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

by Anne Brown

Whether you are searching for your first job, or already working, Grad to Great will help you gain career momentum FAST! Grad to Great is a no-nonsense, no fluff guide to career success for recent graduates. The authors tell-it-like-it-is approach to surviving and thriving in the real world makes this an indispensable handbook for anyone embarking on their first career. Readers benefit from real on-the-job scenarios, interviews with executives, and insightful tactics that can be put into practice immediately.

173 pages, Paperback

First published November 2, 2007

Reviews

[Bob Selden · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Joel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Timely and common sense information on timely job search and work habits. This is great resource for students getting ready to finish college and for those newly appointed members of the American workforce. I read this as an e-book, but hard copies of this title would work well in a business collection and for academic counselors.