An Intelligent Career: Taking Ownership of Your Work and Your Life

This engagingly written but ultimately disappointing guide aims to help readers make sense of their current job situations (whether full-time, self-employed, or unemployed) in order to help them take ownership of their careers. As the authors show, accomplishing this task takes more than simply working toward another degree or polishing up a résumé. The first part of the book guides readers through closely examining their careers as they consider new possibilities, work environments, and approaches to their work; most people, the authors claim, are not really aware of their options. Readers are urged to evaluate the education, relationships, and experiences already in their arsenals, and ask the big questions: What opportunities now exist, and how can we use them? What is the meaning in our work, and how can we best use our skills? These questions may inspire worthwhile thought, but the second section, aimed at helping readers take action, is not sufficiently instructive to justify the space devoted to it. This is a reasonably thought-provoking walk through the process of career introspection, but it comes down to putting a new skin on an old idea; there’s nothing new in the concept of taking control of one’s career through self-examination and looking to the future. [em](Jan.) [/em]