New Job New You; A Guide to Reinventing Yourself in a Bright New Career is a book written by Alexandra Levit. I recently read it in order to gain a better understanding of how employees think and what advice I can give them when they are looking for a new job. Having been self-employed since graduating college, I have a hard time putting myself in the shoes of those who work for someone else.

After reading the book I have mixed feelings. Most of the book was very useful and can be a great resource to turn to when looking for a new career. But I also had a few things that I did not like about the book. So, let's go ahead and get the negative things out of the way first.

First of all, every chapter has a 3 to 5 different success stories of people who have found the perfect career. Now, having real stories with real people to back up the information you are writing about is a great idea. I support that 100%. But 3 to 5 two-page stories for every single chapter was just too much and I found myself skimming (at best) and moving on to the meat of the information.

Second, I am a little disappointed in the lack of depth that she goes into for certain aspects of finding the right career. She is almost like a motivational speaker in that she does a good job of touching on some of the key principles for career building but then leaves you hanging and wanting to know more details on how to implement. Maybe it's just me, but I was expecting more.

Third, Alexandra gives plenty of practical tools and website that you can go to for doing specific research and planning, but some of the sites are junk. I checked out a good portion of them and half of them were very useful and the other half were like, "Huh?" So, this critique can go into both the Negative and Positive categories for me.

Now, on to the positives feelings for New Job, New You.

The book starts off with an assessment quiz that you can fill out on your own and grade yourself to determine if you should or should not be looking for a new career. The questions on the quiz are well thought out and well researched. In my opinion, it's worth at least reading through the questions and get your mind thinking in the right direction.

Alexandra does a great job of covering a multitude of different factors that play into finding a career that is right for you. She incorporates seven different things to consider:

• Family
• Independence
• Learning
• Money
• Passion
• Setback
• Talent

At the end of each chapter, she provides four different application sections: 1) Self Reflection, 2) Putting the Change to Work, 3) Exercise, 4) Resource Toolkit.

The "Self Reflection" section is to get your mind thinking about what you just read and start relating to the text. The "Putting the Change to Work" section contains a lot of practical information and ideas on how to start implementing what you learned or at least provide a diving board for getting started. The "Exercise" section contains questions and suggestions for practicing before you take the dive head first (Basically like school homework). And the "Resource Toolkit" is a list of websites and books that you can use to further your education in that particular area.

Like I said before, about half of the websites she recommended seem a little dumb to me, but the other half may actually prove to be very useful for some people. I like this practical application aspect she leaves her readers with. I hate knowledge for knowledge's sake. Knowledge is meant to be used and put into practice! Ok, off my soap box. In my attempt to remain a sponge, soaking up as much info as I can about personal finance and business development in order to improve my own life and the lives of my readers, I am going to look through her list of other suggested books and come up with the top fifteen that I would like to read. (Stay tuned for more book reviews- whoot whoot!).

In a nutshell, my take on the book New Job, New You is this: It's a great book for someone who is a little frustrated with their current career and would like to consider other options but has no idea where to start.

Lastly, I leave you with some of my favorite quotes from New Job, New You:

• "Most people stay in unsatisfying careers because they believe positive change is impossible."

• "Essentially, I believe the biggest mistake people make with [starting a business] is going in with a lack of business acumen and a lack of capital. They are often passionate but simply don't have proper knowledge of accounting, permits, marketing, sales, and budgeting."

• "If you want to work for yourself, the motivation fueled by disliking your boss won't be enough. You'll have to think hard about an unmet market place need you can address via a new product or service, and learn how to uncover and employ the right mix of resources to further your cause."

• "A bigger pay check won't solve all your problems - or the world's - but it can certainly make things a lot easier."

• "Passion is the new king - It isn't about advancing to the next level. Most people in their second acts want their contributions to matter; they want a passion payoff. It's no optional; it's the new requirement."

• "People who act from passoin are more successful because they experience life more fully in the present moment and write their own scripts as opposed to reading others."

• "Studies have found that passionate people are physically healthier than those who are not."

• "The sooner you can accept your setback instead of denying it, explaining it away, fixing it, judging it, or compensating for it, the sooner you can use it to your advantage."

I definitely recommend reading New Job, New You, especially if you are unhappy in your current career.

What experience have you had with carreet change? Have you found any other books that are helpful in this area? What are your thoughts on New Job, New You?