I Got My Dream Job and So Can You

NetGalley user Joshua Lake (http://www.quietedwaters.com/):

I Got My Dream Job and So Can You by Pete Leibman comes out in March. It is a practical, 256-page tutorial on how to get the job you’ve always wanted, and it is written to young professionals — primarily those still in college. For young, motivated twenty-somethings without work experience, this is a great resource.

Leibman landed two “dream jobs” in his twenties, one in the Washington Wizard’s front office and another as a speaker and book author. This book is in some sense a memoir of the job-search lessons Leibman learned through those experiences.

Like many in the self-help genre, this book includes dozens of anecdotes that can be summarized as, “I’m incredibly successful because of this technique, and you can be too.” Two elements keep I Got My Dream Job from feeling too heavy-handed. Leibman ends his chapters with brief success stories from other people, and his youth gives the writing an air of youthful exuberance rather than aged salesmanship. The success stories are largely fluff pieces, devoid of substantive tips, but they reinforce each chapter’s ideas (which are far more meaty and more helpful). Those stories were the only pages I found myself bypassing. Leibman also does a good job of fitting his own personal anecdotes into larger points, and he does not simply beat the reader over the head with his successes.

My largest takeaways from the book were these: Networking is essential, due in large part to how few people are hired based solely on their resume; an online presence is important to job seekers in all fields; and setting your career goals is a necessary foundation for the job search. For the first, Leibman’s background in marketing and sales truly shines. He offers several dozen helpful tips to those who fear they’ll never succeed at networking, and he provides step-by-step tips for how to network by building relationships rather than treating people as means to your end. Leibman’s youth shines in his sections on digital presence. He offers suggestions on building a winning LinkedIn profile as well as Tweeting with a purpose. These strongest sections outshine the other chapters, although each lesson offers something useful.

Leibman’s writing is accessible and practical, demanding little and offering much. This book’s strength is in its practical application and in its author’s enthusiasm. I commend this book to young men and women with motivation and determination to get hired after college. Older readers, however, should look elsewhere, because most of what is written in these pages you will have learned through experience. While this book may not provide motivation for discouraged job seekers, it will be of great help to those who are ready for advice.

Review posted 01/04/2012 on http://www.quietedwaters.com/p=961.