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Review by Jan Hager

First of all I would like to thank [the author] for given me the opportunity to read [his] book’s Advance Reader Copy. I had a fantastic time reading both the English and the German version.

Both versions are very well written and full of, almost casually placed, inspiring stories. And after experiencing [Mr. Calhoun-Senghor] in lecture I couldn’t help but also hear [his] voice in the back to my head while reading every line. That is a treat not many get, but in my humble opinion it only adds to the experience of the book.

Regarding the rules I have to say that I absolutely love them. Looking back at how I did my work in the organization I currently work [for] at on a manager level, I can say that [I] found many habits which closely resemble your rules. My favorite rules are “Rule 3: Always Be Prepared” and “Rule 15: Constantly Improve Your Weaknesses,” which are not only rules to apply when building your career but which are rules to live by. “Rule 22: Learn to Break Bad (News)” is something I always tried to avoid and I always feared. But after reading about it in [the] book I went back to Rule 15 and addressed my weakness. So How To Get A Job And Keep A Job already influenced my life for the better after 180 pages. I think that speaks for itself.

However, there is one rule I cannot completely agree with. “Rule 6: Never Criticize a Colleague or Co-Worker” is a rule that, in my mind, hinders, or at least slows, progress. If you work at an organization, your aim should be to benefit said organization and to grow as a team or branch. If only a manager is able to point out errors or flaws, you always have to escalate to a management level above the level where the problem occurred, which in my mind is very inefficient and time-consuming and creates a work culture where it seems like workers want to screw over each other with management. Yet, and [the author is] right there, you have to be careful in how you address something like that to not appear as a wiseacre or “Besserwisser” in German.

Regardless, I have put [the autho’s] “How to get a job”-part to the test already and applied, using the knowledge of [the] book, to a new job in a government organization. I think the positive feedback I have gotten so far speaks for itself as well. So thanks…for that.

The illustrations were always a delight when reading and even made me smile sometimes.

All in all, a very inspiring, helpful, and well written book, which you can read more than once and still be inspired to progress in your career.

- Jan Hager

Law Student


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