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Don't Quit Your Day Job: The 6 Mindshifts You Need to Rise and Thrive at Work
Learn how to survive and thrive within organisations In Don’t Quit Your Day Job , former Google and Twitter executive Aliza Knox delivers hands-on, practical steps for achieving career success. Driven by Knox’s four decades working in and leading some of the world’s most celebrated firms, and featuring candid accounts of other people’s successes and missteps in global tech, consumer goods, healthcare, academia, social services and more, this book is an essential guide to integrating your professional and personal goals to build a fulfilling, complete life. The book also Whether you’re just starting your first job or you’re ready to rise to the C-suite, Don’t Quit Your Day Job will help you advance and flourish in the workplace.
208 pages, Paperback
Published April 11, 2022
21 people are currently reading
1166 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
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March 14, 2025I learned a few things from Don’t Quit Your Day Job, and it made a couple of interesting points. It’s authored by Aliza Knox, a technology executive, with Wendy Paris, a journalist.
The idea of stamina in a career was an interesting one, and something I haven’t read about too many places. More people are living longer, so are going to need to work until their older. But how do you keep a career going for over 50 years?
Based on some conversations I’ve had with people in their 20s, I think one of the reasons people don’t discuss this one is there’s an expectation that if you’re truly successful in your day job, you will be able to retire at 50.
Well, that simply isn’t the case for most people, and I don’t think it needs to be seen as a failure!
This book does have some ideas for how to sustain a career for 50 years, and I was interested to see it brought up as an important topic worth consideration.
Other parts that were interesting were about setting up and running multinational teams. The author clearly has a lot of experience with this.
Also interesting was her story about breaking into a new role - she wanted to become a board member, and broke down all the steps she took to achieve this, though there was not a clear path forward.
One of the more unusual points in the book was the author had a firm position that accepting a counteroffer from your current company, particularly when you are underpaid, was a good career move. This one had me scratching my head a bit - sure, there could be some times when this is a good idea. But generally speaking, if your current employer doesn’t respect you enough to pay you market value, isn’t that a good reason to not continue your employment there?
But the author is pretty vehement on this one! Perhaps this is a problem Aliza Knox has faced a number of times as a manager? This point could be more revealing about the author than a good idea for most people.
Overall, like many career development/personal growth/self-help books, some of the concepts might work for you, and others will not.
The idea of stamina in a career was an interesting one, and something I haven’t read about too many places. More people are living longer, so are going to need to work until their older. But how do you keep a career going for over 50 years?
Based on some conversations I’ve had with people in their 20s, I think one of the reasons people don’t discuss this one is there’s an expectation that if you’re truly successful in your day job, you will be able to retire at 50.
Well, that simply isn’t the case for most people, and I don’t think it needs to be seen as a failure!
This book does have some ideas for how to sustain a career for 50 years, and I was interested to see it brought up as an important topic worth consideration.
Other parts that were interesting were about setting up and running multinational teams. The author clearly has a lot of experience with this.
Also interesting was her story about breaking into a new role - she wanted to become a board member, and broke down all the steps she took to achieve this, though there was not a clear path forward.
One of the more unusual points in the book was the author had a firm position that accepting a counteroffer from your current company, particularly when you are underpaid, was a good career move. This one had me scratching my head a bit - sure, there could be some times when this is a good idea. But generally speaking, if your current employer doesn’t respect you enough to pay you market value, isn’t that a good reason to not continue your employment there?
But the author is pretty vehement on this one! Perhaps this is a problem Aliza Knox has faced a number of times as a manager? This point could be more revealing about the author than a good idea for most people.
Overall, like many career development/personal growth/self-help books, some of the concepts might work for you, and others will not.
April 23, 2022
Its a good book if you are after career advancement. It wasn’t what I thought it would be so didn’t get a lot out of it
September 2, 2023
Amazing author with really good points and interesting views. Sadly this book falls short on delivery. The content is excessively chaotic, unstructured and badly narrated. Using a Matthew Dicks style storytelling or more emotional approach could have turned this from a painful read to a recommendation.
February 28, 2023
Reasonably decent book, but a few things put me off
* The author recommends to people twice in the book to accept a counteroffer to stay back with the company. This is contrary to conventional wisdom and I think that the conventional wisdom is right here and the author wrong. A counteroffer reflects poorly on the company - why didn't they understand your needs before - will they think of you better in the future? Accepting a counteroffer reflects poorly on you - Are you only interested in the added benefits that the company offers? Did you bring up these concerns before? etc. etc.
* At one point, the author talks about respect using an incident where she did not get regular milk at some event. I found the whole episode rather harmless - maybe it was the way the author wrote it - but it reeked of entitlement.
* There is a lot of working abroad, which may be useful to some people, but wouldn't apply to the vast majority of readers who may be interested in a book like this. Much of the advice applies to people who work in large multi-national corporations and are also with no family or small family that can adjust to a transition to a different country. Mind you, the advice is not bad, but it probably belongs in another book.
* The author recommends to people twice in the book to accept a counteroffer to stay back with the company. This is contrary to conventional wisdom and I think that the conventional wisdom is right here and the author wrong. A counteroffer reflects poorly on the company - why didn't they understand your needs before - will they think of you better in the future? Accepting a counteroffer reflects poorly on you - Are you only interested in the added benefits that the company offers? Did you bring up these concerns before? etc. etc.
* At one point, the author talks about respect using an incident where she did not get regular milk at some event. I found the whole episode rather harmless - maybe it was the way the author wrote it - but it reeked of entitlement.
