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Gettler's survival guide to the corporate world is based on the premise that increasingly more people are working on a contingent, project-by-project basis. Quickly fading are the days of full-time, permanent employment, a byproduct of the twentieth century's manufacturing and mass production-oriented economy. The twenty-first century's emerging "knowledge-based economy" demands a fluid contractual agreement between workers and employers. Such atypical forms of employment may include temporary work, job sharing, fixed-term contracts, on-call work, and telecommuting. These arrangements require workers to become more flexible and adaptable in their work and job searches. Workers must develop their own personal brands and articulate what makes them different and unique in order to score their next "gig." Those who don't get with the program, the author argues, will be left behind.
This is a guide for both employees and managers on how to successfully navigate the new realities of the corporate world. Gettler argues that companies succeed when they exhibit certain traits: cultures of innovation where employees are encouraged to experiment and come up with new ideas; responsiveness, timeliness, and good manners when communicating with customers; a tight, consistent, proactive, and engaging social media strategy; etc. His arguments are backed up with numerous examples from top companies like Google, Amazon, Virgin, and Apple, helping to concretize his ideas for the reader.
Gettler's book is full of information that will interest all workers, even those not in the corporate world. Strategies for dealing with being laid-off, transitioning careers, increasing personal productivity, and making one's job application stand out to hiring managers are useful to all. Don't let the title of the book fool you; it provides countless ways to survive the corporate world and behooves us to heed Gettler's call.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review