The Skills: From First Job to Dream Job—What Every Woman Needs to Know

by Mishal Husain

Acclaimed BBC anchor, Mishal Husain, inspires, champions, and encourages women to make their ambitions a reality by focusing on practical skills they can use throughout their careers, whether they are new graduates, working mothers, re-entering the workforce, or simply seeking a career change.

When women are offered new opportunities, they often hesitate because of doubt—doubt that they are good enough or have the abilities to succeed. Mishal Husain has reached the pinnacle of her field, yet the British news presenter almost didn’t take her dream job because of doubt, and it took three years before she felt truly comfortable in her position. While men focus on advancement, women feel pressured to prove themselves. “It is clear that we need some better ideas about how more women can advance to levels comparable with men,” Husain writes. The Skills offers insight, practical knowledge, and encouragement to help women thrive.

Husain begins with a frank overview of where women are socially and professional today, and identifies the factors that influence how others perceive us—and how we think about ourselves. Drawing on her own experience and knowledge, along with interviews with experts and inspirational figures from Martha Lane Fox to Malala Yousafzai, The Skills explains:


How to present yourself to maximum effect, in person and online
How to prepare for big moments and plan for long-term goals
How to gain confidence and authority
How to use your voice and body language effectively
How to navigate the ups and downs of a long working life, from engineering quick wins to building resilience
Wise, down-to-earth, and filled with vital advice, The Skills guides women in honing the abilities they need to thrive in whatever field they choose.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Feminism, Business, Professional Development, Audiobook

Audible Audio

Published April 2, 2019

About the author

Mishal Husain is one of the presenters of BBC Radio 4’s influential Today programme and the television news on BBC One. Her work has taken her from Davos to Rohingya refugee camps and from interviewing Prime Ministers to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Mishal has been named by the Sunday Times as one of the 500 most influential people in Britain. Born in the UK in 1973, she grew up in the Middle East and was later educated at Cambridge University, where she read law.

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a book that's called "The Skills," there wasn't much in the way of figuring out what the skills were outside of the chapter titles. This definitely was not the book I was hoping it would be. I'm looking to take the next step in my career and this didn't help with that at all.

Most of it was very research-based. Which made the book a lot slower than it could have been. But I also felt it got really into the research as opposed to actually telling people how they can do better in their career. Also, much of the research is stuff I already knew before reading this book.

Definitely not a good career help book for me. This may be good for someone at the end of high school or in college. But not most people that already have jumped into the career world.

[Bec Scabs · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh boy, super disappointed in this book. The concept is fantastic (Mishal seems equally fantastic), but this book just felt flat. It was so brief and only touched on each "skill" at surface level, with a smattering of statistics and quotes that I have seen in many other books. To be brutally honest, Mishal has a wealth of experience, but I didn't find that reflected here.

[Teodora Agarici · Rating 2 out of 5]

As much as I love Mishal Husain (and I always have to pinch myself for working on the same programme she presents), this fell a bit short because it looks like it didn’t have a clear purpose.

I was more interested in her personal journey into journalism and how she became the first Muslim woman to host Britain’s flagship radio breakfast programme. Instead, I got only a glimpse of that, the rest being focused on generic stats about gender gap disparity and a lesson in confidence.

I don’t need that, Mishal.

I know you love balance and facts, but this could have been about you. ONLY about you. Because you’re a true powerhouse.

[Ru · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this feminist guide to life and work - it was incredibly well researched, the case studies were short, compelling and wide-ranging, and Husain’s tone was spot on. It underdelivered a bit on its promise of ‘the skills’ with less practical advice than you might expect, but she raises a lot of topics and encourages you to think about them, which I suppose is a skill in itself!

[Onyeka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting career advice from international news correspondent, Mishal. She explores motherhood, work-life-balance, pay disparity and so much more. The book is full of quotes, insights from interviews and her personal experience, and practical advice on how to navigate your way through challenges, to success in your chosen career.

[Clare · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this was an excellent book and I do not regret the time I spent with it, it seems mis-marketed. There are some good pieces of advice for women at any stage of their career: be aware of your tone and body language, don't underestimate your competencies, ask for raise (but know you're less likely to get it than a male colleague, etc.), but these are relatively thin on the ground.