* There is a lot of working abroad, which may be useful to some people, but wouldn't apply to the vast majority of readers who may be interested in a book like this. Much of the advice applies to people who work in large multi-national corporations and are also with no family or small family that can adjust to a transition to a different country. Mind you, the advice is not bad, but it probably belongs in another book.
May 7, 2023
I really enjoyed this book by Aliza which is mainly centered around her career and the people that she met in the past. The 6 mindshifts in the book are practical and can be applied to any reader's life.
One overarching lesson I learnt is that you are in charge of your own destiny. Do not rely on anyone to drive your career goals. It is up to you to pursue those opportunities and to put yourself in a position that will allow those opportunities to occur. Always test your market value by applying for jobs out there, to keep relevant, and never settle for less.
I am always reminded that there is no one job change that will completely destroy your career path. So go out there, and take the plunge! Iterate and improve along the way.
One overarching lesson I learnt is that you are in charge of your own destiny. Do not rely on anyone to drive your career goals. It is up to you to pursue those opportunities and to put yourself in a position that will allow those opportunities to occur. Always test your market value by applying for jobs out there, to keep relevant, and never settle for less.
I am always reminded that there is no one job change that will completely destroy your career path. So go out there, and take the plunge! Iterate and improve along the way.
August 17, 2022
I thought it was good. Her book is mainly from her experience working in tech companies and corporate jobs as well as her experience working overseas. Given that I have a similar background as her, I found myself relating to a lot of the stories mentioned in the book and found it helpful to my current stage of life. However, people who are in different fields entirely, or in more traditional companies may find it difficult to relate to her stories. But overall I do like how the mindsets were packaged alongside real life examples.
April 23, 2022
My cousin wrote a book about ways to thrive at work and advance your career. Although I’m not the target audience (I’m self employed) I found her advice about how to connect and build long term working relationships with others helpful. Aliza built and led APAC, the Asia-Pacific region, businesses for Google, Twitter, and Cloudflare. She’s got a lot of wisdom about being a successful executive and some useful insights about her mentoring tactics.
September 13, 2023
I liked some aspects of the book around setting boundaries, creating relationships/person board of directors, general tips on work life balance and still getting career advancement. Most other parts of this book didn’t apply to me as it was around international work moves and totally changing industries which is not something I am pursuing. If you are a serious work go getter and someone who wants to climb the corporate ladder this book may be more applicable.
October 30, 2022
great advice for building your career
I had the privilege of working with Aliza for a few years, and always valued her perspective, sense of humor, and her genuine interest in people at all levels of the organization. All of that shines through brightly in this distillation of her advice for life and work.
I had the privilege of working with Aliza for a few years, and always valued her perspective, sense of humor, and her genuine interest in people at all levels of the organization. All of that shines through brightly in this distillation of her advice for life and work.
May 24, 2023
The title is a bit misleading lol, it does grab the readers attention but the author literally starts with the importance of having hobbies and interests outside of work. I appreciated her examples and loved the practicality of her tips! Will be using these going forward 🎉
February 21, 2024
Readable although nothing revolutionary in terms of insights. Structured and probably a great book for new people in corporate or for new managers. Some useful reminders on how to handle your day to day work in high stakes companies.
July 1, 2024
Concepts relied too much on a narrow set of anecdotal experience. Nothing refreshing and pretty common tips,and delivery is not too impactful. It also isn’t what I thought will be, given the title of the book, so I didn’t get as much as I had thought I would.
January 28, 2025
Some interesting points, generally balanced, a bit too anecdotal for me. I feel like it overfocuses on multinational companies, but I can understand this is the writer’s experience. I also feel like this only works for people with a decent level of economical stability.
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July 15, 2022Really motivational and though inspiring!
July 22, 2022
Common sense knowledge about how to progress in your career clearly laid out and well illustrated via real stories. I'll be sharing this with my kids/nephews/nieces who are starting their careers.
January 28, 2023
Simple and powerful tips that tell you the story behind success in corporate.
September 5, 2023
Nice narrative, real and practical.
Lots of good examples and her own experience is also inspiring.
Lots of good examples and her own experience is also inspiring.
July 13, 2024
There’s not much relevance of the content to the title. It’s more towards ‘thrive in your career’. That being said, there are some good takeaways and reminders
July 16, 2022
3.5⭐
Do you sometimes read that you immediately forget after reading? Well, this book was that kind of a book for me. Nothing stuck with me, probably not the book's fault, but that was how it was for me.
Do you sometimes read that you immediately forget after reading? Well, this book was that kind of a book for me. Nothing stuck with me, probably not the book's fault, but that was how it was for me.
April 2, 2023
I’d started to read this book to find motivation to continue to work at corporate job (with heavy overload, working at weekends and nights). But suddenly I was getting laid off. Surprisingly, this book helped me to feel better and I appreciate it.
Among all books about finding work-life balance and importance of having rest, the book about working hard no matter what is interesting and impressive.
Among all books about finding work-life balance and importance of having rest, the book about working hard no matter what is interesting and impressive.
April 6, 2022
My cousin wrote a book about ways to thrive at work and advance your career. Although I’m not the target audience (I’m self employed) I found her advice about how to connect and build long term working relationships with others helpful. Aliza built and led APAC, the Asia-Pacific region, businesses for Google, Twitter, and Cloudflare. She’s got a lot of wisdom about being a successful executive and some useful insights about her mentoring tactics.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews