
Faced with an unstable economy, recent college grads need more expert guidance than ever to land that dream job and make it rewarding and meaningful. Dilenschneider has written several self-help guides to negotiating the workplace, a confusing maze that is far different from past years like the 1960s when Dilenschneider got his start -- and when I did so, too.
I wish I had this very readable book in hand in 1961 when I graduated from college with a B.A. degree in English and went to work as an insurance claims adjuster in Chicago. It would have cleared the underbrush of the business world for me. As the author points out, your first job today is not going to be your final one; the rules have changed radically.
This invaluable guide—revised to meet the specific challenges of today’s fast-evolving job market—shows how you can use your talent, originality, and initiative to sharpen your competitive edge.
Dilenschneider graduated with a master's degree in communication and ended up in public relations, with a large firm and later starting his own company, the Dilenschneider Group, a New York City based corporate strategic counseling and public relations firm. By 1966, with a variety of positions behind me, I finally found my niche: Journalism. I think I benefited by working in fields other than journalism before taking that reporter trainee position in Hammond, Indiana in January 1966.
The first years of your professional life are critical to long-term success in any field. The skills you acquire, the contacts you make, and the lessons you learn will help you remain involved, adaptable, and always ahead of the curve.
I like the interviews the author conducts with experts in a variety of fields, including the one from his 1997 edition with his his first mentor, Ohio State University professor Walter Seifert, now deceased. Be sure to read and absorb that interview on pages 185-188. It's marvelous! Seifert sounds like the kind of guy I could have depended on to learn the ropes, a professor who worked as a newsman in Cleveland. I was fortunate at my first newspaper job to have a similar mentor in a co-worker who was a seasoned reporter. In subsequent jobs, I relied on advice from other reporters and editors, and eventually ended up mentoring others.
Mentoring, negotiating the grapevine, how to conduct yourself in an increasingly uncivil world: Dilenschneider wants you to be polite and respectful of others, following the Golden Rule; this is outstanding advice that more people should absorb and practice in a world crammed to the rafters with boors.
Learning what to do -- and what not to do -- in the workplace are among the many topics covered in this book, which I recommend as an immediate gift to someone who is about to graduate from college.Now a seasoned veteran of the workplace shares his insights, tips, and experiences in a thoroughly updated edition of a career-planning classic.
Another excellent section discusses the differences between the generations, many of whom the young man or woman in the workplace for the first time will encounter. He's a member of the pre-Baby Boomer generation who writes that he thinks like the Boomers born from 1946 to 1964. I'm from this population cohort and feel like that, too. We did everything the Boomers did, but we didn't have that Rolling Stone or Time magazine cover!
About Robert L. Dilenschneider
Robert L. Dilenschneider has hired more than 3,000 successful professionals, and advised thousands more. He is founder of the Dilenschneider Group, a corporate strategic counseling and public relations firm based in New York City. Formerly president and CEO of Hill & Knowton, he is the author of the bestselling books "Power and Influence, A Briefing for Leaders" and "On Power".
About Mary Jane Genova
Mary Jane Genova, an international business writer, has been published in The New York Times, Washington Post, Newsday, Newsweek, Ad Age, American Banker, and Harvard Business Review.
"Ooh, baby, baby, it's a wild world. It's hard to get by just upon a smile..." -- Cat Stevens, 1971
* * *
Cat Stevens' hit song from 1971 aptly describes the 2014 job market for today's college graduates, making "The Critical First Years of Your Professional Life by Robert L. Dilenschneider, with Mary Jane Genova (Citadel Press/Kensington Publishing Corp., introduction by Maria Bartiromo, 223 pages, trade paperback, $15.00, also available in a Kindle ebook) even more valuable today than when it was first published in 1997.
Faced with an unstable economy, recent college grads need more expert guidance than ever to land that dream job and make it rewarding and meaningful. Dilenschneider has written several self-help guides to negotiating the workplace, a confusing maze that is far different from past years like the 1960s when Dilenschneider got his start -- and when I did so, too.
I wish I had this very readable book in hand in 1961 when I graduated from college with a B.A. degree in English and went to work as an insurance claims adjuster in Chicago. It would have cleared the underbrush of the business world for me. As the author points out, your first job today is not going to be your final one; the rules have changed radically.
This invaluable guide—revised to meet the specific challenges of today’s fast-evolving job market—shows how you can use your talent, originality, and initiative to sharpen your competitive edge.
Dilenschneider graduated with a master's degree in communication and ended up in public relations, with a large firm and later starting his own company, the Dilenschneider Group, a New York City based corporate strategic counseling and public relations firm. By 1966, with a variety of positions behind me, I finally found my niche: Journalism. I think I benefited by working in fields other than journalism before taking that reporter trainee position in Hammond, Indiana in January 1966.
The first years of your professional life are critical to long-term success in any field. The skills you acquire, the contacts you make, and the lessons you learn will help you remain involved, adaptable, and always ahead of the curve.
I like the interviews the author conducts with experts in a variety of fields, including the one from his 1997 edition with his his first mentor, Ohio State University professor Walter Seifert, now deceased. Be sure to read and absorb that interview on pages 185-188. It's marvelous! Seifert sounds like the kind of guy I could have depended on to learn the ropes, a professor who worked as a newsman in Cleveland. I was fortunate at my first newspaper job to have a similar mentor in a co-worker who was a seasoned reporter. In subsequent jobs, I relied on advice from other reporters and editors, and eventually ended up mentoring others.
Mentoring, negotiating the grapevine, how to conduct yourself in an increasingly uncivil world: Dilenschneider wants you to be polite and respectful of others, following the Golden Rule; this is outstanding advice that more people should absorb and practice in a world crammed to the rafters with boors.
Learning what to do -- and what not to do -- in the workplace are among the many topics covered in this book, which I recommend as an immediate gift to someone who is about to graduate from college.Now a seasoned veteran of the workplace shares his insights, tips, and experiences in a thoroughly updated edition of a career-planning classic.
Another excellent section discusses the differences between the generations, many of whom the young man or woman in the workplace for the first time will encounter. He's a member of the pre-Baby Boomer generation who writes that he thinks like the Boomers born from 1946 to 1964. I'm from this population cohort and feel like that, too. We did everything the Boomers did, but we didn't have that Rolling Stone or Time magazine cover!
About Robert L. Dilenschneider
Robert L. Dilenschneider has hired more than 3,000 successful professionals, and advised thousands more. He is founder of the Dilenschneider Group, a corporate strategic counseling and public relations firm based in New York City. Formerly president and CEO of Hill & Knowton, he is the author of the bestselling books "Power and Influence, A Briefing for Leaders" and "On Power".
About Mary Jane Genova
Mary Jane Genova, an international business writer, has been published in The New York Times, Washington Post, Newsday, Newsweek, Ad Age, American Banker, and Harvard Business Review.
April 18, 2025
An excellent volume with relevant information for people in many different stages of their career, not necessarily just the first years. I've been with my organization for 10 years, but only been in more of a "professional" role for the past two or three. The book is broken down in very clear sections, allowing you to read what might apply directly to your current situation while skimming or skipping other parts. I certainly found things I wish I'd known or thought about sooner! I would recommend this to anyone entering the workforce for the first time; it would also make a great gift for college graduates.
November 19, 2014
The resume section isn't quite up to date for all the industries you might want to apply to, but there's solid advice about managing office politics and making a name for yourself.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews