Make Me an Offer I Can't Refuse: "Gangster" Rules for Your Working Life

by Susan Riehle, Susan Riehle

Here you'll find blunt, honest job advice you'll just can't get anywhere else. Susan Riehle makes advice on getting a job, getting paid more and getting more from your career, well... fun. Using the straight-shooting advice from underworld legends to underline the unwritten rules of employment, Riehle gives you the skinny and the low-down on landing and keeping the best job you have ever had. Not since experts first advised you to find the color of your parachute, has there been a more informative read on the secrets of career advice. Handling everything from interview nerves, interview answers, negotiating pay, handling tough jobs and customers to getting raises and promotions you will find yourself nodding in agreement and saying, "That makes sense! Why didn't anyone tell me this before?" It's can't-be-beat, new advice that puts the best job within your reach.

147 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Jackie DiRamio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible. Atrocious grammar on practically every page making it very painful to read, and the information is either common sense at its best or outdated. No one is sending thank you letters to interviewers, come on now.

There are also random gangster quotes throughout the book that have little to do with the juxtaposed paragraphs.

I feel a little bad for writing this because I’ve never rated a book so low but this was truly awful. Reader beware.

[S. Riehle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reread it and find the advice as sound as ever. Many ideas that I don't see elsewhere.

[Vincent Darlage · Rating 2 out of 5]

The good: Overall, most of the advice seemed sound. It was written for an easy read, probably for people with minimal formal education. I don't think I'm part of the target audience for this book.

The bad: Grammar problems are all over the place in this book. Improper punctuation, incorrect words, incorrect terminology, and unclear sections really marred the presentation.

Also, just throwing in some quotes from gangster movies is hardly enough to call this a book using gangster rules for one's working life. If I had been writing this, I'd be referencing actual rules the gangsters seem to live by in the text itself. Outside of the introduction and epilogue, she never even talks about gangsters or relates the text to gangsters. If the quotes were left out, one would never know this book was based on supposed "gangster rules."

In several places the author made unsubstantiated claims about how studies show something - yet she didn't cite a single one of these studies. If she is going to take the time to write a book, take the time to find the studies for properly cited substantiation. Actually, virtually all of her claims in the book are unsubstantiated. We just have to take her word for it.

Some sections seemed to be mislabeled and incomplete. Here is an example:
"Communicate
Tie your behavior to these behaviors. Example:'Thinking ahead, I think we can prevent some problems if we...' This doesn't mean bragging. It means being clear what your motives are." (page 64)

The section is titled "Communicate." The text (a mere sentence before the example) has nothing to do with communication, but with behavior. The example isn't an example of this. "These behaviors"? Vague. Why is bragging mentioned? WTF is this section about? Many sections were written this way. Other sections were contradictory; for example, the section on collecting your own stories on page 65 spent more words on collecting OTHER people's stories than on one's own stories. Her epilogue, btw, is really bizarre, and I don't think it makes the point she thinks it makes.

[Karen Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun take on a the subject of getting the job and salary you want. I enjoyed the gangster quotes and learned some techniques that I could put right into action.