Review of 'The New Rules of Work' by Alexandra Cavoulacos and Kathryn Minshew

This book is written by the founders of TheMuse.com, which I had not heard of prior to reading this book.  They have divided the book into three parts: 1. What do I actually want?  2. Making your move and 3. Charting your course through the modern workplace.

It starts off introducing the new era of job seeking and how it has changed from how things have been.  All written from a positive angle that opportunity and advancement awaits you with these changes like never before, that you have the chance to actually work at something you love - unlike many before who worked for a pay check only.

Excited I dove into chapter one. Each chapter starts with what the 'old' rule was and what the 'new' rule is.  One part I found of value in this chapter is the section you go through to find out what you value most (p21). I have never come across this type of thing before and have to say, it was a very effective analysis too.  Values are something that are hard to just come up with, for a work setting.  This is a great tool, that helps simplify them into a format that you can really benefit from.  In my mind, this alone, was the value of the whole book for me.

Chapter 2 also was good helping you to identify your areas of interest.  I also found this helpful.  Beyond this point, to be honest I got a bit lost. Up until here it was very clear what to do step by step.   You had to put these values and areas of interest into a chart (Muse Chart) and then it indicated for you to research.   Several times it referred to a chart below, which wasn't below? Basically you are directed to fill out as much as you can with information about roles, companies etc.  This was on page 36. Further along on page 50 was one example. I would have benefitted from several different types of examples to really get me going with this as even from the one example given, I'm still not overly sure what I'm looking for to fill in my chart.  Whether I'm looking for specific roles? But then that wasn't on the example so I'm lost with that.

Part Two talks about building your brand, personal branding and your brand statement.  They suggest you have your own website to be a stand out from others with your resume.  They discuss networking, the art of conversation, how to search for a job, creating a resume, interviewing in person/skype/phone.  Finally Part Two covers the new rules of communication in a professional setting, etiquette etc, art of conversation, and continuing your personal development.

This book does have a wealth of information. I guess for me, I'm disappointed about getting stuck on the charting process and just wish there was more clarity there so I could continue as I was enjoying following their steps.  The information presented following is thorough and interesting and relevant to today's world.  For those really wanting a good start back into the work force, this is a great handbook to help you with the details.

Please note that I was sent a copy of this book for purposes of review, however all opinions expressed are entirely my own.