Revised and updated to incorporate the harsh realities of the twenty-first-century job market, the popular career book for executives continues to provide valuable advice on surviving a layoff, conducting a job search, and much more. 50,000 first printing.
Like many of us - I have been unemployed since the first COVID -19 in shutdown in March. Over these past eight months, I have been doing everything in my power to look for employment. This includes reading extensively, trying to get a leg up in this daunting search. Rites of Passage was the latest. It was a tough read.
The good - I pick up a few hints on cover letters, resumes, and search methods. There is a list of the more reputable retainer recruiters - a few of which specialize in Hospitality (my field). If these good points help me get a job - well worth the time.
The bad - over 500 pages - it is a long read. It is a bit preachy - a bit dated and a bit self serving ( a lot of promotion for the author’s web site).
Job changing is easy at lower career levels. You can apply for several jobs via job postings and in a matter of time something will work out. But at the top i.e. executive level, everything changes. Executive jobs searches are outsourced to recruiters. At that level to manage job changes successfully one needs to know the motivation of recruiters, how they operate and how to manage your relationship with them. Rites of passage deals exactly with this Recruiter Relationship Management.
Very informative book overall. Some timeless advice.
The parts related to the Internet or Internet-related tools were quite dated. Some of the tools or technologies listed do not even exist today. But skim over these parts and you'll be satisfied with the body of knowledge the rest of the book offers.
Certainly some useful reminders. The outside work social networking aspect is a tiring thought, and an obvious detractor from normal tendencies to be away from family. Interesting to see how much has changed in the two decades as well as what translates to remote/distributed teams.
Now nearing the end of the year in 2020, just doesn't feel %100 relevant anymore. Some of the info is useful, but I felt the examples dragged on. It was an ok read.
Fantasitc insight to executive recruitment (both retainment and contingency) in the U.S., and possibly a life-changer, although too early to tell. Covers when and how to deal with recruiters, preparing exec resumes, interviews, internet job searching, and what to do based on your current state of being.
Especially revealing is the fact that, as a general rule, you want to get to an employer before either a retainment or contingency recruiter does. This is to avoid a price on your head that comes with a contingency recruiter and because in the case of retainment recruiters the restrictions they live under means that you may not be presented by them on their own despite being the best choice (eg if they're currently prevented from recruiting from your employer or if someone else at the recruiting firm currently has your name in their search).
I picked this book up after hearing it mentioned multiple times on the Manager Tools podcast. This book provides an excellent insight into the world of recruiting and provides invaluable advice for working with recruitment firms and managing your career. The text is very colloquial and the points that are somewhat laboured—this style annoyed me at first but I quickly got used to it a couple of chapters in. Even though the book has a US focus it is still relevant for executives elsewhere in the world. Recommended.
Excellent information on the recruiting industry. The rest of the material is just ok, but the recruiting chapters alone would be worth 5 stars if not for the occasional sales pitches for the authors site thrown in.
Don't miss the novella at the end, a fictional account of a retainer search that really highlights some subtleties of the industry.
John Lucht's Rites of Passage at $100,000+ to $1 Million+ is an excellent executive career guide. It is particularly useful for providing a deeper understanding of the search industry. If you are looking for a new executive job you will find this guide easy to read, succinct and it will provide all the information you need to ensure that you prepare a strong resume and letter.
Great book for how to market yourself, how to prepare a resume, and how to interact with executive recruiters or headhunters. It is a little dated, and does not discuss resume techniques in the age of computer submitted resumes that must rely on keywords, but still it is well worth a read.
This is an awful sales pitch with absence of logical flow and any substance. There are about 10 useful advices maximum. Conclusion: stay away from the headhunters and grow your network.