The substance instead, are the many hurdles women face in the work place and in career planning. It would have been better titled 'The Maze'. Read it not to understand the skills you need for a career, but how bias and discrimination is a substantial factor in women's careers and, by extension, lives.

[Pyone Aye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read but didn't learn anything new as such...

[Roger Smitter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now that we are in the graduation time, bookstores (and the libraries) have plenty of books for the grads. In the past few years, we’ve seen a string of books that provide advice to focused on women.

the skills: From First Job to Dream (note: the title starts with two words that don’t have capital letters) promises to provide the skills needed to advance in the work place. Reading just the cover you learn that the book is targeted to women. Author Mishal Husain is a voice and face of news on the BCC.

She says little about her job. Her focus is on what she calls core skills to be successful in the work place. There’s little reference to the media job and career. The book can be useful to lots of new grads.

After three opening chapters that focus on the fast changing work place for women, Husain lays out what she calls skills. There’s planning, preparation, starting out. I was pleased to find then two chapters about “Speaking Out” and “Sanding Up,” skills that I taught for most of my career.

Then there’s chapters on developing skills, “The Digital You,” and “Keeping Sharp, “ There’s a couple of chapters about the path of careers: “Owning It” and “Rising Up.”

The last two chapters needed to be read but and re-read in the future: “Resilience” tells us a little about dealing with scrutiny and criticism and “Balance,”, with a focus on banishing guilt and thinking for the long term.

The book provides some useful and applicable advice for graduates (and especially young women) needs as they leave the cozy world of learning. I challenge the title, however, What the author calls skills are better defined and values.

It’s a good book for the new graduate. But I would give money at graduation. Then in, let’s say six months into the first job provide this second gift.

[SadieReadsAgain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd heard Mishal's podcast episodes on The Pool, in which she talked about some of the skills from this book, and was curious to read more. The book itself isn't as snappy or practical as the podcasts, but I was impressed with it in other ways. It is not just a career self-help book. It is a powerful guidebook on skills that, yes, will enhance your work life, but which will also enhance all other aspects of your life too. From resilience to speaking up for yourself, this is handbook for life. Being that Mishal is clearly a high-performing and very intelligent woman, this isn't written in a way which will be accessible to everyone. She discusses the skills and sets them in compelling context with well-researched gender studies, but if you're looking for practical implementation you may need to do some wider reading. Some parts felt too in-depth for me, at least where I am in my career right now. But what I took from the parts relevant to me far outweighed the bits I found myself skimming over, and I can only imagine that what hits home for me will develop as my career does. I've never read a career book before, but I have a feeling I wont need to read any others.

I received a NetGalley of this title from HarperCollins UK. All views are my own.

[Chloe Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall this book probably deserves a 2* review but it gets an extra star for the presence of some interesting statistics.
I was really hoping this book would dig down deep into sexism in the workplace and relevant unconscious bias, which it did do to some extent. I was then hoping it would go on to explain ways to overcome this, or as the title would suggest, some key skills to thrive in this environment. I don't really feel any skills were particularly discussed in much detail and I'm not sure I've picked up any practical ideas of anything to do differently.
It's heavily centred around her career in journalism, which is to be expected, but it felt like many of the 'skills' she mentioned were then discussed in such a specific manner that it was difficult to apply them to a different area of work.
The statistics when they appeared were thought provoking, but the rest fell quite flat. I very nearly DNFed halfway through.

[Victoria Nightingale · Rating 4 out of 5]

You could criticise this book by saying that it’s not exactly a list of skills or guide on how to excel yourself in the workplace. But what makes The Skills an interesting read is the fact that Mishal goes into more in depth discussion. There is very valuable advice sure, but it is put in to a broader context and discussion. It is obvious she has done her research, and you really feel like the advice she gives is valuable.

This isn’t a book you can dip into and easily get the advice, but it’s not a long read either. Trust me though it is well worth a read for anyone ambitious in their career and I’m sure I’ll dip back into it in the future.

A final note - I found myself really moved by the final pages of the book before the afterword - which seemed to sum up life perfectly.

