The job market for recent college graduates and millennials (those born between 1981 and 2000) has “never been more competitive, unstructured and difficult to navigate,” states career expert James M. Citrin in his new book, “The Career Playbook: Essential Advice for Today’s Aspiring Young Professionals.”
For starters, millennials number some 82 million, meaning that for most entry-level professional positions there are often hundreds, if not thousands of candidates. Google, for example, annually receives over 3 million applications. Morgan Stanley recently received 90,000 applications for 1,000 summer positions. The American Red Cross, a nonprofit, received 67,500 applications for 2,900 entry-level positions last year.
Add to this the fact that the average college graduate carries $30,000 in debt, and it is not surprising that many feel forced to accept positions they wouldn’t have considered before college. In 2013, of the 3 million college graduates who entered the U.S. workforce, almost half said they accepted jobs for which they were overqualified.
Despite the odds, Citrin says, there are still basic principles for finding a job, gaining financial success and leading a balanced and fulfilling life. “The Career Playbook” provides new college graduates as well as professionals at any stage of their careers proven strategies for career success. Some of the principles he presents have been around for decades; others are more pertinent to the current less structured job market.
The author divides his playbook into three broad areas: “How Careers Really Work,” “How to Get the Job” and “How to Thrive.” Each “How to” area provides current advice and tips backed up with career stories.
Part one, which discusses how careers really work, explores how you think about money, relationships, networks and other psychological factors, which all exert an influence on careers. In an attempt to provide a road map, the author suggests six phases to most careers. He considers the first three phases the most important for young professionals.
“Aspiration,” the initial phase, includes trying out different opportunities. It is a learning stage during which value is based on potential. This is the time to establish habits such as work/life balance, problem solving and collaboration. The next phase, “Promise,” usually begins one or two years after graduation and can run the first decade of a career. It serves to provide positioning for the next stage by testing out different roles and situations.
Phase three, “Momentum,” is when experience overtakes potential and a reputation is established. At this point, success is also defined by quality of teams created and managed.
“Build goodwill by supporting those around you and being a positive, responsive, and helpful colleague and leader,” Critin says. “This is especially important when life inevitably gets in the way during this period of your career.”
Critin insists that all business relationships are also personal. He dislikes the term networking, describing it as bordering on sleazy for its implication of being exploitative and one-sided. Critin suggests networking should be replaced with genuine relationship building.
Part two is more actionable. It is a compendium of recommendations and advice on how to land the job you want. Liberal arts graduates should read with interest the author’s suggestions for competing with techies. The liberal arts grad has to work harder, communicate more effectively and build more relationships than an engineering or computer science graduate.
The final section of the book builds the momentum for how to move effectively on the career path you have chosen. Many of the author’s suggestions here seem targeted to graduates who have never worked and appear simplistic. He dedicates two paragraphs to having a positive attitude and another three to email etiquette.
He makes up for this lagging start to this section with a more in-depth discussion on success strategies. The four success strategies he suggests provide a dynamic, highly usable list.
The first strategy, which Critin hopes is a major takeaway from his book, is focusing on the success of others.
“Success is achieved by making those around you successful,” he says. “It is also as close to a guaranteed success strategy as can exist in today’s environment.”
Quotes from young professionals are highlighted throughout the text. These real life comments effectively emphasize the frustrations and thought processes of career decisions. They also bring home the reality of the emotional pressure of developing a career.
The author holds true to the definition of a playbook, complete with diagrams for study and strategies to be memorized. “The Career Playbook” is a well-crafted, detailed outline for a campaign in creating a successful career.