Review: Career Rookie

I never did read Sarah Vermunt's Careergasm when it was published back in 2017 but it's been on my radar ever since. So, when I had the chance to read her new book, Career Rookie: A Get-It-Together Guide for Grads, Students and Career Newbies (which just released last week), I jumped at it.

Here's what the book is all about:

A shot of encouragement, a kick in the ass, and a loving push for young people who have no idea what they want or how to get it.
Career Rookie is a book for every grad, student, and 20-something who feels lost, overwhelmed, and anxious. It tackles the emotional and logistical WTF-ness of starting your career, answering questions like:
What if I don't have any experience? What if I went to school for something I hated? What if I have NO IDEA what I actually want? Should I just suck it up and settle? Because, honestly, this career thing is starting to give me an ulcer.
This fresh, fun guide gives even the most lost and overwhelmed a way forward. It explores passion, curiosity, uncertainty, self-sabotage, and more on the quest to shake off post-graduation paralysis. Finding the right career can seem impossible, but Sarah Vermunt is the fun-loving, straight-talking coach we all need to make feel-good work a reality.

I'm a decade out of university and nine years out of college so I'm not, technically, a "career rookie" but I wanted to give this a read anyway for a couple of reasons. One, you never know what you might learn. And two, a year ago I started a new job at the bottom of the ladder so I'm really feeling like a bit more of a rookie than usual.

I absolutely love the way Vermunt writes. She's no nonsense but fun and encouraging. And she drops f-bombs like I do, which I appreciated. She's also incredibly knowledgeable and passes along that knowledge in a way that is easy for the reader to understand and then apply to their own life.

I found myself nodding a lot as I read this. Like I said, I graduated ages ago but I've been searching for the right job for about as long as I've been out of school. There were some things that Vermunt wrote that I had learned for myself in my long (long) job hunt and definitely worked for me, so that had me completely on board with everything else she was saying.

The book is filled with advice from Vermunt as well as client stories. I think that's a great idea because it shows some real-life examples that can sometimes help more than just the advice.

I've already told my younger sister and two interns at work they need to read this book, and I think you should tell all the career rookies in your own life to read it as well. It's the perfect graduation gift to give or to buy for yourself.

Career Rookie won't solve all of your problems or answer all of your questions but Sarah Vermunt's new book will give you a lot of tools to help you on your way to kicking ass in your job hunt and eventual career (whatever that might look like). I highly recommend it.

*An e-ARC of this book was provided by the publisher, ECW Press, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*