This self-help guide promises that first impressions count
in the workforce, and yearns to give advice on how to leave a positive
impression in the workplace. Author Jennifer Swanson reflects upon her skills
in the fields of communication and human relations, her intended target
audience including students, graduates, job seekers, and anyone that seeks to
fulfill professional ambitions. Fellow self-help author Sandy Chernoff lauds
the book, noting its ease to follow, while Dr. Jennifer Newman notes the book
is light-hearted and easy-to-follow, promising advice on things such as how to
recover from mistakes.
Within the book’s introductory pages is a disclaiming
indicating that readers who follow the guide agree that the author and
publisher won’t be held responsible for possible negative effects the book may
have in the workplace. Swanson dedicates the book to Katie and Ben for bringing
joy into the author’s life, Scott for his endless support, Emma and Sarah for
their enthusiasm, Bruce for his humor, her mother for being a cheerleader, and
to Little Bandit, likely a pet, for keeping her feet warm while writing the
book.
Before the main text as well is an acknowledgements section
where Swanson notes that numerous people inspired the production of the book,
such as regular readers and podcast participants for their interest in better
communications relationships. She thanks gurus whom she follows regularly, the
Podcast Mastermind Alumni for technical help and guidance, a women’s club for
friendship and learning opportunities, Sandy Chernoff’s mentorship, various
teaching and ministry colleagues, her proofreaders, and various friends and
family.
In the introduction, Swanson supposes that her hypothetical
readers come from various categories, such as those that graduated and are
ready to enter the workforce, the writer noting herself a jenny of all trades,
one of her occupations being a healthcare class professor at a community
college. She assumes things such as the reader seeking quick tips they can put
into place immediately, and assures her audience the definition of
professionalism and how to be a professional promptly when entering a new
occupation.
Chapter One focuses on what to do upon receiving employment,
bringing up the expression that job seekers have only seven seconds to make a
good impression, the author reducing this to a tenth of one, and that there are
things beyond and within an employee’s control. She suggests new jobholders to
ask questions during their probationary period of employment, and that in most
occupations employees can be professional, highlighting an example of working
in a sandwich shop. The writer notes eleven professional attributes such as a
positive attitude, nine skills an employer wants such as organization, and
things workers receive in professionalism.
Chapter Two highlights attitude, with a simple suggestion to
remain positive in the workplace and various consequences of positive and
negative emotions. Swanson gives a checklist for pessimists with relation to
their jobs, one of the questions being whether they like their current
occupation or not. She emphasizes humility as well, suggesting that workers not
think that they’re better than everyone else, and gives characteristics of
humbleness. Gratitude proves important as well, with little things such as
thanking employers and fellow employees going a long way. Mentions of how to be
gratuitous, generosity, and a willingness to learn conclude the second chapter.
Chapter Three focuses on clothing, Swanson noting that many
jobseekers will ask what they’re supposed to wear and what their attire says
about them. She suggests a step-by-step experiment where readers go out without
doing things such as wearing makeup or aftershave, note their consequential
treatment, and frequent the same places again while dressing formally and
indicating the difference in their reception. The author states that jobseekers
should note their working environment, the dress code of their workplaces, and
their target audiences, highlighting various parts of dress codes such as hats,
sometimes a necessity depending upon an occupation, and that personal hygiene
is a must.
Chapter Four focuses on what Swanson terms paralanguage,
which is defined as everything around words themselves, including one’s voice
and speech speed. She provides another experiment where readers say a phrase
with various emotions, suggesting occasional “non-stock” responses to wake the
listener out of the mundane. The author provides a poem she wrote back in 2010,
after which comes a discussion on spatial conversation, giving a list on how to
tell if an employee is making a fellow worker feel uncomfortable. Then comes a
talk about nonverbal communication, which some suggest can account for
three-fourths of communication, and concludes with other topics such as social
media sites, cellphones, and chewing gum.
Chapter Five provides a detailed discussion on verbal
communication, with a list of advice such as using “I” language that emphasizes
an employee’s thoughts about a situation without using terms such as “they.” She
further advises practicing active listening, acknowledging its potential
difficulty, and provides pointers on how to improve skills in this area. Then
comes a discussion on closed and open questions, the former seeking quick
response and the latter more detailed replies. Concluding the section is a
discussion on voice and tips on how to improve one’s skills in the area.
Chapter Six discusses the importance of wise word choice,
suggesting an aversion to slang since odds are some listeners might not
understand the speaker. Swanson further presents a list of common clichés such
as “better late than never,” and discussions things such as colloquialisms more
commonly spoken than written, jargon specific to a particular field,, and
filler words, providing a list of these. Concluding the chapter is an advisement for
employees not to pad their speech, and to say what they wish in as few words as
possible.
Chapter Seven touches upon work ethic, providing readers a
list of questions to ask themselves, and follows with tips on time management. Swanson
emphasizes the importance of punctuality and prioritization, and urges
employees to be mindful of their break time and not abuse it, providing a list
of what workers should do when they respect break time. She follows with a
discussion on cliques more present in larger businesses, giving a brief list of
what to watch for, and again emphasizes the need to choose words carefully
given the potential for gossip to arise within the workplace.
Chapter Eight emphasizes accountability, Swanson suggesting
that it can be more important than accuracy and that it’s a professional quality,
and noting a mistake she made in a healthcare job. She gives a list of what to
do if one messes up at work, and notes the importance of learning from
mistakes, following with an analogy of the common aspects of Silly Putty, the
Slinky, chocolate chip cookies, and Scotchgard. After this is advice on how to
fail gracefully and learn from mistakes, and gives steps for things such as
consequences of not achieving goals and what an employee will do now if he or
she doesn’t get ahead as planned. Concluding the chapter are the good, bad, and
ugly aspects of giving and receiving feedback.
Chapter Nine deals with stress management, opening with a checklist
of indicators, which mention that stress can ultimately lead to chronic
ailments. She discusses how to manage stress with things such as speaking
little and listening more. Chapter Ten moves on to management and reduction of
conflict in the workplace, discussing the various styles such as avoiding and
competing. Swanson highlights a situation where an employee might refuse a
request, and that producing various stories for the fellow employee’s response
might produce conflict later. She gives various steps on how to avoid conflict
while simultaneously being assertive without coming across as rude.
Swanson concludes her self-help guide with a story of a
hotdog salesman, and follows with a bonus chapter involving the potential
benefits of taking particular risks such as not doing the same things
repeatedly; she ends with a bibliography and personal biography. Ultimately,
this is an excellent resource for those seeking to be shining examples of
employees, and this reviewer, as one who has had both positive and negative
experience in the workplace, would have definitely appreciated its advice were
he still in the market for a job, and highly recommends this helpful, detailed
guide.
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