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I'm not usually one for non-fiction of the 'self-help' genre, but this book was exactly my forte. Full of facts, stats and interviews with outstanding women, Mishal wrote with such conviction without lecturing. There was the perfect balance of inspiring, yet not enforcing opinions onto the reader which I was very grateful for. Some wonderful insights, tips and reminders and written in short chapters, perfect for the morning coffee or just before bed reads.

Loved it.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just finished The Skills by Mishal Hussein. I'm on a bit of a mission to read more about great working lives, career and leadership development, especially related to women. This draws heavily on her research and her experience in becoming a leading journalist at the BBC. For me it didn't add much to what I've been reading, but would probably be better for someone who is dipping their toes into this kind of work. She provides some examples of approaches that helped her succeed, but I don't think I'd recommend it as a handbook for others, just an interesting side note.

[Chiara Nash · Rating 4 out of 5]

8Made me reflect on aspects of my career so far, and ways in which I conform and to how women are treated differently from men.

Well written, with lots of sources and examples to back up the points and subjects she talks about.

One of the last sentences really stood out to me, women should be unaplogicially ambitious and not embarrassed to state what you wish to achieve in the workplace.

It did however think it lacked practical 'skills'. There were some things to use and take away but nothing significant.

Overall, I enjoyed the book though.

[Reem Seraj · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, it spoke to me and my career experience in so many ways. Mishal is nothing if not thorough! Her research was impeccable and it rounded out the book.

But the last chapter, when she spoke about losing her father, I had to choke back the tears, family life and careers are so intertwined, and Mishal nailed it! There were so many parallels for me In the book, and considering I grew up in Saudi Arabia wearing an abaya it didn’t stop me from who I became or sharing in so many of Mishal’s experiences.

There is no way I can give it less than five stars

[Gemini · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not what I expected, It was essentially all over the place, discussing a wide variety of things that I was trying to understand why it was even in the book. It wasn't a streamlined way of going from chapter to chapter, topic to topic. There is a bunch of info in this book yet it wasn't really entirely geared toward career though. Even though the focus is women since written by a woman there is definitely more that could've been tied into this book. I read it all just because i was invested yet you might have a different take on this book.

[Babaganoush · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

Not that much practical advice for a non-fiction book called ‘The Skills’ but an interesting overview of her career. Quite reassuring to hear such a successful interviewer describe those feelings of self-doubt that we all secretly feel - and sharing how she persevered and made opportunities for herself. Gave an overview of pay gap across industries & gender roles within business. Some nice passages from resilient women from the past century too

[Ffion Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good and motivational book for people who are starting out their careers, especially young women interested in broadcasting. But, it's not particularly full of the practical skills for succes you might expect - at the end of the day, Mishal isn't a psychologist and is herself learning as she goes.

[Lucinda Broom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although written nearly 10 years ago now, I found this book to contain extremely influential advice and stories regarding women in the workplace.

Mishal's extensive career in the BBC is admirable and allows her to provide fascinating insight as to the trials and tribulations faced by professional women.

[amy]

This was a good book that points out the challenges women face in the workplace and some general advice (e.g. plan five years out) for achieving goals. I didn't learn anything particularly new, but it was somewhat motivating and the author's personal anecdotes were interesting.

[Chinoiseries · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great voice to listen to and good down-to-earth, practical messages. I may have to look up a printed version of this book, because at times it read more like a memoir and I am already forgetting parts of it.

[Susannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Where are the skills mentioned in the title? Airy fairy. Interesting time to finish the book, just as the author is in the news for being paid huge amounts to speak at oil and gas conferences, a fact that, if true, made me feel even more ambivalent about this book.

[Charlotte · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Lydia Griffith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read too much like a text book

[A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every woman should read this book, especially parents who work outside the home

[ameni · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thought it would give me advice about how to get better at getting jobs, but all I got was examples of vague concepts. Honestly this was so bad and not at all helpful

[Meg]

She's going non-fiction again

[Eleanor Dowding · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was given this at Christmas. Well written and quick to read with a few bits I’ll takeaway.

[Angel c · Rating 3 out of 5]

Similar to other readers I think this book did not teach me much about skills. Great biography and writing but useless in terms of functionality.

[Uzoamaka · Rating 4 out of 5]

A useful book written in 2016 about what people need now and always to survive in this unequal workplace. Witnessed the right skills you need for lidme